Rosacea and IPL Treatment
May 7
2010
Rosacea (pronounced “ro-ZAY-sha”) is an acute skin disorder which mainly affects the facial skin tissue (but can spread to other areas of the body) by way of flare ups or consistent irritation. To look at the skin appears very red, inflamed and agitated: left untreated there are also visible broken blood vessels which can appear.
While there is no cure for Rosacea and the cause is unknown, medical treatment or drugs are available to control or reverse its signs and symptoms. At DepiCool we often have clients enquiring about our services for IPL Rosacea reduction treatment.
Whilst IPL is an effective method of reducing the side effects of Rosacea, DepiCool do not currently offer photo-rejuvenation techniques specifically for treatment of the disease. Instead we specialise in offering permanent hair reduction treatment with IPL.
In order to successfully treat Rosacea, a clinic or centre must ensure they are using the correct machinery as the process for hair reduction and skin rejuvenation does differ.
Intense Pulsed Light treatment is very similar to the laser treatment process; however the IPL machine emits multiple wavelengths of light in order to treat a broader spectrum of tissue. (Laser only emits one light spectrum: namely red) The light source emitted by the IPL machine, turns into heat and this process increases the energy build up in the blood vessels under the top layer of skin (causing the redness) and in turn this heating causes the vessels to disintegrate.
With the appropriate laser or IPL treatment clients should see a noticeable improvement in the irritation and redness of their skin, but like permanent hair reduction treatment they should remember that generally a course of treatment is required to achieve a noticeable and desired result.
DepiCool recommend clients who suspect they may have Rosacea to seek medical opinion of a skin specialist such as a dermatologist or physician in order to ascertain a definitive diagnosis and help plan a suitable treatment for minimisation of the irritation. A qualified and registered centre can also be recommended at this time to ensure client safety.
DepiCool is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which is the same governing body as those centres on Harley Street, so we understand the importance of offering appropriate treatment with qualified staff. We hope to soon expand our services to look to offer our clients skin photo-rejuvenation treatment – so when we do we will be sure to let you know!
For more in depth information visit the Rosacea Support Group online.
Author: Lauren Taylor – DepiCool UK
In fact this is actually true! IPL can indeed help reduce ingrown hairs.
Both IPL and Laser are currently the best known treatments to reduce ingrown hairs on the body and give a permanent hair reduction of 80 – 90% of the hair in the treated zone. The remaining hair will be brittle, thinner and much more prone to breaking away.
Permanent hair reduction using Intense Pulsed Light works on the principle of exposing the area where hair reduction is desired to a series of very short pulses of concentrated light. This light energy is converted to heat energy absorbed by the hair at the base of the hair follicle, inhibiting the growing process and therefore helping to permanently reduce in-growing hairs in the treated zone.
Clients must appreciate that the process is gradual and will take a course of treatment to demonstrate significant results, on average usually between 6 or 8 to get the desired results, but if you are committed to treatment and adhere to the correct pre and post care instructions and spacing between appointments, then the hair follicles will eventually shrink completely and any further hair growth will be permanently prevented. If there is no hair in the follicle to re-grow, then it cannot become ingrown, and therefore IPL will help to reduce in-growing hairs!
Author: Lauren Taylor – DepiCool UK
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Posted in Questions & Answers
A common enquiry we receive from our clients, especially in the run up to the Summer swimsuit season, is in relation to whether or not we can offer a “Full Hollywood” or “Brazilian” bikini much like people have previously experienced with waxing – but on a permanent basis.
In short, yes we do! However, we do not call it by these names as unlike waxing, permanent depilation of these sensitive areas is bespoke to the individual. DepiCool offer what we label as “Bikini Extensive”.
The reason we do not call this a Hollywood or Brazilian is because dependant on the clients’ skin phototype would depend on how much of the area that we can depilate. Unlike conventional waxing, IPL would offer you a permanent reduction in your bikini line hair, not only being more cost effective – but also making it easier to maintain.
Clients should be aware that underneath the bikini area and the further inwards you wish to have the hair removed – the skin itself becomes darker: in essence this means the skin is more deeply pigmented so the fluence (power intensity) we would treat with the IPL machine would be lowered; whilst still maintaining effectiveness.
With IPL we can treat phototypes 1-5 of a possible 6, but the darker the skin (the more pigmented) the more prone the area is to sensitivity. Understanding this, explains why we would obviously decrease the power when treating a darkened area of skin, especially one of such a delicate nature as a bikini line.
Overall, DepiCool assess all clients on an individual basis – meaning that we could give you a much more accurate and personal estimation of how much hair we could remove from this area.
Here at DepiCool we pride ourselves on offering a personal and professional service, and all our therapists are fully trained and qualified to offer permanent hair reduction using Intense Pulsed Light. The professionalism we offer our clients has lead to thousands of satisfied clients across our stores, all who trust us even with the most sensitive of areas.
DepiCool work on a flat rate pricing scheme of £49 per body zone, where the area is deemed extensive we simply charge an additional 15%, meaning you can have a Bikini Extensive for just £56.35. Please note inside buttocks is charged as a separate standard zone, should you wish to extend the depilation even further.
DepiCool are also proud to offer male bikini treatments which are priced accordingly: Male bikini line: £56.35 or Male bikini Extensive: £64.80. For more information on our prices, please visit the website.
You should expect to have between 6-8 sessions of IPL treatment to gain the desired results for a permanent hair reduction of 80-90%, and any remaining hair would be more brittle, thinner and prone to falling out. (IPL offers a permanent hair reduction the same as Laser, but it is less painful and treats more skin phototypes) For more information on the specifics of the treatment and how IPL works please visit our website.
DepiCool abides by the Care Quality Commission guidelines (CQC) the same governing body that oversees the Harley Street clinics. We stringently adhere to all health and safety guidelines relating to administering safe and effective IPL treatment. This means that before treating any new client you would be offered a skin “Patch Test” to confirm the treatment is safe for you. For more information please feel free to contact a member of the team where we can answer any further individual queries.
Author: Lauren Taylor – DepiCool UK
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Posted in Questions & Answers
With one click on an Internet search engine for ´´laser and IPL´´ you can have approximately 1,120,000 results in under half a second. The other thing I find quite concerning is the fact that some of these results are for what appear to be prestigious clinics offering their services for “IPL Laser Hair Removal”.
Quite clearly to the uninformed consumer these services look like appealing methods of hair reduction. It was in 1997 IPL was officially approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) as a valid and safe technology for permanent hair reduction and in spite of common belief – Laser treatment and Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) are in fact quite different.
If a clinic cannot recognise this one clearly defined difference, it does make me question what position they are to be treating me and giving clearly informed advice both pre and post treatment.
At DepiCool we pride ourselves on specialising in effective “IPL” permanent removal hair reduction, you will not find us advertising our services as anything else and we are fans of clear, concise information with no hidden costs. One thing is certain – we definitely know the difference between laser and IPL.
One of the key differences is the absorption of light by hair and skin; this is dependent on the wavelength (colour) of the light. IPL uses a much broader spectrum of light than laser. Thus IPL is suitable for a wider range of hair colours and skin types than laser. The broad spectrum of IPL light also results in the light penetrating skin across a wider range of depths resulting in a greater number of hair follicles being treated.
Aside of the technical differences, there are also some other noticeable differences, and some good reasons why you should not confuse laser and IPL.
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Laser |
IPL |
| How painful is the treatment? | Clients´ pain thresholds are individual; some report a stinging like being flicked with an elastic band whilst others say it is like a strong pinching affect. The darker the hair can mean it hurts more, but it is more effective. | DepiCool clients report that IPL treatment is in fact less uncomfortable than laser. Often associating the feeling to a very light ´pinching´ effect. |
| Can it treat dark skin types? | Laser treatment is recommended to treat skin types I –IV (1-4) | IPL can treat skin types I – V (1-5). So in fact one skin type more than recommended for laser, making it open to more clients. For more information visit our blog “IPL and darker skin Phototypes” |
| Long term Results? | IPL and laser both offer permanent hair reduction. | IPL is also considered the most cost efficient of the two treatments, although to maximise the effect of your treatment we do stipulate you respect the recommended time frame between your appointments. Your practitioner can discuss this more for your individual needs. |
| How long does each treatment take? | Lasers cover a small surface area compared to IPL, so therefore taking longer time to apply treatment to any given area and the longer time a client will be waiting for treatment to be completed. | Generally IPL treatment “heads” are up to 8 times larger than the small spot produced by lasers and therefore treatments are much quicker. |
| Can it damage my skin? | IPL causes less damage to the surrounding skin than lasers and, therefore, the risk of skin pigmentation / depigmentation is much lower. |
If you would like more information on the services we offer please contact a member of the team!
Author: Lauren Taylor DepiCool
I have a scar on an area I would like permanent hair removal with laser or IPL, is this possible?
There are many reasons you may have scarred areas on the body, from operations to injuries, this does not prevent you at all from having IPL treatment, although we would advise that if the area is an area you are wishing to treat – ensure you alert the IPL centre at time of booking.
Any good IPL centre in the UK should offer you what is called an initial “patch test” which will determine your suitability for IPL treatment and ensure it is safe and effective for you.
We would also like to make you aware that any areas of scarred skin generally tend not to have hair growing directly on the scar itself, this would mean IPL is not necessary directly on the scar, however you may experience hair growth around the scarred area, this is perfectly normal and can be treated with IPL.
Here at DepiCool we would make any client aware that undergoing IPL near to a scarred area, would involve a great deal of care on behalf of the practitioner, as we advise not to treat directly on the scar itself, but to indeed administer the treatment around the scar. In doing so you may find there is a small area which is left untreated, as this will depend how close to the scar the practitioner is able to position the IPL head.
Ultimately though, IPL treatment is perfectly safe for an individual who may have a scar or scarred area but wishes to be treated with IPL, who is between skin Phototype 1-5 and whom adheres to both the pre and post treatment protocol.
DepiCool does assess all clients on an individual basis, so if you are unsure whether IPL treatment would be appropriate, we always recommend contacting a member of the team.
Author Lauren Taylor DepiCool UK
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Posted in Questions & Answers
We often get asked if IPL is a suitable method for hair removal on the male genitalia or indeed directly on the shaft of the penis or testicles themselves.
Many men are conscious of hair growing directly on these areas. However, hair growth in these regions is as common to males as when women have (often unwanted) facial hair or nipple hair. Unfortunately though, IPL is not a suitable method of hair removal for this particular area.
This is partly because it uses intensed pulsed beams of light which turn into heat, and it is this heat that damages the hair follicle thus inhibiting its growth. As you can undoubtedly imagine this does involve some degree of discomfort, but if we were to depilate the male anatomy with IPL, this discomfort would be extremely heightened being such a sensitive area especially to heat and temperature change of this nature.
Although IPL would not be suitable for hair reduction or hair removal on the male genitalia, a method you may wish to consider for permanent hair removal for this region would be Electrolysis.
This involves an electric current being applied with a very fine needle-shaped electrode, or metal probe into each hair follicle to destroy the root, thus weakening each hair from the base and eventually eliminating growth altogether.
You should also remember that the type of hair that grows in the pubic zone, is generally coarser than hair that grows for example on the legs, this means it will be more deeply rooted, so will be more painful when removing. But some men may see this as a more suitable option as it would give permanent results, as the saying goes… “No pain no gain”. As with IPL this method is something that would need to be done over a period of time, in order to respect the time frame it takes for the new hair to grow back. More information about the stages of hair growth.
Author Lauren Taylor DepiCool UK
As you can undoubtedly imagine this does involve some degree of discomfort, but if we were to depilate the male anatomy with IPL, this discomfort would be extremely being such a sensitive area especially due to heat and temperature change of this nature.
Darker Skin Types and IPL
Here at DepiCool we often get asked if IPL is suitable for darker skin types. Each time our response is the same: please check your skin type to our simple chart located on our website: Click Here
Unlike the conventional ´laser´ treatment, IPL can treat more of the six skin types shown above. Laser treatment is recommended to treat skin types I –IV (1-4) whereas IPL can treat skin types I – V (1-5).
Unfortunately IPL nor laser are suitable methods of hair reduction for skin type VI (6) as both treatments work best on lighter skin and darker hairs, for maximum effects. The reason treatment works better on these skin types is because there is more melanin in the darker hair follicles, and this is where the ´intensed pulse light´ is beamed. These hair follicles then absorb this light and turn it into heat, and thus damaging the hair follicle and inhibiting the hair from growing. If the skinphototype is too dark, the light becomes absorbed by the clients skin rather than the hair, and hence can cause adverse reactions.
We have proven success treating clients with skin types I – V (1-5). , both in our Spanish and UK stores. And safety is our number one priority; this is why each client in our UK stores is offered a FREE patch test. This simple test is carried out with one of our trained IPL Technicians in private and involves sampling between 4-5 IPL beams onto the designated area you wish to have treated.
Following on from the patch test, and providing your skin is deemed suitable and treatment would be safe, you can begin treatment 48 hours after. In cases of skin types 4-5 you will need to wait 2 weeks before treatment. This is purely a safety procedure that we undertake for darker skin phototypes, to ensure that there are no adverse affects from the patch test, and any good IPL centre should apply these same guidelines, for the safety of the client.
If you are still in doubt, please call us for more information and we will be happy to help you.
Author Lauren Taylor DepiCool UK
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