Laser Treatment

Laser light is absorbed by water or dark pigments in our body’s tissues (such as melanin in the skin and hemoglobin in the blood) and converted to heat. A variety of functional and cosmetic skin problems can be treated with lasers. These lasers are often specialized to handle a particular type of problem; there is no “cure-all” laser capable of correcting all problems.

Lasers offer many advantages over traditional, mechanical technology, including “bloodless” surgery, reduced risk of infection, less scarring, high precision, limited injury, and faster procedures.*

Laser treatments can reduce the appearance of sun damage, acne scars, stretch marks, sun damage, wrinkles, fine lines, vascular lesions (spider veins and redness on the face) and uneven pigmentation.*

IPL Photofacial

Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) therapy, sometimes called a photofacial or photorejuvenation, offers our patients the chance to improve the tone and texture of their skin without significant recovery or downtime.* Ideal for evening out skin tone due to sun damage or healing visible redness from capillaries or rosacea, IPL is a safe, effective treatment that can help you look your best.*

Treatment

Our providers perform IPL treatments, which uses a special pulse laser approach by delivering short bursts of high-intensity light energy below the skin’s surface. This light energy helps to damage the melanin (skin pigmentation) responsible for causing age spots and other skin discolorations, and also addresses the damaged blood vessels that cause visible broken capillaries.* IPL treatments also help boost the natural collagen production in the skin.*

Although IPL is a form of laser therapy, the treatments are much gentler than traditional laser resurfacing procedures, and require no downtime following a treatment session. Although IPL is a comfortable procedure for the majority of patients, some do notice mild discomfort during their treatment, although this sensation lessens with continued treatments.* While there may be some variance depending on the area to be treated and amount of correction that’s needed, you can expect most treatment sessions to take about half an hour.*

How Many Treatments Will I Need?

Because of the minimally invasive nature of IPL, we recommend a series of treatments for the best results, usually between three and six sessions spaced about a month apart.* The number of treatments will vary from patient to patient according to your specific appearance goals. You should see a change in your skin right after your first treatment session.* At first, brown spots will actually become darker and you may see some redness.* This can be covered by makeup, and should resolve quickly. Skin will look smoother and your skin tone will become more even, with the effects becoming gradually more visible following each session.*

Post Procedure Instructions

Pre-op instructions are mainly to avoid recent sun exposure or light-sensitizing medications. Post-treatment instructions include applying moisturizers and sunblock as well as avoiding direct and undue sun exposure. An effective sunblock should be re-applied every 90 minutes whenever exposure is unavoidable. Heavy exercise and hot water to the treated areas should be avoided for the first 48 hours. We suggest that our patients avoid powders and liquid make up foundation immediately after treatments to decrease any chance of infection in those areas.

*Disclaimer, results may vary from person to person.

Do you have any questions about Laser and/or IPL Treatments? If you would like to schedule an appointment with one of our health professionals in our Los Alamitos or Agoura Hills office, please contact us for a consultation.