Intense Pulsed Light (IPL)

IPL, or intense pulsed light, is a noninvasive aesthetic treatment that uses broad-spectrum light pulses to target skin discoloration concerns or unwanted face or body hair. It improves the overall appearance of treated skin, creating youthful beauty without pain, surgery, needles, or downtime.

DescriptioIPL treatment can treat the following:

• Sun damage

• Age spots

• Freckles

• Pigmentation irregularities

• Undesirable facial or body hair

• Melasma

• Broken blood vessels

• Rosacea

• Port-wine stains

These pigmentation irregularities may develop because of vascular conditions, unprotected sun exposure, hormonal changes, or genetics.

IPL can improve your skin’s texture and tone, enhancing the appearance of your face, neck, chest, hands, or other problem areas. IPL creates flawless beauty. It’s a safe, low-risk way to look and feel years younger.n text goes here

IPL passes light waves through the top skin layer, targeting lesions or other pigmentation concerns. It uses numerous wavelengths to damage hair follicles or lighten darker skin spots by destroying pigment cells.

IPL wavelengths can also heat the blood supply in damaged blood vessels, causing visible spider or varicose veins to collapse. Your body absorbs and eliminates the diseased veins over time.

Treated facial or body hair begins to fall out in the days and weeks following IPL hair-removal treatment sessions.

During IPL procedures, wear glasses to protect your eyes. Your specialist may apply numbing cream or cooling gel to the treatment areas to reduce any pain.

Your provider uses a specialized device to emit pulsed light beams into targeted areas. This may feel like a rubber-band snapping sensation. The length of your treatment varies based on the size of the areas treated, but it might last 20-30 minutes or longer.

For many skin conditions, you may need 3-6 treatments spaced about a month apart, allowing your skin time to heal between sessions. Hair removal might require 6-12 sessions to achieve the desired results.

While the treated lesions may appear darker at first, they fade during the few weeks after treatment when pigmented cells break down or flake off.

Common side effects after the procedure include redness, short-term skin-color changes, sensitivity, crusting, and sometimes swelling. It might feel like you have a sunburn for several hours. You can apply a cold compress to treated skin to soothe it.

​​​​​​​Schedule an evaluation at Thrive Medical Spa & Wellness by phone or online today to learn more about IPL and determine if it’s right for you.

IPL utilizes broad-spectrum light waves that penetrate multiple skin layers to address various concerns simultaneously, whereas lasers emit a single concentrated wavelength targeting specific issues. This versatility allows IPL to effectively treat sun damage, redness, and pigmentation in a single session, while lasers are preferred for deeper precision work like tattoo removal or severe scarring.

Ideal candidates typically have fair to medium skin tones (Fitzpatrick types I-IV) with visible sun damage or vascular concerns. We do not recommend IPL for darker skin tones (Fitzpatrick V-VI) due to potential melanin interaction risks, nor for pregnant or nursing women, or individuals with active skin infections or melanoma history. All patients receive a pre-treatment patch test to ensure safety.

Most patients require three to five sessions spaced three to four weeks apart. Your personalized treatment plan depends on concern severity: mild redness or pigmentation typically requires two to three sessions, moderate sun damage responds best to four to five sessions, and annual touch-ups maintain optimal results.

Most patients resume normal activities immediately after treatment. Temporary side effects include 24-48 hours of sunburn-like redness and 3-7 days of darkened pigmentation that flakes off like "coffee grounds." We recommend avoiding sun exposure, retinoids, and vigorous exercise for seven days post-treatment.

Improperly administered IPL can exacerbate these concerns, which is why Thrive's board-certified providers utilize integrated cooling systems to protect sensitive skin, calibrate wavelengths specifically for vascular versus pigmented lesions, and carefully avoid pulse overlapping to prevent thermal injury.

Results develop progressively: redness begins fading within 1-2 weeks, pigmentation darkens and sheds at 3-4 weeks, and maximum clarity emerges 8-12 weeks after your final session. Ninety-five percent of our patients achieve over 75% clearance of targeted concerns.