Patients should avoid sun exposure, including tanning beds, 4 weeks prior to treatment. Patients should also avoid aspirin and over anti-inflammatory medications one week prior to treatment to reduce bruising and bleeding.

To prepare for the treatment, you will be given eyewear to protect your eyes from the emission of light. A cooling gel is applied to the area that’s being treated. A series of pulses of light is briefly applied to the target area with a handheld device. Following the procedure, any unwanted pigment either darkens and flakes off or is absorbed by the lymphatic system.

Most treatments take less than an hour.

Patients can see results after 1 to 3 treatments. Additional treatments may be recommended, especially for those with excessive skin damage. New brown spots and redness may appear with new sun damage, which can be treated.

Most patients consider the treatment to easy to tolerate and describe the pulses as a warming sensation or as a light snap from a rubber band.

The treatment is generally considered safe. However, redness swelling or bruising may temporarily occur.

IPL is a noninvasive procedure, which means that you can return to normal activity immediately following treatment. To maintain calm skin, it’s recommended that strenuous exercise be avoided for 24 hours. However, please note that immediately following treatment, brown spots will darken and redness and swelling may occur, which lasts a few hours up to a day or two. In 1 to 3 weeks, the darkened spots will flake off and fade.