IPL/BBL is a “flashlamp” technology (NOT a laser) used to remove unwanted skin blemishes (basically anything that is redder or browner than the surrounding skin). Typically used for acne, brown spots (freckles, age spots), or red spots (tiny blood vessels), IPL/BBL is also somewhat useful in skin firming and tightening as well as temporary hair removal. Usually, more than one treatment is recommended to see great results, although you will see some results after a single treatment.
If there were a black leather chair and a white leather chair on the beach exposed to bright sunshine, which one would you sit on if you were wearing shorts? Even though it is being subjected to exactly the same amount of solar radiation as the black one, the white one would be cooler. Based on its dark pigment alone, the black chair would absorb more energy. This same principle is applied to get rid of unwanted skin blemishes via IPL/BBL.
During this procedure, the blemishes on your skin are differentially heated up as compared to the surrounding normal tissues (just like the black chair in the example above). Following a period of a few days, the skin of the treated areas will gently flake off akin to what happens after you have had a light sunburn.
Unlike a sunburn though, the brown and red spots will show nicer, healthier skin underneath. This whole process is also sometimes called photorejuvenation and can too be helpful in reducing pore size and fine wrinkles, making the skin more lustrous and healthy looking. It is highly effective on acne rosacea as well as regular acne.
IPL/BBL can also temporarily remove hair, but is not usually permanent (unless the dark hairs are exceptionally fine and very superficial). If you’re interested in more permanent forms of hair removal, we’d recommend that you check out the laser procedures offered by our sister clinic, Silhouette. Overall, this is considered a low risk treatment and almost all patients will have positive results.
Sometimes we use a photoactivator as in photodynamic therapy (PDT) for this same procedure. Levulan PDT uses a chemical that gets absorbed into the skin’s abnormal cells only, and is then activated by the light pulses during the IPL/BBL treatment session. This is especially useful for people who have several precancerous spots on their face.
The abnormal skin cells (otherwise invisible) absorb the chemical, but normal skin cells do not. The light from the treatment turns the chemical into a cruise missile, knocking out the misbehaving cells. This addition enhances the success of IPL/BBL results, and is highly recommended if you have had skin cancer spots on your face already and want to avoid reoccurrence.
The light from the IPL/BBL device passes through a special Sapphire Crystal and then into your skin. The penetration of the light into the skin will depend upon the specific features of the light. However, the effects on the imperfections of the skin occur quickly.
It essentially feels like an elastic band snapping on the skin, and some patients find it unpleasant (about on par with waxing treatments). However, the cooling of the tip feels pleasant. Because the light does not penetrate very deeply, it is useful only for more superficial types of lesions. If you have really deep telangiectasias (tiny blood vessels) or brown spots, then laser treatment might be a better option.
The fact that this light does not penetrate deeply is one of the reasons why it is safer to use, but also the reason why it can’t be expected to cause as much change in the tightness of the skin as you would see with other treatments.
If skin tightening is your primary concern, then we recommend you look over our Ultra-lift® procedure that uses Therapeutic Ultrasound. Sound waves travel deep into your tissues in the same way an ultrasound looks into the uterus.
The “flashlamp” tube was invented almost a hundred years ago, and remains a well-respected technology. The light produced is similar to regular (non-laser) light (the light waves are not coherent nor of the same wavelength).
The technologies we use at The DeLorenzi Clinic and Silhouette Cosmetic Laser Clinic involve the use of potent xenon dual lamp flashlamps, along with special filter crystals. The filter crystal blocks out most of the light except for a particular colour band. We use different filters, depending on what we are treating.
The filters allow us to select different wavelengths of light we need to treat specific problems of the skin. If we are looking to get rid of red spots and blood vessels, for example, then we’d select the colours of light most strongly absorbed by red and a 560 filter (green light) because green is most strongly absorbed by the red pigment in the skin. Because the light is so powerful, we use Sapphire Crystals to both cool and protect the skin from rising in temperature too much.
Some patients do obtain skin tightening results from these types of treatments, but their main purpose is getting rid of brown and red spots on the facial area, neck, chest and hands.
Unlike lasers which typically start in the several hundred thousand dollar plus range, IPL/BBL devices cost much less. They are relatively robust machines that don’t break down frequently, so their monthly service charges are much lower as well. As a result, we are pleased to be able to offer reasonable and affordable rates for treatment with these machines, on the order of a few hundred dollars.
One of our specially trained Medical Aestheticians will do the treatment for you. Treatments last less than 60 minutes, on average.
