Reduce Bothersome Birthmarks and Freckles With IPL Therapy

As you get older, it’s likely that you’re seeing signs of aging, such as brown spots or areas of hyperpigmentation. Developing over time after repeated exposure to the sun, they can range in size and color but are most often up to the size of a dime and are brown, tan, or black.

Birthmarks and freckles are among the most common hyperpigmentation issues. They’re often found on your face, hands, neck, or shoulders and can be the source of embarrassment depending on how visible they are. 

At New Image Medical Spa in Fremont, California, Surinder Sandhu, MD, offers intense pulsed light therapy (IPL) to men and women who want to reduce the appearance of skin conditions like freckles and birthmarks. Let’s take a closer look at IPL treatment and what you can expect when you come in for a session.

Diminishing freckles and birthmarks

Freckles, also called ephelides, are very small colored spots that often span across your face, shoulders, arms, and hands. Though there is a genetic association that has to do with your melanin production, freckles also form and multiply with sun exposure. 

Birthmarks show up when or shortly after you’re born and can manifest as port wine stains, moles, strawberry marks, cafe au lait spots, and hemangiomas. Pigmentation abnormalities or atypical blood vessels are to blame for birthmarks, which explains why they can range in colors such as brown, black, purple, red, pink, or blue.

You can reduce the appearance of your unwanted freckles and birthmarks with a few sessions of nonsurgical IPL therapy. You’ll be amazed how this popular light technology can transform your complexion.

How IPL works

IPL technology uses concentrated pulsed light to destroy areas of excess pigmentation and discoloration without compromising the integrity of the healthy surrounding tissue. It’s engineered so that the light travels beneath the top visible layer of skin into the secondary layer, where dark spots erupt. 

The darker pigmentation absorbs and attracts the intense pulsed light and changes it into heat, which causes the discolored cells to break up. Your body’s intuitive waste removal system takes over to absorb them over time. 

IPL therapy is similar to laser therapy, but IPL is far more thorough when it comes to discolorations such as brown spots, freckles, and birthmarks. Where lasers use one focused wavelength of light, IPL produces several bursts of different light waves simultaneously.

What to expect with IPL therapy

If you’re bothered by birthmarks or freckles, Dr. Sandhu encourages you to consider IPL therapy. To determine if the procedure is right for you, she examines your skin closely and talks with you about your goals. She develops a customized plan that includes how many treatments you may require to achieve your desired appearance.

When you come in for an IPL treatment, Dr. Sandhu cleans your skin and applies a numbing cream before placing the IPL device on your targeted area. It deploys the pulses of light, diminishing your freckles, birthmarks, and brown spots with each flash. In most cases, you’re in and out in less than 30 minutes.

IPL therapy is nonsurgical, so there’s no downtime involved in your recovery, and you can return to your regular activities immediately. The treated areas will flake off in 7 to 10 days.

It’s possible that you may have some swelling and redness following IPL treatment, so we advise you to avoid hot water and strenuous exercise until the tenderness dissipates. For a few short days, your skin may look and feel sunburned, but the redness goes away within a few days. 

For more information on the outstanding results you can achieve with IPL therapy to reduce bothersome birthmarks and freckles and improve your skin’s appearance, contact New Image Medical Spa by calling the office or requesting an appointment online.