Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) provides fast, non-invasive hair removal for most skin types and hair colours, although it is not effective on white, grey or red hair where there is no pigment, so these would need to be removed by some other process.  IPL can be used to treat most areas of the body and face, for both males and females.

IPL works by removing hair with high-energy light pulses.  Filters are used to focus these pulses of light so that the burst of light causes damage to the hair and the hair follicle.

Before treatment, your medical history should be checked by the technician to make sure you are suitable to have IPL.  Treatment should be avoided:-

if you are or think you might be pregnant
if you have previous sensitivity to light based treatments
if the area being treated has an infection
if you have been taking isotretinoin in the last year

During the treatment, protective goggles must be worn to shield your eyes from the light issued by the machine. The treatment itself is a very straightforward process.  Simply, a small hand held device is touched to the skin which issues the pulses of light, damaging the hair and hair follicle.

The treatment can give a stinging or tingling sensation which can be a bit uncomfortable.  Anesthetic creams can be used in sensitive areas to make the treatment more comfortable if necessary.

Depending on the size of the area, treatment time normally lasts anywhere from 10 to 60 minutes.

To reduce the growth of hair, six to eight treatments may be necessary.  For more stubborn hair, usually on the face, more treatments may be needed.  The number of treatments needed vary from person to person and will depend on aspects such as skin type, thickness/ colour of hair etc.  Treatments should be spaced between 2 – 4 weeks apart.

There may be some redness and swelling to the area immediately after treatment but this should only last one or two days.

This treatment should only be practiced by qualified technicians who will give the best post-treatment advice.

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