What Is IPL Vascular Therapy?

What Is IPL Vascular Therapy?

IPL vascular therapy is a non-invasive treatment used to address a variety of skin conditions related to blood vessels, such as spider veins, rosacea, and broken capillaries. IPL vascular therapy is generally considered safe and effective, with minimal downtime and few side effects.

How Does IPL Vascular Therapy Work?

IPL vascular therapy is similar to laser treatment. However, the laser focuses on your skin with only one wavelength of light, while IPL releases different wavelengths like a photo flash. When IPL is used to treat spider veins (also called telangiectasia), the light creates heat in the veins. This causes the vein walls to collapse and scar tissue to form. Eventually, these veins are reabsorbed by the body and disappear after a few weeks.

Generally, IPL affects the lower layers of the skin instead of the top layer, which allows it to reach deeper structures without burning and damaging the surface of the skin. The light from an IPL device consists of different wavelengths. The amount of each wavelength can be varied and adjusted, which allows the IPL device to be effective in targeting and treating different vascular conditions.

IPL Capillary Treatment

Since IPL uses many wavelengths of light at the same time, it has the greatest effect on the capillaries that are visible on the surface of the skin. IPL vascular treatment needs to be performed in a reputable beauty centre. Each session usually lasts between 15 and 45 minutes, depending on the location and number of capillaries to be treated. You may also need to have several treatment sessions four to six weeks apart. Veins treated with an IPL device usually fade after a few weeks.

You may feel hot flashes or a burning sensation from the light pulses during the IPL vascular therapy, but most people will not find the procedure unbearably painful.

Is There Downtime After IPL Vascular Therapy?

After an IPL vascular treatment, there may be some redness or bruising on the skin near the treated area, which lasts only a few days to a few weeks. But in general, you can resume your normal activities immediately after the IPL treatment.

If the treated area becomes uncomfortably warm after the vascular therapy session, place an ice pack on the affected area for a few minutes until the heat dissipates. You should avoid a hot shower, sauna, and bath for a few days. You should also avoid exposing the treated area to direct sunlight for three to four weeks and use a high SPF sunscreen.

What Causes Vascular Lesions?

​In order to better understand vascular lesions, you must first familiarize yourself with the blood circulation system in the body. In the circulatory system, the heart first pumps oxygenated blood through the arterial blood vessels to all the organs of the body.

Types of Vascular lesions

Then the blood, which is now devoid of oxygen and nutrients, returns to the heart through the veins. The veins must use the power of the heart, the power of the leg muscles, and one-way valves to move the blood from the legs upwards and in the opposite direction of the earth's gravity.

When these veins become abnormally thick, tortuous, or enlarged, vascular lesions will ensue. The lesions occur due to damage to the wall or the veins. These veins are often blue or a dark shade of red. The condition occurs mostly in the legs and face.

Spider veins that may surround varicose veins are smaller and appear close to the surface of the skin. Although these veins can be unsightly and uncomfortable, they are not usually dangerous. However, in some cases, severe varicose veins can lead to serious health problems such as blood clots.

Some of the potential causes of vascular lesions include:

• Aging
• Environmental exposure
• Diet
• Lifestyle
• Work conditions
• Genetics
• Trauma
• Birthmark

Read more: Birthmark Removal

Types of Vascular Therapy

Although there is no definitive cure for vascular lesions, there are methods that can be used to reduce their appearance and help to relieve discomfort:

IPL Vascular Therapy

In this procedure, a high intensity light source is used to treat spider veins as well as other types of skin problems such as superficial red thread capillaries, darker red / purple capillaries, blue vessels, rosacea, angiomas, and poikiloderma. IPL treatments are better at treating issues deeper in the skin while LED treatments can effectively treat surface level defects.

Keeping the Legs Up

If the skin lesions have formed on your legs and thighs, to increase the blood flow and reduce the pressure in the veins, it helps to lean your legs against the wall and above your waist several times during the day.

Compression Stockings

By applying constant pressure to the veins, these socks partially reduce the effect caused by the weakness of the walls in the leg veins and help to return the blood flow to the heart. As a result, swelling is reduced and blood clotting is prevented.

Injection Therapy (Sclerotherapy)

During sclerotherapy, the therapist injects a chemical into your veins. This solution causes the vein walls to stick together and eventually, the vein will turn into scar tissue and disappears.

Laser Therapy

In this method, a laser is used to close the damaged vein. The therapist shoots the laser beam (light) directly at the damaged veins causing the spider capillaries to disappear immediately.

Vein Surgery

During this procedure, the surgeon closes the damaged vein to prevent blood pooling. The surgeon may also remove the vein to prevent varicose veins from reappearing.

Final Word

Aging, exposure to sunlight, and other factors can cause fragility in the capillaries and blood vessels and create vascular lesions. In Brilliant Skin Australia, spider veins, broken capillaries, red spots, and rosacea can all be reduced and removed to offer clients an even, more uniform complexion with the help of industry-leading UltraLUX PRO which is skincare technology at its finest.

IPL Vascular Therapy FAQs

What are the side effects of IPL treatment?

Fortunately, IPL treatment is a mild and non-invasive procedure, so side effects are minimal. Side effects of IPL can include temporary redness, blistering, or darkening or lightening of the skin.

Do broken capillaries come back after IPL?

No, treated spider veins and capillaries should not return after IPL vascular therapy. However, new spider veins may develop, especially if you have other underlying vein problems, such as varicose veins or venous insufficiency. Spider veins that develop after IPL may require more and longer treatments to disappear.

Can IPL cause skin cancer?    

IPL vascular therapy is a very safe procedure and there has never been a risk of developing cancer as a result of this treatment.

How long does IPL treatment last?

Each treatment session lasts between 15 to 45 minutes. To reach optimal results you may need several sessions. The results will normally last for up to a year.

Is IPL facial painful?

No, IPL vascular treatment is a very safe procedure with none to truly little pain.

Does IPL help red nose?

Yes, it helps to remove or reduce the vascular lesions causing the redness in the nose.

Do capillaries look worse after IPL?

No, IPL does not make the skin look worse before it gets better. This form of treatment is especially effective when it comes to reducing or removing vascular lesions.