Bad reaction to IPL, please help
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Wed Jun 21, 2006 8:37 am

Hi, I am new to this board and I have a dilemma. I had my third IPL treatment done on June 9 and my face is a mess. I have a lot of red blotches on my cheeks and my capillaries are ten times worse than before and I developed a whole bunch of new ones. The strange thing is I had IPL treatments done last year and I didn’t have a reaction like this before. My face always gets swollen after each treatment but gets back to normal after one week.
Last year I had a series of 6 treatments done and it turned out great. It never got totally rid of my caps but they were a lot less noticeable.
Right now my face looks like a road map. My caps are bright red and I have new caps at places I didn’t have them before. I am scared they won’t go away. Has this happened to anyone else before? Does it sometimes look worse before it looks better? How long should I wait to call the derm? I am really worried.
Thank you so much for any advise.

free skin care · Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:22 am

sassy180

I've never had IPL treatments, but from everything I've read, it IS frequently the case that broken capillaries become far more pronounced. The good news is that they are then supposed to fade. In fact, it may not be a bad reaction at all, but a good one.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you. Do keep us posted !

free skin care · Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:31 am

My face always looks messed up for a few days after, but marks and caps have always faded away over time. Since you've had it done before, they may have used a little higher setting, so marks may look a little more pronounced this time. Mine have always been temporary so just give it a while and see what happens.

Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:37 am

Thank you ladies.
I hope you are right katee, that it may be actually a good reaction.
Sportygirl, they did use a higher setting this time. It hurt like hell, even with the numbing cream. How long did it take for your caps to fade away?

free skin care · Wed Jun 21, 2006 10:11 am

I think it took about 2 weeks last time, and I also went to a higher setting and had a few light bruises too! But of course as usual my face looked great after everything healed. Very Happy

free skin care · Wed Jun 21, 2006 10:21 am

Hi Sassyred,
I haven't had IPL done on the face, but I had 5 treatments of laser/sclero therapy combo on my legs, to get rid of spider and reticular veins.

I always get more pronounced red spiderveins from laser, and sometimes it does seem like there's more of them and in larger knots. They fade and disappear, but it may take a pretty long time. First 3 times it varied, but the longest it took for them to disappear was 4 months.

It does help to moisturize the area a lot and last 2 times I took A LOT of vitamin C (internally), 500mg every hour for 3 days. It seemed to speed up the fading. Not sure if applying topical C might help too.

i'm not even sure if it works the same for the face, sorry. HTH

free skin care · Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:30 am

It kind of sounds like they used a higher setting. I always have a few more red spots until they fade. Try giving it about a few more weeks and see where you are. Also, did you use any retinol products too soon after? That can also have that effect.

Wed Jun 21, 2006 1:20 pm

Annie, I did use a retin A (0.025) product until about 2 days before the IPL and I haven't used it since. I only used it on my forehead and under my eyes though, not on the rest of my face.
I am going to wait it out for a while and hope it will get better. thank you.

free skin care · Wed Jun 21, 2006 2:27 pm

I too had a worse reaction on my last one in late May and still have red spots and more redness than usual. I had horrible swelling for up to 5 days. My reaction was because the IPL was set higher and she does up to the eye. It did kind of stretch my skin out a little I think also. I can no longer use my Proheal right now since I had a reaction to it, but am using Kinerase cream which doesn't seem to bother it. My derm gives it to me for right after the treatment.

Wed Jun 21, 2006 3:04 pm

I had really bad swelling for almost one week. My derm did it up to the eye as well and on a very high setting, I have very light skin. My face still feels hot at times. I just hope they didn't do any permanent damage to my face. What do you mean by stretched your skin? Is your face sagging now?

free skin care · Thu Jun 22, 2006 6:49 am

I notice a few deeper lines where they were more shallow before in the nsaolabial area. I had restylane there so it could also be that the IPL dissolved it but they SWEAR it is not "supposed" to. I pointed it out to hubby and he agrees. It could also be that I pay closer attention after to look at results but I don't think so.

Thu Jun 22, 2006 8:24 am

That really sucks. I am sorry to hear that. Well, I don't think I will continue with IPL treatments, too many problems. For my caps I think I will get some electric needle treatments. They always work and there are never any problems with redness and such. Lasers are just too risky no matter what Dr.

free skin care · Thu Jun 22, 2006 1:01 pm

hi ,i have also had 3 ipl treatments the first one helped then the second one i had very bad swelling for that couldnt even open up my eye it went down alot then it was but i still feel my face is much more puffy and that the fluid just hasnt drained in my skin, i then went back for a 3rd treatment and i dont think my skin could take it and it made the puffiness worse,

I do think it helped a little as i had good results for month but now it seems to have gone back to the same problem i dont know what to do and still ahve this puffy skin, surely puffiness goes down?how long should it take?i had my last treatment in April?I f anyone fancys chatting i have msn and its much quicker to chat on there, where did you go for your ipl treatments Sassy180?

free skin care · Thu Jun 22, 2006 5:53 pm

when i got ipls done, they told me i'd have dark red spots for days. My capillaries were enlarged too, but they all faded and disappeared. Youre symptoms sound like they really got down in the deeper parts of your skin, which is a good thing Smile

free skin care · Thu Jun 22, 2006 6:34 pm

I was really scared after my IPL treatment. My whole left cheek was extremely bruised. The capillaries on my right side were more pronounced and very red. As others have said, they used a very high setting. After healing (approximately three weeks) I was delighted I decided to have IPL.

free skin care · Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:41 am

I agree Winnie. I am always so glad to have it done even with the pain and swelling. I am a HUGE bruiser. First time left me with huge purple bruises. Every time it gets better and the bruising lighter, even though I still have the swelling. But I will continue to have them done 'cause the results are so worth it.

Fri Jun 23, 2006 8:59 am

Sarah, I got my IPL treatments done by a dermatologist in Manhattan Beach, California.
I had 6 IPL treatments done by her last year and it turned out wonderful. Until they used a vascular laser on me to treat individual capillaries on my face. It turned out horrible. It left me with more caps and a lot of red spots. It took almost 1 year to heal and my caps were still there. On me lasers just don't work on caps. I have tried other places too and I was never satisfied with the results. I still like my IPL treatments, I just have to make sure they are using a setting that is not so high. IPL's never did anything to remove my caps but were great for improving my overall skintexture and tone and making my pores smaller and my skin tighter. I will try electrocoagulation next to remove my caps. But I will wait at least 2 months or longer before I go. Does anybody know of a good place to go to get caps zapped with electric needle in the Los Angeles area? I tried google and couldn't find any place.

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