More About those Darn Age Spots Leaving You for 2021
There isn’t a single person who wasn’t glad to see the calendar turn over, bidding adieu to the year that was 2020. If only we’d had 20/20 vision about 2020, maybe we all could have just found a cave in the Sierras and hunkered down like it was 1999… B.C.
Still, as the New Year is here, you’ve probably taken a full inventory of things about your body and skin. After all, what else was there to do when we were basically trapped indoors for months on end? You probably noticed those ages spots and areas of darkened pigmentation and you wondered what you could do about them.
In this month’s first blog, we gave you a great option — intense pulse light photofacials at Central Valley with our aesthetic expert, Dr. Kimberly Cockerham. In this second blog of the New Year, let’s get into IPL a little more. Then you’ll be prepared to show those age spots the door for 2021.
What is an IPL photofacial?
There is a basic misunderstanding of the difference between intense pulsed light (IPL) and lasers when it comes to skin rejuvenation. The difference comes down to the light delivered. IPL machines deliver an intense beam of broad-spectrum light. Lasers only deliver a single wavelength of light.
In an IPL photofacial, the broad spectrum of light targets the dermis (the skin’s second layer), leaving the epidermis (the skin’s surface layer) undamaged. IPL photofacials at Central Valley Eye Medical have two components: energy heats the cells in the deeper dermis triggering increased collagen production, and energy is absorbed by skin imperfections such as age spots in the epidermis.
How does an IPL photofacial work to improve my skin?
Those two aspects of photofacials improve your skin in two ways. First, the light energy penetrates the epidermis layer of the skin (the outer layer) and gently heats the dermis, the skin’s second layer. This triggers the classic “wound healing” response that is behind many skin treatments. When the body senses this heating in the dermis it responds as if it has been wounded by producing new amounts of collagen and sending it to the “wounded” area (even though there is no actual wound). Since collagen provides the skin’s underlying support structure, this firms your skin and reduces lines and wrinkles.
The second photofacial benefit addresses your pigmentation problems such as age spots and wrinkles. The darker cells absorb the IPL energy, and the melanin pigment fragments. The body then absorbs the pigment cells and the spots become less and less visible. With veins, the energy is absorbed by the dark blood, heating the vein. This heating causes the vein wall to collapse and close off the vein. The body then scavenges the vein and it completely disappears.
How long does a typical photofacial take at Central Valley?
These treatments take between 30 and 90 minutes, depending on the size of the area Dr. Cockerham is treating.
Since we’re not done with this dumb virus yet for 2021, at least you can be done with your age spots and other skin imperfections. An IPL photofacial’s just the ticket. Give us a call at Central Valley Eye Medical Group, (800) 244-9907, and make an IPL appointment at one of our three locations.
Posted in: Cosmetic Oculoplastic Services
