If you are fed up of unwanted hair and want to get rid of them forever, and have come across the term IPL hair reduction, you must surely wondering what IPL hair reduction is.
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Well, IPL is the acronym for Intense Pulsed Light and it’s a technology used by medical as well as cosmetic practitioners such as those at The Facial Hubto give various skin treatments for therapeutic and aesthetic purposes, such as hair removal, acne and photorejuvenation (such as treatment of sun damage, skin pigmentation etc.).
How does IPL Work?
The IPL technology uses a handheld, high-powered computer-controlled flashgun to give out a broad-spectrum, visible intense pulse of light, often in the visible spectral range between 500 and 1200 nm.
To selectively filter out lower wavelengths than these, various filters are often used. Especially the potentially dangerous ultra violet light should be filtered.
The light thus obtained has a spectral range that is aimed at particular structures as well as chromophores (such as oxyhemoglobin in blood vessels or melanin in hair) that are heated and destroyed and reabsorbed in the body.
IPL is able to diminish hair growth permanently, most efficiently in darker, rougher hair. It uses the broad-spectrum light which is fallen on the skin targeting melanin.
It then passes through the skin till it hits the hair shafts or root (bulb). The bulb is typically where the greatest concentration of melanin is present.
When the light is soaked in, most of the shaft gets heated and the hair-forming papilla is destroyed. It is also believed that the heat transformation takes place directly in the darker capillaries that carry blood to the follicle.
At a given time, all hair follicles cannot be “active” and the treatment affects only active hair follicles. “Inactive” follicles can be treated only when they become “active” eventually. Thus on an average, 8-10 IPL treatments are needed to eliminate most visible hair.
Thus there is no common decorum present and the treatment depends on the patient’s skin type and the equipment used. The skin surface to be treated must be free from sunburn and clean shaven.
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Similarities and Differences between IPL and Laser Technology
There are certain similarities between IPL and laser technology. They both make use of light to heat and burn down their targets.
However, unlike lasers that apply a single wavelength of light produced from the diode depending on what you want to target and that targets usually only one chromophore and hence a single condition, IPL applies a broad spectrum with multiple wavelengths (from 500 to 1,200 nanometres) that when applied with filters, scatter within the skin and can be used against many conditions.
This can be done when the IPL technician chooses the right filter that suits a particular chromophore.
Just like with all the light-based therapies, IPL emits a wavelength into the skin, which targets pigment when it is used for hair removal.
Just as black clothing absorbs more heat and white clothing reflects it, the pigment absorbs the light which then soon turns to heat and kills the growing cells that produce hair.
However, to make this technique work successfully, the hair needs to be living as mentioned above. This means it should be connected to the bulb of growing cells.
When a hair strand is pulled out, it has a small sticky bulb at its base. It’s one of the living hair on your body which are around 20 to 40 percent.
If it’s pulled out and it doesn’t, it’s a dead hair that continues to stay on your skin for up to 3 weeks. So, you have to take up to 12 treatments of laser hair removal to ensure all hair in its living cycle is removed.
You have a great option of getting IPL hair reduction Brisbane at The Facial Hub. Get it done and enjoy hair-free skin forever!