Skin Care Review: Intense Pulsed Laser (IPL) - Photoderm

I had (1) IPL treatment at a cost of $350. IPL or, as it is sometimes called, photoderm or photorejuvenation is supposed to address redness, broken blood vessels or spider veins, age spots, & discoloration. I have a mild case of rosacea so I did have a lot of redness at times & spider veins. The IPL treatment really did get rid of a lot of the redness & some of the spider veins. I was told I'd probably need 1 more treatment to completely rid my face of all of the broken capillaries. There is a noticeable improvement in the redness as well as the appearance of the broken veins. They are not totally gone & a few more have appeared in other areas, but all in all, the treatment did clear almost all of my redness & I think if I would have opted to have the second treatment, it probably would have eradicated most of the spider veins. One thing to be aware of is that the laser itself did leave some small holes in my face at the site where the laser zapped the veins. The holes! could be compared to a small indentation that one would have from acne. They are not noticeable to anyone but myself but they are there. There is also 1 small area under my eye that almost a year later is still very slightly raised as in swollen or puffy. Again, it is very slight and noticeable to no one but myself. I have read on one discussion board some horror stories about the IPL which I think occur because the technician is not knowledgeable about how to adjust the settings on the laser. They do include instances of the laser causing permanent larger holes, permanent puffiness, dry & crinkly skin, terribly enlarged pores, etc. I consider myself lucky to have had a good experience with the IPL & would have to seriously think about having a 2nd treatment because I did experience some of those same side effects that I read about - much milder, but they were consistent on a much smaller scale.