Nd:YAG vs IPL
Did you know that IPL is NOT a laser?
If you think all laser hair removal is the same think again!
The IPL machine targets the skin in the first instance and then the hair, which reduces the effectiveness and often causes skin burn. The most common complaints from this inferior service are the poor results and skin burn.
IPL’s uses a concentrated beam of incoherent light to burn the hair shaft. They lack a real lasers ability to produce a selective bandwidth that will target only the hair. IPL’s produce a bandwidth of light that can heat up all the surrounding tissue, making it less effective in disabling hair. This is particularly true on darker skin
In addition, IPLs do not penetrate as deeply as lasers which means the key structure of the hair follicle are not destroyed. This means results are limited and generally short lived.
The key benefit of the Nd:YAG laser technology is that the laser targets the growing hair in the anagen phase directly. This bypasses the skin to prevent the hair follicle from producing a new hair and significantly lowers the risk of skin burning and improved the effectiveness of the treatment.
An Nd:YAG Laser can safely treat skin type I-VI, can treat light and dark skin, medium to dark hairs as well as red and dark blue veins, pigmentation with limelight, Skin rejuvenation and even warts!
There are many more published clinical studies that prove lasers are more effective than IPL so you don’t just need to take our word for it!
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21999492/
So why do Clinics buy IPL machines?
IPL’s are cheaper and as a result you may find that individual IPL treatments are cheaper than Laser. However, for hair removal IPL requires more treatments on average (around 10 vs 6 with a laser) to achieve the desired results. IPL can also remove the pigment from the hair, making further treatment impossible.
Lasers also have advanced skin cooling methods (IPLs tend to use gels which are not only messy but do not maintain a cooling sensation)
In conclusion:
The ND:YAG laser is considered the ‘Gold Standard’ for skin types IV – VI and can even be used on tanned skin. IPLs are not considered to be safe for treating dark or tanned skin.
Don’t be fooled for cheaper machines with cheaper treatment prices as you will pay for it in effectiveness and number of treatments in the end.
It’s no wonder SKINFUDGE clinics also use Nd:Yag lasers!
