First lets understand what the difference is:
- IPL, or Intense Pulsed Light, is a broad spectrum light like from a lightbulb, more specifically thing of a strobe flash on a camera. It is very bright and emits a broad spectrum of wavelengths. Remember the old school experiment where you shine a light through a prism and you get the rainbow of colors coming out of the other side, that would be like IPL.
- Laser on the other hand is a single beam of intense light of a single specific wavelength. So if you shine a laser through a prism you won’t get a rainbow, but just a single narrow beam coming out the other side of just one color.
Ok, that was some basic physics. So the laser can deliver a very specific wavelength which can be highly effective for what the treatment is. For example we have two Candela GentelLase lasers which use an Alexandrite laser which delivers a coherent 755 nm wavelength light – basically a reddish color. This wavelengths is readily absorbed by black, brown, and blue pigmented objects. On the other hand it is poorly absorbed by yellow, tan, red, white, etc. So if you have brown or black hair and are fair skinned then all that laser’s energy will be absorbed by the brown or black pigment in the hair shaft in the follicle. it is the heating of the hair in the follicle that heats the surrounding follicle and cauterizes its blood supply. This laser can also be used on blue spider veins as well.
Contrast this with the IPL. It emits a broad spectrum of wavelengths. By itself it would just burn everything. What they do is put filters over the beam to filter out some of the wavelengths. The way these work is similar to the sieve or screen you may have used as a kid in the sandbox. You pour sand through and the large pebbles, stones, toys, etc get caught in the screen and the smaller sand, or anything which fits through the openings, passes through. So all sizes of sand down to dust.
So the light the IPL hair removal device delivers to the skin is all light from a certain wavelength and smaller. Typically they will let light pass between 400nm and 1200nm. This is much of the visible spectrum and into the inferred ranges. Shine this through a prism and you’ll see a portion of the rainbow.
What this means to you the patient is that with laser you are receiving a very specific wavelength of light which is highly effective for hair removal. With IPL you will receive the 755nm wavelength, but also many ofhter wavelengths, which leads to more heating of the skin. Either can be effective for hair removal, but you’ll feel more heat, or pain, from IPL than from a true laser. You’ll also have a lesser risk of hyper or hypo-pigmentation from a true laser vs IPL.
When we were initially searching for a laser to use we put ourselves under all the competitive lasers to see what they felt like. Even tough the IPL lasers were much cheaper than a true laser, we wanted the most comfortable experience for our clients, so we selected the premium laser for hair removal, the Candela GentleLase.
We are conveniently located in Northern Broomfield, so if you are anyplace in the metro Denver or Boulder area we are just minutes away. We’ve been in business for six years and have a A rating with the Denver/Boulder BBB and thousands of happy customers. Please give us a call to make an appointment for a free consultation.