Page 238 - Chapter 3 - Laser/IPL Hair Removal

Chapter 3 – Fundamentals of Laser/IPL Hair Removal 2nd Edition
In general, red light penetrates deeper in the skin than blue light. So, a red laser beam will penetrate much further than a green or yellow or blue laser beam. An infrared laser beam will penetrate even further (up to a certain wavelength!!).
Figure 128 – Penetration of light from an IPL unit into the skin
Figure 127 – Penetration of laser light into the skin
But, an IPL output, which can be from 400nm to 1200nm will deliver light energy to various depths, according to the same principle as above – i.e. the extinction coefficients. So, its blue light will not penetrate too far, while its red and infrared light will penetrate relatively deeply into the skin.
The penetration depths are exactly the same as laser light. It doesn’t matter where the light comes from!!
The reality is that the penetration depth does not depend on the technology – only on the skin’s tissue’s extinction coefficients.
Myth 3 – IPLs “don’t generate long term results, like lasers”
There is no scientific basis for this claim at all!! If sufficient light energy is applied creating the correct conditions for the ‘cooking’ processes, then the results will be equivalent. The type of light used to induce the cooking is entirely irrelevant!
Myth 4 – “The broadband wavelength range of IPLs makes them ‘much weaker’ than lasers”
This myth shows a lack of understanding of the physics. One Joule of laser energy has exactly the
________________________________________________________________________ 238 Chapter 3, Ed. 2.0 Laser/IPL Hair Removal
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