Page 60 - Chapter 3 - Laser/IPL Hair Removal

Chapter 3 – Fundamentals of Laser/IPL Hair Removal 2nd Edition
Figure 23 – Uncontrolled skin cooling techniques
Cooling with cryo spray bursts is typically found on high end lasers (Alexandrite and Nd:YAG laser) for hair removal and vascular treatments while contact cooling with a window or waveguide is typically used with IPLs and diode lasers.
The cryo spray cooling has the advantage of providing the most aggressive epidermal cooling effect as it can cool the skin well below 0oC. The disadvantage is that the cooling spot is larger than the spot size of the laser leading to some inconsistency when light pulses are delivered adjacent. The cyro spray can also create ice crystals on the skin if the humidity of the air high and this ice layer may block and reflect a substantial amount of the radiation before reaching into the skin. Research also indicates that the cooling effect with cryo sprays may only extend to a depth of around 0.2 mm – just below the epidermis, due to the short time the cooling effect is active. This is not deep enough to protect the papillary dermis sufficiently.
The optimal device skin cooling method is to apply a little water-based gel and then an ice- pack onto the skin surface for at least two minutes prior to any laser/IPL treatment. If you think about it, we are deliberately trying to overheat something in the skin (blood vessels or follicles or pigmentation). Unfortunately, other parts of the skin will also overheat – we can’t avoid that. So, to mitigate this, we MUST cool the skin, before AND after the application of the light/heat energy!
By doing this, you will minimise the pain sensation, blistering, the risk of hypo- and hyperpigmentation and make the process much more comfortable overall.
Most IPL and diode systems don’t appear to have sufficient cooling power designed into them, necessitating the need for ice-packs!
________________________________________________________________________ 60 Chapter 3, Ed. 2.0 Laser/IPL Hair Removal
© The Laser-IPL Guys, 2025