Photo Facial Guide

There's a lot of people out there who don't accept that to live is to age and get old.  Instead of accepting the "ravages of time" that come in the form of wrinkles and generally old, sagging skin, scores of women (and even men) "battle" against what is natural, getting treatments that are often of questionable safety and effectiveness, all in the quest to look and feel a bit younger.  Granted, there are also people who make use of technology to fix so-called blemishes, as well as to deal with some skin conditions not experienced by most people, such as rosacea.  With photo facials, phototherapy or light therapy is used to achieve these aims.  There are two basic types of photo therpy, LED and IPL.  LED stands for Light Emitting Diode while IPL stands for Intense Pulsed Light, sort of a fancy way of saying "laser".  One is gentle, the other is more invasive.  They are used for somewhat different purposes and one will be more suitable for certain conditions than the other and vice versa.  Usually, a photo facial is done to boost collagen production in the skin or to treat conditions like acne, rosacea, broken capillaries, brown spots, and other imperfections on the skin.  If you are thinking about getting a photo facial treatment, read on to see which type would be the best for you.

You might be better off getting a LED photo facial if all you're looking for is photo facial rejuvenation in the form of increased collagen production.  Collagen is a protein that is naturally produced by the body and makes up about a quarter of the protein in our bodies.  It's a connective tissue that not only joints, but skin depend on for healthy functioning.  It's what gives definition, form, flexibility, and elasticity to our skin- things we take for granted when we're younger.  However, as we age, collagen production tends to decrease or existing collagen degrades in quality, leading to skin that sags and those dreaded wrinkles.  In LED photo therapy, a narrow spectrum of LED light is used on the skin, meaning treatment is very safe and collagen is gently stimulated.  This treatment can also be used to kill the bacteria that causes acne.  Because it's gentle and safe, you may be able to get LED photo facial treatment in a spa.  The treatment is painless and there's not even any heat to deal with.  Many people actually find it relaxing to get an LED treatment, which is good because to get the best results, you want to get several treatments spaced one or two weeks apart.  After about six treatments, it's good to follow up with maintenance treatments which can be done at longer intervals.  Treatment can be done as part of a normal facial, too.  Although the results you get with this type of photo facial aren't as dramatic as those with surgery, it is a more natural, easier, and also cheaper way to better skin.

The other option one has when it comes to photo facial treatments is to get an IPL photo facial, also known as a laser photo facial.  This type of treatment is more likely to be found in a medical spa or doctor's office because of the risks to damage to the skin if the laser is improperly used.  Because the intensity of the tool used is different, this being a laser, skin is actually burned away in treatment.  You shouldn't really feel pain beyond a sensation of having a rubber band snapped against the skin as the laser does its work.  As with LED photo facials, an IPL photo facial rejuvenation is intended to boost collaged to boost collagen in order to "fix" skin conditions.  Because of the directed and more powerful nature of this type of photo rejuvenation facial, it is especially suitable for brown spots and broken capillaries as the laser gives specific amounts of energy adjusted for the areas that need treatment.  An IPL photo facial is also great for rosacea and redness of the face, reducing redness dramatically in most people.  People with sun-damaged skin, enlarged pores, and hyperpigmentation are also good candidates for the treatment, which takes about fifteen minutes to half and hour over the course of five to eight treatments. 
As for results, patients can expect a smoother skin and a more even tone thoroughout from the first treatment.  Typical results also include fading of sun spots, a lessening of wrinkles and fine lines, and shrinkage of pores.  These conditions can also usually be expected to improve with each subsequent treatment, with rosacea sufferers seeing a lessening of redness with each treatment.  If all goes well, patients are fine after treatment, generally only experiencing a little flushing that soon goes away.  However, it's important to not use harsh cleansers on the skin, especially right after a treatment