What to expect from rosacea treatment

Posted on 16 Dec, 2011

Rosacea treatment involves using Intense Pulsed Light to remove the symptoms of redness and thread veins that are commonly associated with the skin condition. But how does rosacea treatment work and what does it involve?

The treatment
A cold gel is first applied to the area of skin to be treated. The Intense Pulsed Light is then applied for a minuscule length of time. The patient usually describes feeling a sensation similar to having an elastic band snapped across the skin. A full facial treatment can take as little as twenty minutes, making it very fast as well as being safe and non-invasive.

How it works
The redness in the skin is caused by an increase in the flow of blood to the superficial layers of skin. Some veins remain dilated and can be seen clearly through the surface of the skin. The IPL uses the redness itself to target treatment to where it is needed.

The red blood cells absorb the light energy emitted by the IPL device and transform it into heat energy. As the blood heats up it actually denatures and destroys the vessel containing it, causing the offending veins to disintegrate.