Lumecca™ IPL
Lumecca™ IPL is a revolutionary aesthetic treatment that uses intense pulse light (IPL) to effectively treat pigmentation, superficial vascular lesions, skin dullness, and a variety of other skin concerns. This highly effective treatment helps to reduce the effects of years of sun damage often in a single session, leaving you with clearer, brighter, rejuvenated skin.
What Is Intense Pulse Light Therapy?
Spending time in the sun is one of life’s great pleasures however, as we age, the cumulative impact of years soaking up the sun’s rays begins to show, in the form of sun spots, pigmentation, uneven skin tone, and fine lines. Thanks to breakthroughs in aesthetic medicine in recent decades, IPL therapy is now a recognized treatment technology that helps to reverse sun damage through a process called photothermolysis.
Photothermolysis involves the delivery of certain wavelengths of light (‘photo’) directly onto the skin. When this light reaches and interacts with particular skin cells, light energy is converted into heat energy (‘thermo’) and this heat is absorbed by these cells, which are then destroyed (‘lysis’). The delivery of light through IPL devices that produce pulses of varying duration and intensity allows aesthetic practitioners to precisely target certain skin cells and deliver light energy to the skin in a controlled, confined way, leaving the surrounding skin tissues unharmed.
What Is Lumecca™ IPL?
Lumecca™ is a cutting-edge treatment technology that outperforms standard IPL devices in that it delivers up to three times more light energy in the 500-600 nm range. This is the wavelength range most effective for treating pigmentation and vascular lesions in the skin. The handheld Lumecca™ IPL device delivers a broad spectrum of light of varying frequencies and intensity to the skin, allowing your aesthetic practitioner to adjust the treatment to target pigmentation or vascular lesions or to induce general skin regeneration.
What Skin Concerns Does Lumecca™ IPL Treat?
Lumecca™ IPL is most effective for treating pigmented and vascular lesions. Pigmented lesions include sun or ‘liver’ spots, freckles, birthmarks, acne scars, and melasma (dark marks often caused by pregnancy or other hormonal changes). Vascular lesions include superficial blood vessels, broken blood vessels, spider veins, port wine stains and redness caused by rosacea.
Although Lumecca™ IPL is most frequently used to address pigmentation and vascular lesions on the face, neck, and décolletage, it can be used to treat these particular skin concerns wherever they appear on the body. We frequently treat areas of the body that tend to be most exposed to the sun, such as the shoulders, hands, and legs.
Lumecca™ IPL can also be used to treat dull, discolored skin, reduce fine lines, improve skin texture, and generally stimulate skin healing and regeneration. For this reason, Enrichment Skin Solutions offers our clients Lumecca™ IPL both as a standalone treatment and as an add-on to other treatments such as Morpheus8 RF microneedling and HydraFacial™.
How Does Lumecca™ IPL Work?
One of the wonders of the Lumecca™ IPL treatment device is that its settings can be adjusted to provide a highly targeted treatment specific to your particular skin concern. Depending on the kind of skin concern it is treating, Lumecca™ IPL uses the process of photothermolysis in slightly different ways.
Pigmentation
When Lumecca™ IPL is used to treat pigmentation, the light energy it delivers to the skin is absorbed as heat energy by the melanin that causes red and brown pigmented lesions (e.g. a sun spot, dark mark, acne scar, or freckle). This heat energy causes the melanin pigments to break up and flake off the skin, or be absorbed and removed by the body’s lymphatic system.
Vascular lesions
When Lumecca™ IPL is used to treat vascular lesions, such as broken blood vessels and spider veins, it is hemoglobin (rather than melanin) that is being targeted. Hemoglobin is the red pigment in red blood cells. When light energy is delivered to the skin through the Lumecca™ device, hemoglobin absorbs this light and converts it to heat energy, causing the microscopic blood vessels in your skin to coagulate and collapse. These collapsed vessels are then absorbed by the body’s lymphatic system. It is important to note that Lumecca™ IPL only targets superficial blood vessels, so there is no risk to your skin’s general vascular network.
General skin rejuvenation
Lumecca™ IPL is sometimes described as a ‘photofacial’. This is because the delivery of heat energy to the skin through light treatments provides several general skin benefits. When the light delivered by Lumecca™ IPL is absorbed as heat energy, your skin will receive a controlled ‘micro-wound’ that the body then responds to by releasing growth factors and stimulating collagen production, resulting in plumper, smoother skin.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Will My Treatment Involve And How Should I Prepare For It?
Lumecca™ IPL is a gentle, entirely painless, non-invasive treatment. Your aesthetic practitioner will cleanse the skin and apply a cooling gel before using the handheld Lumecca™ IPL device to deliver flashes of light to your skin area by area. You may experience some mild discomfort – the procedure is often described as the equivalent of an elastic band being lightly snapped against the skin. Protective goggles will be placed over your eyes as a precautionary measure. The treatment typically lasts less than an hour depending on the treatment area, and can be performed in the comfort of your aesthetic clinic’s treatment room.
To prepare for the treatment, you should avoid sun-tanning (including using tanning beds and tanning creams) for the four weeks leading up to your treatment. Ideally, you should consult with the aesthetic clinic prior to the treatment so that they can let you know whether you need to stop using any specific skin care products or medications before treatment.
What Is The Recovery Period And Are There Side-Effects?
No downtime is required after Lumecca™ IPL, although your skin may appear red and slightly swollen in the first 24 hours after your treatment, with these side-effects gradually reducing in the week following your treatment. If Lumecca™ IPL is being used to treat pigmentation issues, you may notice your pigment spots darkening and eventually flaking off in the week after your treatment. If it is being used to treat vascular legions, these will usually appear blanched after the treatment and will gradually disappear in a few days.
It is very important that you use strong sun protection after your treatment, as you may be more sensitive to UV rays. Your aesthetic practitioner will advise you of any changes you may need to make to your skincare regimen in the week following your treatment.
When Will I See Results?
After a single session of Lumecca™ IPL, your skin will appear noticeably rejuvenated. Results are most visible between 4-7 days after your treatment if you are receiving treatment for pigmentation, and between 1-2 weeks if you are receiving treatment for vascular lesions. Although you will notice that your pigmentation appears lighter after a single treatment, two to three sessions may be required to achieve maximum results, particularly if you have stubborn pigmentation. The number of sessions required will ultimately depend on the reason for treatment (i.e. vascular lesions or pigmentation), your skin type, and the level of skin damage. Generally, your skin’s appearance will continue to improve up to three months after your treatment as you enjoy the benefits of increased collagen production.
It is important to remember that although Lumecca™ IPL is highly effective for treating existing pigmentation, it cannot prevent the production of future pigmentation. For this reason, you must use strong sun protection daily, avoid prolonged exposure to the sun, and consult with a professional provider about skin products you can incorporate into your skincare regimen to limit hyperpigmentation and promote even skin tone.
Am I A Suitable Candidate For Treatment?
Lumecca™ IPL is suitable for all skin types, and has been carefully formulated for use on both light and dark skin. However, if you have highly sensitive skin, are very sensitive to light, have keloid scar tissue, or are pregnant, you should consult with your skin care professional as Lumecca™ IPL may not be suitable for you.
