Understanding the skin and hair in order to understand how IPL works
IPL hair removal & IPL photo rejuvenation treatments require in depth understanding of the hair and skin. The skin is an ever changing organ that is composed of several layers.
Lowest Layer –this is known as the dermis. It is composed of connective tissue, blood vessels, nerve endings, hair follicles, sweat and oil glands.
Outermost or Top Layer–this is known as the epidermis. This is the layer of skin we can see. It sits on top of the dermis.
Melanocytes are the cells in the epidermis that produce the pigment melanin, which transfers to the cells within the epidermis or the hair, creating colour in the skin and hair. Blood and superficial vessels also add colour to the skin.
How IPL works?
As light passes through the skin it scatters through the dermis and is absorbed by three of the skins main constituents; blood, water and melanin. Blood, water and melanin all react differently when subjected to different wavelengths of light. When light is absorbed by blood, water and melanin, heat is produced. The amount of heat generated depends on a complex combination of light’s wavelength, power and pulsed width.
In the process of hair removal we target, the melanin in the shaft of the hair. We want the melanin in the hair to react as much as possible to the energy in the beam of light, convert that energy to heat and disable the hair follicle cells that promote new hair growth.
IPL has a strong light source that attracts the melanin in the hair and has a long wavelength to achieve the required depth of penetration. It also has a sufficient amount of power that is required over an appropriate amount of time.