I often hear laser/IPL operators saying that they “don’t want to burn their patients/clients.” They are wrong!! They DO want to ‘burn’ them, but in a very controlled manner… Every photothermal treatment (the removal of hair, blood vessels, benign pigmentation etc) requires delivering light energy to generate a thermal (heat) response in the tissues. We… Continue reading “I’ve burnt my patient!!” With IPL treatments, that is precisely what we are tying to do…
Tag: Laser Hair Removal
How strongly do blood and melanin absorb light energy and how does this affect laser/IPL treatments?
WARNING – This post is a bit more scientific than my usual stuff. BUT, it is worth persevering because you will (hopefully) understand more about your laser/IPL treatments, if you do… When we fire light energy at the skin, to treat hair, blood vessel, pigmentation etc, we know that some of the energy is absorbed… Continue reading How strongly do blood and melanin absorb light energy and how does this affect laser/IPL treatments?
Thick and thin hair – how much light energy do they actually absorb during photothermal treatments?
How thick is a hair? Well, according to some research by physicist, Brian Ley (they do all the best research!!!), it ranges between 17 and 181 microns in diameter (see his results here). That is between 0.017 and 0.18 mm. So, that means that their cross-sectional areas [A = pi x (radius)2] are between 0.0000023 and 0.00026 square… Continue reading Thick and thin hair – how much light energy do they actually absorb during photothermal treatments?
“I’m scared to use my laser/IPL.” Why?
I’ve heard this comment many times from laser/IPL users, through the years. It is perfectly understandable – most people don’t want to hurt or injure their clients. For all sorts of reasons… In particular, they are scared of “burning” their clients. They are scared that they might not use their equipment correctly or use the… Continue reading “I’m scared to use my laser/IPL.” Why?
How long does tissue take to be damaged by heat?
I often read about human tissue ‘denaturing’ or ‘coagulating’ at some temperature – usually 60 or 70°C. However, these claims are inaccurate. They rarely state the time over which the denaturation process occurs. Denaturation is when the proteins in cells or tissues ‘unravel’. For example, collagen is made up of three amino acid chains, intertwined… Continue reading How long does tissue take to be damaged by heat?
Our eBook Chapters
Listed here are the chapters of our eBook which are available (or will be soon). Click on the links below: Chapter 1 – An Introduction to Laser/IPL Systems and their Applications in Skin Chapter 2 – An Introduction to Laser Tattoo Removal Chapter 3 – An Introduction to Laser/IPL Hair Removal (by mid ’22) Chapter… Continue reading Our eBook Chapters
Laser spot size – how it changes with distance from the target…
Most laser systems have a lens to focus the laser energy down to a sale spot diameter (see figure 1 below). However, in many systems, the focal point (where the spot diameter is the smallest) is outside the handpiece assembly. This has a potentially hazardous effect if not properly understood! The problem with this design… Continue reading Laser spot size – how it changes with distance from the target…
IPL filters
IPL systems typically use a Xenon flash lamp to generate light across a wide range of wavelengths, usually 400 to 1200 nm. To select a ‘useful’ range a filter is applied. These are generally ‘cut off’ filters which stop all wavelengths below a given value, from transmitting through. Hence, a 650 nm will stop all… Continue reading IPL filters
Carbon Facial treatment with a QS Nd:YAG laser
Recently I tried the new ‘carbon facial’ treatment using the 1064nm wavelength of the Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. My wife was keen to try it! I painted a little black carbon ink solution (which I made myself) onto my wife’s face. After about 20 minutes, or so, to allow it to dry, I applied the laser… Continue reading Carbon Facial treatment with a QS Nd:YAG laser
Calibrating your laser – making sense of the numbers…
How do you calibrate your lasers so that the numbers on your laser screen actually mean something useful? Well, there is a process which you need to follow. The video shows this process in detail. So, you need to measure the laser energy for each of your ‘input’ settings using an energy meter designed for… Continue reading Calibrating your laser – making sense of the numbers…
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