Hi, I am wondering if anyone have experienced or can comment on any side effects after treatment (for skin rejuvenation & Acne Scarring) using the Ultra VPL, in particular patients with post hypo/hyperpigmentation.
Are side effects less likely to occur with treatments using the VPL vs the IPL?.!

Thanks

I would not waste my time and use an IPL or VPL to treat acne scars first. You can certainly get some nice skin rejuvenation with a series of treatments with this technology, but no real change to acne scars with this type of treatment. If your skin has hypo-pigemnted areas, there is very little chance of improvement with a IPL treatment as well. And if you have a pre existing hyper-pigmented areas that you are treating, I would be careful that you dont make them worse. I would not use IPL or VPL for these area.
Also, I have not had any hands on with the Ultra VPL (old McCue system), but I would assume that it would be just as effective as most IPL's for pigmented lesions. I use either the Palomar Starlux, Cutera Xeo or Lumenis One. Side effects in my opinion would likely be less with the newer technology and not something a bit outdated like the McCue.

VPL is "safer" to use than the other high powered IPL systems. The computer program prevents you from crank ing up too much power with certain parameters to minimize side effects. This feature also reduce its efficacy in some cases. It also requires more treatments to get you to where you want to be. All IPL and VPL require experience and careful evaluation of the skin after irradiation to ensure safety. One has to find the right therapeutic window to avoid side effect without comprimsing efficacy. In good hands, with the right cut-off filter, iPL/VPL can be safely used on Type 1-4 skin and very cautious on lighter Type 5. IPL can do some good to red and lesser exent brown acne marks. Under some circumstances, it can also help a little on slightly depressed acne scars, but never sell this to your patient because it is so unopredictable. .

Yes I agree with CanMD. The VPL may be safer and don't try to overhype what it can accomplish. It would be great for pigmented lesions and little else.

Thanks for the insights, it's very helpful.

Has anyone had experiences treating Asian skin tones with VPL? Any side effects post treatment- either Hypo or Hyperpigmentation?!
I currently had a consultation with a client who is Asian and the client is very worried about the possible side effect of the treatment with VPL.

Any thoughts?

There should not be any concern regarding pigmentary changes. Make sure you lower the energy when treating over melasma and increase the pulse width and delay a little. Cool the skin frequently with cold pack during and after. Do a test spot and wait for 15 minutes. I usually use 36-43J/cm2 in Asian skin for photorejuvenation adnd 38-45J for HR. Hope it helps.

CanMD: There must be significant differences between the VPL system and the BBL based on the energy fluences being mentioned by the diferent commentators on this site. You can see what they have been saying about BBL parameters by typing BBL into the search engine key at the top. I seem to recall that they were only using about TEN J/cm2 for treating FItzpatrick skin in most cases. It is strange that one pulsed light system would use four times higher energy levels than another for treating the same indication.

Yes. i am aware of the differnce. VPL splits the energy into 8-15 mini-pulses with 1-8msec in dealy in between. So total fluence in higher than you would expect. The preset on the machine in far too "safe" to be efficacious.

ED,

What has your experience been for HR in Type I-IIII with VPL?