My First IPL Treatment… And My Zebra Face

Thursday October 30, 2008

I did have my first IPL treatment done yesterday. The Miami University cosmetic office is top notch with the latest equipment and products in the quest of beauty. Dr. Lisa Grunebaum seemed very knowledgeable and was extremely nice.

I arrived a few minutes before my 11 AM appointment. After filing out a couple of forms asking about my medical history I was brought into a treatment room. The Doctor arrived shortly thereafter and the consultation begun. She went over my expectations, to make sure we were on the same page, and discussed the possible side effects, which included redness and slight discomfort. She cautioned me to be wary of the sun for a few days in fear of damaging the newly treated skin. I ask if the IPL was going to be painful and, without any hesitation, said YES.  She was right. I had read online it was like having a rubber band snap on your face…  I say it was more like having 5! Thankfully, the treatment only took about 15 minutes.
Once the session over the nurse gave me some sunscreen and an ice pack. I paid $500 dollars, scheduled my next appointment for 30 days later and off I went.

That is when the freak out begun… First of my face was burning so bad I had to sit in my car in front of the AC vent going full blast. I sat there for 30 minutes I kid you not. Then I drove to South beach (my face still in front of the AC vent) to meet one of my girlfriend who was supposed to give me a haircut. I parked and quickly took a glance at myself in the rear view mirror. I couldn’t believe it… my entire face was covered with dark brown stripes. The left side was way worse then the right. I thought, wait a minute, I never heard the doctor mentioned anything about zebra stripes!!!!! I called the office immediately, Dr Grunebaum tried to reassure me and ask if I could swing back the office so she could take a look. I canceled my haircut and dashed back to see her. 2 doctors were waiting for me. Dr Grunebaum and her colleague didn’t seem troubled at all by my bizarre looking face. They just say it was a normal reaction and I should expect my skin to loose the stripes in few days. Apparently the IPL pull out to the surface of the skin the pigmentation and the dark spots eventually fall out — I hope so. It would have been nice to be warned about that rather disturbing side effect before I left their office though.  As of right now I’m still freaking out. Mr Studio was laughing hard when I came home last night!

Needless to say the jury is out on this one.  I’ll let you all know in a few days if the stripes are gone, in the meantime keep your fingers cross for me would you? LOL