I look like Rudolph...IPL vs vascular laser advice please

[SpanielofDoom]

lots of diffuse red veins on my nose and chin.
This will be long to give some background.

I've had three very noticeable individual veins on the same area zapped previously. I think it was a vascular laser. There was about a 4 day down time period when even make up couldn't cover the brusing. Worth it because they've been gone now for nearly 4 years. It only took one session to get rid of all 3 of them.

The diffuse redness is now very noticeable. GP has ruled out rosacea and says it's just an unfortunate combination of aging and my fair skin.
I want to get it treated. I could go back to the place where I had the vascular laser but it's a 300 mile round trip and I know for this particular treatment with no downtime I'll need about 4-6 treatments.

The place locally that I have the most confidence in only does IPL.
Does it work or should I a)find somewhere else with a real laser or b)go back to the original place ?

[LoonvanBoon]

I have rosacea, Spaniel, & when it was quite troublesome a few years ago I had some sessions of IPL with a doctor who specialises in laser & skin problems.

It was quite good for diffuse redness & helped me; but didn't get rid of the fine thread veins I have. My understanding is that a vascular / pulse dye laser, on a purpuric (bruising) setting - basically, what you had - is by far the most effective treatment for individual veins. The doctor I saw had a pulse dye laser too, but my veins aren't very noticeable, so I stuck to IPL.

So I guess which treatment you go for should probably depend on whether it's the background redness or the specific veins that bother you most. Re. IPL, it does seem to matter where you go & how experienced the practitioners are. I used to go on a forum for rosacea sufferers, & reported IPL results were mixed, to say the least. The settings, filters & number of passes all seem to make a massive difference. If you go to a beautician who uses the treatment primarily for the 'rejuvenating' effects, you're unlikely to get as good a result as you would with a specialist in treating redness / veins. And some people just don't respond to it at all, according to my doctor.

There's also a treatment called veinwave that's been quite aggressively marketed & that supposedly microwaves the dilated capillaries. There were a few people on the forum I used who'd tried this & only one had good results, as far as I remember.

[Amethyst24]

I've heard good things about electrolysis for removing red veins.

[SpanielofDoom]

Loon yes, it was the purpuric setting on the laser I had that zapped the individual veins. I couldn't remember the name, so thank you. We also did a session on the diffuse redness which worked well, but I never went back for my follow ups, because I moved to my current area.
Having read your comments about IPL I think I'll give the local place a try. The owner does the treatments and I know she's been doing it for a good few years. If it doesn't work I'll go back to the original place, although I'll have to take time off work to do so.

Amethyst, I'm not brave enough for electrolysis! Tried it for hair removal and it found it excruciating.