Intense Pulsed Light for Dark Spots?

[IcedPurple]

Some background: I'm in my late 40s and though overall my skin is pretty good - only a few faint lines - I do have a lot of dark spots on the back of my hands, and a few on my face too. I attribute them to the years I spent living in a very hot country - I did wear sun protection but it's never 100% and damage accumulates over the years.

I've tried all sorts of treatments - hydroquinone, kojic acid etc but nothing has made any noticable difference. A colleague told me she had IPL for dark sports and it was very succesful. Has anyone else tried it? And what sort of money are we talking? I know it's pricey but are we talking hundreds or thousands of quid here?

I had IPL done in my late 20s/early 30s for freckles and was happy with the results. I think after about 5-6 sessions you could really tell the difference. I haven’t had it done for a few years (much smarter about sun protection nowadays) but you might have to do a yearly touch-up. As for cost, I had it done in China, so can’t help you there...

Thanks!

I did once wonder why you couldn't go abroad for cheaper laser treatment the way you can go on 'dental holidays' (lol) for cosmetic dentistry in places like Hungary or Poland. I guess it's because you need to do repeated treatments before you see any noticable difference?

Exactly. I think I saw a bit of difference by the second or third time, but it was really noticeable by the 4th/5th session. I think you need at least three weeks between sessions, so not something you can do on holiday. There’s other types of lasers you can get done abroad, but those need some healing time and I’ve no personal experience with those!

A shame really, as from what I've heard IPL can easily run into 4 figures! "Laser tourism" would be great, but probably unfeasable!