Fat Loss/Atrophy From Cosmetic Devices

Many who have been damaged by cosmetic devices such as IPL and non-ablative lasers have suffered from fat atrophy, meaning the laser/IPL traveled down to the subcutaneous fat layer and destroyed the cells and compromised the blood vessel supply. While this may not be officially vetted by doctors or scientifically proven, it is the most plausible explanation. On another day, I will point out some interesting information about IPL and the depths of penetration to the skin.

The following blurb is posted on numerous websites all over the Internet with regard to IPL, mostly on manufacturer/distributor and practitioner websites. I cannot list them all, nor note the author as it is unknown to me:

As a photonic "Swiss Army Knife", Intense Pulsed light (IPL) devices have become very popular over the recent past. They are much less costly to manufacture than lasers-they're basically a pulsed laser without the costly laser components such as the laser rod, pump chamber, optics, and delivery device. Broadband light has the ability to target multiple chromophores, including blood and melanin, and although cutoff filters can modify the emitted broadband spectrum to some extent, it cannot match the specificity of monochromatic laser light. Any photons not absorbed by the target chromophore will be absorbed by other chromophores and then dissipated as heat. This "collateral damage" has actually been touted as an advantage of IPL over lasers by some proponents, but in reality the amount of energy delivered to the intended target may be compromised by undesirable effects on adjacent structures.
IPL devices have been aggressively marketed to physicians as a less expensive, "one box" alternative to multiple dedicated lasers. In addition to versatility, IPL devices have the advantage of larger spot sizes than lasers, which is useful for treating large areas quickly. Their lack of specificity limits their use, especially in darker skinned patients. As a rule IPL devices are less effective than a dedicated laser for a given task.

The cogent portion in the information above is bolded in red. Perhaps those suffering fat loss/atrophy have this collateral damage, with the collatateral damage mentioned as almost an aside rather than the real side-effect it has most assuredly become.

If you have doubts this collateral damage exists, please, meet the collateral damage-all of whom are members of the IPL/laser support board:

Member #1: VBeam - January - September of 2007 -5 treatments over entire face- orange peel texture, pitted and linear scars at cheeks, pitted scars at temples and a few at jaw-line, enlarged pores, fat loss over entire face, indentations at temples, forehead, jaw-line. skin is hyper-sensitive to all topicals - flushes red. changes most notable 4-6 weeks after last procedure. - IPL 1999- 3 treatments over entire face- pock mark scar and mole noted on left cheek within weeks of last procedure- indentations at temples with fat loss at temples noted months later.

Member #2: IPL -Fall 2007-Two treatments on face and neck-Complications include pin pricks on cheeks; pitted scars, ice pick scars on cheeks, chin, temples, forehead; lines like etchings or stab wounds that go in all directions on cheeks, nose, near lips, temples, chin; blotchy, hyperpigmented skin all over face. I look diseased.
Enlarged pores on cheeks, nose, forehead, chin, between nose and lips. Looks like orange peel. Wrinkles everywhere, sagging skin around eyes; fat loss all over face and neck. Thinned out skin. Overly sensitive to skin products that had been used safely in the past. Skin burns easily now. Roughened texture to skin on top of everything else. Prone to breakouts. Damage still going.

Member #3: Non-Ablative laser - Late 2007- 1 treatment resulted in 2 ndented lines that became visible within the early weeks following procedure. Volume loss right next to it in my upper right cheek that continued very slowly over the following year.

Member #4: IPL Sept. 2005 (thought it would help my rosacea) Two IPL treatments - twice in the same week as part of a special 3-part program- thank God I didn't do all 3! The first seemed fine, but I could tell during the second one (when the doctor said he was going to really crank it up) that something was wrong. Sure enough that did me in. This did me in and completely melted/hollowed my entire head. The surface skin itself became very thin and fragile with pinprick holes and even made a few weird moles grow.

Member #5: IPL 2006 - I had a series of 5 IPL sessions for my mild rosacea. Had good results, but on the 5th session the doctor decided to increase power which worsened my rosacea (but no textural damage). I waited 6 months, and saw a very good laser practitioner who decided to give me 2 test patches over a period of 6 months...everything was fine. Went ahead with the full treatment, (doctor decided it would be ok to increase the power slightly ) During the treatment I complained that the IPL treatment was actually burning my face, but he assured me everything would be ok and carried on. Well the rest is history, severe inflammation, severe nose swelling, and a few months later as my skin began to recover I noticed my cheeks were covered in pinprick indentations.
Member #6: IPL - I had about seven-eight treatments previously, spread out over 2-3 years(2006-2007), always with reduction of pigmentation on skin and good result- 5/2008- power increased at this visit- performed on face and chest-Since last treatment: scarring on one cheek immediately- indentations a few minutes after procedure (thermal burns?) which enlarged over 5-6 months; 6 weeks after IPL-cheeks deflated, then indentations formed on both cheeks (ice-pick scars), also squiggly lines all over one cheek, indentations on forehead, lines on nose, indentations and lines between nose and lips, lines/indentations extending from side of mouth down sides of chin, small tears all over skin, pinpoint scarring all over skin, orange peel texture to skin, enlarged pores-wrinkles and thin skin over chest-if I have a blemish it leaves a scar. My skin has lost its former elasticity-I look as though I had severe acne as a child. Changing still....

The story does not get better for the collateral damage group, it only compounds.

Please read the stories of those damaged by government approved cosmetic devices at:

http://iplandlaserdamagesupport.prophpbb.com/

What is IPL and Laser Support?

This is both easy and difficult to explain. The obvious is easy, supporting others in need. It is explaining who these others are and what caused their need for support that is more difficult.

Okay, let's start with what caused the need for support.

First, I will attempt to answer "What is IPL?" IPL is intense pulsed light-easy enough. IPL is a cosmetic procedure used for a variety of skin conditions, hopefully administered by medical professionals, but often administered by technicians/estheticians who are not medically licensed.

Some of the skin conditions which IPL is used to treat are rosacea, wrinkles, hair removal, uneven skin tone, melasma and broken capillaries to name just a few. It has been in use for just a little under 20 years in clinical applications. The first cosmetic application approval for IPL by the FDA was for "permanent hair removal" in 1997. IPL technology has evolved since that time. Later iterations of IPL devices have been approved by the FDA for treatment of other skin conditions as noted.

If you would like to read more about IPL, I found one website that is a state government site which has some information on IPL and Lasers. Here is the link:

http://www.medicalboard.iowa.gov/Lasers.html

The website above is one of the few that I found that was not affiliated with an IPL manufacturer or IPL practitioner. There is little, if any, formal medical information on IPL and many other cosmetic devices that is not connected in some way with a manufacturer or provider who uses IPL and/or lasers. Please keep that in mind when reading any "official' or descriptive information posted on this blog or elsewhere regarding IPL and lasers.

Here is another found on an a .edu website, although it seems to have been supplied by a manufacturer or distributer of lasers:

http://tinyurl.com/ag6n4p

Okay, now that we know what IPL is, let's talk about lasers. Lasers are, well, lasers. They are used to resurface the skin. They are used also for a variety of cosmetic purposes having to do with the skin--similar to IPL.

I am a fan of this website, so I will post Dr. T's take on lasers:

http://www.smartskincare.com/treatments/invasive/ablativelaserresurfacing.html

I need to dig a little and find out how many cosmetic laser devices there are now. My slightly educated guess is that around 4-5 new lasers have been released each year for the last five years. I will err on the low side with that guess.

There are ablative lasers (Co2 or Erbium for instance) and non-ablative lasers (KTP or fractional--minimally invasive, for instance).

The definition of ablate:

wear away through erosion or vaporization; to remove or decrease something by the process of ablation; to undergo ablation

Not so pretty sounding and not so pretty looking when it first happens either. I have personally had ablative laser. It was not pretty for a long, long time (almost six months). My skin was literally vaporized with an erbium (ablative) laser. My final results were better than many but not what I hoped. The after effects still linger, two years later.

The last cosmetic device I will mention is radio frequency (RF). Anyone remember first generation RF? Read here from a few years ago what was experienced by this group:

http://www.makemeheal.com/forum/viewThread.jsp?forum=24&thread=6122


There you have it: IPL, laser (both ablative and non-ablative), and radio frequency (RF) damage all comprise what caused our need for support.

Now I will try to describe the "who" in "needs support" and why support is needed.

People who've been damaged by any of these devices comprise the who. But, why do they need support? As in most cosmetic procedures, having one/many procedures is a choice and not something that anyone is forced to do. By virtue of that fact, when something goes wrong the person who made that choice begins blaming themselves for that bad choice. Now, having something go wrong with the procedure is of course not their fault, but the choosing it part is what causes so much angst for those of us harmed by cosmetic procedures, especially IPL, lasers, and RF. We often feel that if we had thought about it longer, researched it more, just been happy with the way we were that this bad thing would not have happened to us. All of that may be true to a degree, but regardless of that fact, we are in pain.

Some people have been damaged beyond repair. I know of young lady who threatened suicide after she said her face was ruined forever by Co2 laser resurfacing. She was an attorney who said she had lost her job, boyfriend, and her friends. She said she could not be consoled by her family and she was wearing them out with her emotional pain. She went away (she had been posting on an Internet plastic surgery board off and on for many months) after her threat and she never posted again. Did she, didn't she harm herself? That won't likely ever be known for sure. I pray that she did not, but there's not much way of knowing for sure out here in cyberspace.

For many IPL/laser victims, families are supportive of the emotional pain that IPL/laser victims experience. But we know our families can't really understand what we are going through and besides we took money out of family funds to do this to ourselves, we don't always feel like we deserve a great deal of their sympathy.

The need to have someone else totally understand has driven many to seek out the support of others on the Internet who are like them. It is human nature to seek out those like yourself. Only when someone else has experienced what you've experienced can you feel like you are truly understood by someone. None of us wanted to find others like us, but by instinct we sought each other out. It was not so terribly difficult to find others who've been damaged by IPL or lasers. It was actually quite easy. Now begins the story of how, when, where and why....

I have frequented a well known plastic surgery message board for over 3 years for various reasons. One of the reasons I visited the board was the unhappy outcome I had from my own laser resurfacing. In the course of visiting the board over several months, I kept reading about IPL and fat loss. I had heard the rumors from several years ago that claimed RF could cause fat loss and sagging skin, but I was not familiar with IPL causing fat loss . I kept watching and reading the board for several months monitoring posts on this subject. A pattern developed. More people were posting of their skin changing, dents appearing, scarring, and fat loss after having IPL procedures performed, some even claimed having fat loss from certain types of pulsed dye devices. My ears perked as I've had pulsed-dye myself, but an older version of pulsed dye, by a very capable doctor. I had no ill effects, but I do not discount others who've not been so lucky.

I eventually posted a poll entitled "IPL and Fat Loss" on the message board. It was extremely popular and went to several pages and was eventually locked due to size. You can read the stories here:

http://messageboards.makemeheal.com/viewtopic.php?t=68784

The stories were/are heartbreaking as you might have read at the link above. None of the "victims" could/can get a doctor to take them seriously or believe their fat loss was/is from IPL. Many were/are at their wit's end, pockets empty from trying to restore their faces. Many of these people are heartbroken, despondent, and continuously blaming themselves but angry that no one will listen to their stories and take them seriously.

Thus a support board for the IPL victims and for those damaged by cosmetic laser procedures was born last October (2008):

(edited to add Daily Strength board no longer exists but has moved)

Please visit the IPL and Laser Damage Support Board at:

http://iplandlaserdamagesupport.prophpbb.com/

I hope this blog will inform. I hope others who've have been damaged by IPL or lasers will join the support group. I hope others who are considering any of these procedures will think long and hard before proceeding. But most of all, I hope that someone in authority, a doctor, scientist, or someone will take up this cause and believe that fat loss from IPL can and does happen, Our fervent hope is to protect others from suffering this same fate.

Thank you for reading!