PCOS, Hirsutism, and Intense Pulsed Light Therapy

How Does IPL Remove Hair?

What Happens During Treatment?

Can All Hair Be Treated?

Side Effects

PCOS, Hirsutism, IPL and Metformin

What is intense light (IPL) therapy?

IPL is the first photoepilation technology that treats unwanted hair safely on any skin type -- from very white to very black.

How Does IPL Remove Hair?

Highly controlled flashes of light are selectively absorbed by the pigment (melanin) located in the hair follicles lying below the surface of the skin. The absorbed light heats the hair, which damages or destroys the re-growth potential of the follicle. This significantly reduces the hair's ability to re-grow, and may result in permanent hair reduction over time.

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What Happens During Treatment?

Treatment begins by trimming away the hair above the skin. You may be asked to wear dark glasses to protect your eyes from the bright light.

A cold gel (similar to ultrasound gel) may be spread over the treatment area.

The IPL unit is applied to your skin and pulses of light begin disabling your unwanted hair. Each pulse of light feels like a slight sting or pinch, similar to the snap of a rubber band. No local anesthesia is required and most peop0le tolerate the treatment well.

When the gel is removed, much of the hair is wiped off with it. The remaining hair in the treated area falls out over the next week or two.

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Can All Hair Be Treated?

IPL treatment can be customized according to your hair color, texture and body location. Any hair with at least some pigment in it (black, brown, red and even blond) can be treated.

IPL is the first photoepilation procedure that appears to effectively treat unwanted hair on all skin types, including dark-skinned individuals such as those of Black, Hispanic or Asian descent.

The number of treatments required depends on several factors related to your specific kind of hair and skin.

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Side Effects

Side effects are rare. You may experience some slight reddening or local swelling at the treatment site, but this typically goes away within a day. Rarely, there may be some minor blistering of the skin.

The skin can become darker or lighter following treatment but will generally return to normal within a few weeks.

Staying out of the sun will minimize the risk of complications.

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PCOS, Hirsutism, IPL and Metformin

If you have PCOS and are taking metformin for insulin resistance -- and if you plan to use intense pulsed light therapy -- this research may interest you.

The Isfahan Endocrine and Metabolism Research Center in Iran conducted an experiment with 52 women who had hirsutism and polycystic ovary syndrome. They were given 5 laser therapy sessions over a span of 6 months.

The women were divided into two groups. One group was also given 1,500 mg. of metformin, while the other group was not.

Metformin is a pharmaceutical medication often prescribed for women with PCOS and who may have a condition called "insulin resistance".

In this study, the women who took metformin along with their laser hair removal therapy had better results in reducing their hirsutism than did the women who had laser therapy alone.

The takeaway from this study is that if you are going to use laser therapy, you can get better results if you also reduce your insulin resistance at the same time.

Metformin is one therapy to improve your insulin sensitivity. But if you don't want to deal with metformin's side effects, what else might you do?

You could utilize other methods for reducing insulin resistance, including a diet that reduces insulin resistance, more exercise, reduced stress, and selected nutritional supplements such as the d-pinitol formula. None of these methods have any side effects.

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