I have waited for about two and a half months to post my final
results because I had been told that the results of IPL do not show
until months later. Some have even e-mailed me privately that it
took them some five months before they noticed results.

Anyway, I had 8 treatments within a span of 9 months. My main
concern with the treatments was that it treat the diffuse redness
that I had developed on my cheeks. A much smaller emphasis was
placed on the flushing, however, we most certainly did use the
deeper filters.

My first two were single pass using the 560 filter and high energy,
without inducing a flush. The remaining six invovled three passes,
usually 560, 590, and either 645 or 695 (not sure about the pulse
duration). I also induced a flush before all of these last six
treatments and was pulse dosing with zithromax. I figured since I
was more of a mild case and had previously had three V-beams done
about a year prior, that I would be relatively easier to treat.
Well, now 2.5 months later and out $4,000, I can say that I
achieved about a 30% improvement on a bad day and perhaps a 40%
improvement on a good day.

Now, I would have been satisfied with these results if this is what
I was promised. However, I was consistently told that in terms of
redness, the dr. (who was Bitter trained and positively commented on
by Dr. Nase on this board) was seeing a 90% improvement rate. I
felt during treatments that the improvement was always so slight
that it seemed like it would take 40 treatments to notice any
substantial improvement. When I mentioned to this to the Dr., I was
consistently told that more treatments would yield better results
and to be positive. Before my sixth and final treatment, however, I
again made this comment and the dr. responded by saying that I
really didn't seem to be that red, even tho the digital pictures
that were taken each time looked almost the same each time.

I am not sure why I didn't see more of an improvement and it really
does have me pretty down at times. Surely, I followed all
instructions and had even given the Dr. all of Dr. Nase's posts
about evolving guidelines and so on. I am grateful for the
improvement that did take place, but to be honest, I was overall
disappointed in that I was told that most other patients see a 90%
improvement. Don't get me wrong, I am not down on IPL at all. I
believe that it probably is the best single treatment out there,
however, I have either yet to find the right practioner or maybe I
am using the wrong IPL device.

I will admit tho that there are many times when I am seriously
disappointed with this outcome. It seemed like such an investment
in time and money, so to see such minimal results is truly
disheartening. My one main gripe tho is that I do not understand
why the results were not better or what could have been done to
improve upon them. But I suppose just as everyone else on this
board, I will wait until a better laser comes out and continue to
donate to the Rosacea nonprofit.