BBL® treatment

BBL treatment is great for patients with sun-damaged skin, uneven pigmentation, or visible vascular lesions such as broken veins. Patients with these sorts of signs of aging and photo damage tend to respond really well to BBL, which targets discoloration and stimulates collagen production. BBL is also effective for individuals looking to enhance overall skin tone and texture. During your initial consultation, we will assess your skin type, concerns, and medical history to determine if it’s the right treatment for you. This personalised approach ensures that you receive a treatment plan designed to improve your skin’s appearance and boost your confidence.

BBL treatment is ideal for patients who are noticing visible signs of sun damage, uneven pigmentation, and fine lines. If you’re starting to notice persistent age spots, redness, or an overall dull skin tone, BBL might be the right solution for you. It is also recommended for those seeking to boost collagen production and improve their skin texture. During your consultation, we will assess your skin condition and discuss your goals to ensure it’s the right treatment option for you. Early intervention can prevent further damage, making BBL an effective option for maintaining youthful and radiant skin.

Results after BBL laser treatment are usually visible within a few weeks. Most patients notice an initial improvement in skin tone and texture shortly after the procedure, with gradual enhancement over the following weeks as collagen production increases and pigmentation issues fade. The full benefits may become apparent after about four to six weeks. Sticking to post-treatment care, including sun protection and skincare, will help ensure that the improvements are maintained over time.

BBL treatment is very safe when performed by an experienced clinician. The procedure uses controlled broad-spectrum light to target pigmentation, vascular lesions, and signs of photo damage without harming the surrounding skin. A thorough consultation ensures that your skin type and medical history are taken into account, allowing for customised treatment settings that minimise risks. We use protective measures, such as eye protection and cooling devices if needed, during the procedure to make sure it’s as comfortable and safe as possible.

The results of BBL laser treatment can be long-lasting, typically providing noticeable improvements in skin tone and texture for years after treatment. However, the longevity of results depends on individual factors such as skin type, lifestyle, and sun exposure. We recommend that to maintain your results you come back and do a single maintenance session every six months or so. Keeping up with your maintenance plan will help to ensure your skin never goes back to how it was before.

BBL treatment is safe and with little to no downtime. The treatment itself can be a little uncomfortable in parts, but is usually very well tolerated. It often causes temporary redness and a little swelling immediately after treatment. There may be short-term darkening of any pigmentation, which tends to last a week or so. However, the skin is not broken, and you should be able to work, undertake normal activities, and can wear makeup immediately after if you wish. Complications are rare, but in some cases, patients may experience post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, especially if their skin is prone to such reactions. Rarely, scarring or changes in skin texture can occur. To minimise these risks, we use precise settings tailored to your skin type and ensure thorough pre- and post-treatment care. Following a strict regimen that includes sun protection and proper skincare significantly reduces the likelihood of complications, ensuring a safe and effective treatment experience.

BBL treatment is generally targeted at patients with visible signs of sun damage, pigmentation issues, or early signs of aging. While there isn’t a strict age cutoff, younger individuals without significant skin concerns may not see substantial benefits. For younger patients, preventive care such as proper skincare, sun protection, and occasional maintenance treatments may be more appropriate. However, if you have specific concerns like persistent pigmentation, vascular issues, or skin that is prone to breakouts, then BBL might still be beneficial. We will evaluate your skin’s condition at your initial consultation and advise on the most suitable treatment plan based on your age and overall skin health.

BBL treatment is designed to improve pigmentation issues rather than worsen them. In most cases, it helps reduce age spots, sun damage, and other pigmentation irregularities by targeting melanin in the skin. However, in very rare cases, individuals with certain skin types, particularly darker skin types, may experience darkening due to post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. This risk is minimised by good patient selection, using appropriate laser settings, and following our aftercare instructions. If we are concerned you may be at higher risk of developing hyperpigmentation, we may recommend some additional safety measures, such as pre-treating your skin with hydroquinone.

Today, for Michelle, we are going to do a broadband light or BBL treatment for her. BBL is one of our favourite treatments here in the practice. As far as skin rejuvenation treatments go, it’s actually relatively mild and gentle. Most people don’t have any downtime with it, but the results of it can be really quite dramatic in terms of the improvement in the skin quality, especially with repeated treatments over time. In Michelle’s case, her main concern is the pigmentation, especially in the forehead. But actually, when we examine her skin, we can see that she also has some broken blood vessels around the nose and chin, causing a little bit of background redness. She also has a little bit of texture issue going on there and some pores. None of these are dramatic issues. Rather than doing anything a little more aggressive, we are going to treat it just with BBL on its own. There was a study published that showed when you do this, you don’t only make the skin look and feel younger, you change the genetic expression of skin cells to make them behave in a more genetically youthful way. I realise that sounds like mind-blowing sci-fi stuff, but it’s true. It came from Stanford University and is a really credible study. So the benefits of this treatment are genuinely more than skin deep. The thing I love about BBL is that it is so versatile and customisable. So today, for Michelle, we are going to do a total of five different passes, all targeting slightly different things. We’re going to start by doing two base passes, trying to get as much light and energy into the skin as we can to begin the stimulation process. The base passes are where we really start that process happening, where we’re just packing as much energy and light into the skin as we can to get us going. Next, we’re going to change the filter. We’re going to change the amount of energy we’re putting in. We’re going to change the bandwidth of the pulses of light to make it more specific to pick up brown pigments. So this is where we’re going to get out all of those little brown age spots that are starting to occur. This is the treatment pass that is targeted specifically for those. Next, we’re going to change the filter again. We’re going to change the energy and the pulse width. And the changes that we’re making this time are to allow us to target more specifically red things within the skin. So blood vessels, rosacea. We also have the flexibility of even changing the apertures. So when we have these little individual vessels, we can trace them out until we get rid of it completely. We’re then going to move on to finish with the pass that’s everyone’s favourite pass, called the skin tight pass. And the skin-tight does exactly what the name suggests. The way that it does that is by delivering energy and heat deeper into the skin to get to a stage where we’re stimulating collagen production and contraction of collagen and elastin to give us more firmness in the skin. To do this, we need to keep moving the probe backwards and forwards over the skin until we really build up enough heat deeper down that gives us the contraction in the collagen fibres. Now this is never going to give you as much tightening as, for example, a more invasive procedure might do. But it’s a great way of creating a little bit of tightening, and it’s especially useful if you have things like creepy texture, especially on the neck here and along the jawline. Most of our patients who are having BBL treatments are going to come for an initial corrective course. And usually that looks like three treatments spaced one a month. It just depends on the quality and condition of your skin and what we’re trying to achieve. And then when we’ve got you through that initial correction, and we’ve got your skin health to where we want it to be, we then move on to the next stage, which is maintenance. And what that normally looks like is coming in to see us a couple of times a year and doing a single maintenance session just to keep on top of the skin quality and to stop it from starting to slide back again. Any questions or suggestions for future content, please pop them in the comments section, and don’t forget to like and subscribe to our channel.