Clinical effectiveness of intense pulsed light therapy for solar lentigines of the hands

Intense pulsed light (IPL) treatment, as a nonablative phototherapy, is known to improve various signs of facial photoaging skin, e.g., solar lentigines, fine wrinkles, and telangiectasias. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of IPL with a 515-nm filter in patients with solar lentigines on the back of hands. An open study was performed in 31 patients who were treated with a 1-month interval up to five times. Sixty-two percent of patients had more than 50% improvement and 23% had more than 75% improvement. No patients discontinued due to adverse effects, and no patients showed hyperpigmentation or scarring after the treatments. Phototherapy using this IPL source was effective and well tolerated in the patients, suggesting that this phototherapy may be an appropriate modality for the treatment of solar lentigines of the hands.