Learn to recognise what is yours to treat, and what is not, before you ever fire a machine. This course teaches the vascular use of intense pulsed light (IPL) and the 980 nm diode laser for thread veins, redness and vascular lesions, with equal weight on safety, honest consultation and knowing when to refer.
Accredited CPD course: 8 CPD credits
The CPD Group accredited activity #1021413. Skintastic Aesthetic Lasers Ltd is an approved CPD provider (#777800). This is a CPD course: it is not a regulated qualification and carries no qualification level.
What this course covers
- The blood supply of the skin and why vessels become visible
- Recognising vascular lesions, including the red flags and the lesions you must refer
- How light and laser energy treat a vessel, and the limits of IPL
- Consultation, contraindications, medication, skin typing, patch testing and consent
- IPL settings, technique and endpoints, and the 980 nm diode laser with its Class 4 safety rules
- Aftercare, complications, the published evidence, the law and your client records
How it works
The theory (4 hours 30 minutes) is studied online at your own pace and finishes with a written assessment. The practical element (3 hours 20 minutes) must be completed in person with a trainer on live models, with a separate signed observation for each device. The course totals 8 hours. Your certificate is issued only when both elements are complete. Core of Knowledge, device-specific training and insurance naming vascular treatment are needed before you treat paying clients.
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Course at a glance
| CPD credits | 8 |
|---|---|
| CPD Group activity number | #1021413 |
| Total study time | 8 hours |
| Home study | 4.5 hours |
| Practical | 3.33 hours |
| Lessons | 14 lessons, 101 topics |
| Certificate | Issued when you pass |
Who can take this course
Essential: Core of Knowledge in the safe use of lasers and intense light sources; Level 3 Anatomy and Physiology or an equivalent recognised qualification; Level 3 Beauty Therapy, or registration as a healthcare professional, or equivalent experience; aged 18 or over. Essential before you treat: device-specific training on the IPL and the 980 nm diode laser you will use, and public liability and professional indemnity insurance covering vascular treatment. Desirable: previous IPL or laser experience. Recognition of Prior Learning is accepted for the essential requirements but never for the practical.
What you will learn
- Name arteries, veins and capillaries and describe how each is built
- Explain which vessel type you are aiming at in vascular treatment
- State the rule that underpins lesion recognition
- Describe the four steps used to work out what a lesion is
- Explain what intense pulsed light is
- Compare an IPL with a laser
- Describe the stages of a vascular consultation
- Explain why the consultation and first treatment are separate visits
- List the five areas you check before every treatment
- Prepare the room and the machine safely
- Carry out the test pulse sequence
- Interpret the three possible outcomes of a test pulse
- Explain how a 980 nm diode laser treats a vessel
- State why the 980 nm laser must be learned as a separate machine
- Give correct aftercare advice
- Explain the reason behind each piece of advice
- Follow a complete client journey from first enquiry to consultation findings
- Explain how each consultation finding changed the plan
- Name the main bodies that regulate laser and IPL practice
- State what each body covers
- List the client forms and what each is used for
- Follow the correct order of paperwork for a new client
Course structure
Lesson 1: Start here: your course guide (6 topics)
- Welcome: what this course is really teaching you
- Your course at a glance
- What this course covers, and what it does not
- Course learning outcomes
- Entry requirements and Recognition of Prior Learning
- How the course is delivered, and support for you
Lesson 2: The blood supply of the skin (7 topics)
- The three types of blood vessel
- The circulation and what gives blood its colour
- Haemoglobin is your target, not the vessel
- Red vessels and blue vessels
- Where the vessels sit in the skin
- Why a vessel becomes permanently visible
- Leg veins: why the pressure matters
Lesson 3: Recognising vascular lesions (9 topics)
- If you cannot name it, you do not treat it
- Blanching, refill and the glass slide
- Treatable lesions: thread veins and rosacea
- Treatable lesions: spider naevi and cherry angiomas
- Treatable lesions: poikiloderma and diffuse redness
- The truth about legs
- NICE criteria: when a leg vein client goes to a doctor
- Lesions you refer
- The red flags: stop, and send them to a doctor
Lesson 4: How light and laser energy treat a blood vessel (9 topics)
- What an IPL is, and how it differs from a laser
- Absorption: haemoglobin, melanin and wavelength
- Selective photothermolysis
- Thermal relaxation time and vessel size
- Choosing a cut-off filter
- Wavelength, depth and pulse structure
- The controls and how to adjust them safely
- What happens in the skin, step by step
- Being honest about the limitations of IPL
Lesson 5: Consultation, contraindications and patch testing (11 topics)
- The vascular consultation
- Photographs, records and the plan
- Absolute contraindications
- Pregnancy, breastfeeding and trying to conceive
- Relative contraindications
- Medication and photosensitising agents
- Skin typing and the Fitzpatrick scale
- A tan is a skin type change
- Carrying out a patch test
- Waiting times, reading and repeating the patch test
- Informed consent and realistic expectations
Lesson 6: The treatment: preparation and choosing settings (7 topics)
- Before the client comes in
- Eye protection and preparing the client
- Choosing your parameters: reasoning and published ranges
- Which way each control moves
- Your IPL: the 530 nm filter and the two working modes
- Manufacturer's starting parameters: N mode, 530 nm
- Manufacturer's starting parameters: S mode and the adjustment rule
Lesson 7: The treatment: technique, endpoints and finishing (7 topics)
- The test pulse sequence and entering your settings
- IPL technique on the face
- IPL technique on legs, neck, chest and body
- Endpoints: what you are looking for
- Stop immediately: the warning signs
- Immediately afterwards
- Sessions, intervals and your parameters record
Lesson 8: The 980 nm diode laser: treating one vessel at a time (9 topics)
- The 980 nm diode is not an IPL
- The two technologies side by side
- Class 4 laser safety: an invisible beam
- What Class 4 means in your treatment room
- Your handpiece, the fibre and the focus rings
- Power and pulse width
- 980 nm technique and endpoint
- Aftercare after 980 nm treatment
- Choosing between the two machines
Lesson 9: Complications, aftercare and managing results (7 topics)
- Aftercare: what to say and why
- Expected reactions and how the area heals
- When something goes wrong: your first actions
- Complications in detail: skin reactions
- Complications in detail: other complications
- Who you report to, and when
- When a client is unhappy
Lesson 10: Case study and evidence (5 topics)
- Mrs H: presentation and consultation
- Mrs H: expectations and the treatment course
- What the case teaches
- The evidence behind this treatment
- Finding and using the guidance
Lesson 11: Legislation and regulatory requirements (9 topics)
- Who regulates what
- Health and safety: the optical radiation regulations
- The rest of the health and safety picture
- The device itself: medical device rules and incident reporting
- Cosmetic devices, the machines on this course, and buying second hand
- Licensing in England
- Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- Laser Protection Adviser, Expert Medical Practitioner and your clients' rights
- Your compliance checklist and where to check
Lesson 12: Your client forms, model sets and course completion (6 topics)
- Your client forms and the order of the paperwork
- The skin typing form and the medical history form
- Lesion assessment and the consent forms
- Patch test, treatment record and incident report
- Aftercare sheets and using both devices on one client
- Model sets and course completion
Lesson 13: Your final assessment (4 topics)
- How the written assessment works
- Part A: how to approach the multiple choice questions
- Parts B and C: writing good answers
- Revision map: where each outcome is taught
Lesson 14: Your practical day and trainer sign-off (5 topics)
- How the practical element works
- Models and preparing for your practical day
- Part D: your IPL observation
- Part E: your 980 nm laser observation
- Signing off, being referred and your certificate
How you are assessed
Each teaching lesson ends with a short multiple choice quiz. Your final assessment combines multiple choice questions with written answers marked by your trainer, and your supervised practical is signed off by your trainer. Your certificate is issued when you pass.
