Objective To explore the effect of hyaluronic acid dressing combined with intense pulsed light (IPL) therapy on skin barrier function in patients with facial sensitive skin. Methods A total of 102 patients with facial sensitive skin admitted to Guangzhou Xinyang Yuerong Medical Beauty Clinic from September 2024 to June 2025 were selected. According to different treatment methods, they were divided into the control group and the observation group, with 51 patients in each group. The control group received topical hyaluronic acid dressing, and the observation group received hyaluronic acid dressing combined with IPL therapy on the basis of the control group. The skin barrier function, skin sensitivity indexes, skin state parameters and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results After treatment, the TEWL and skin pH value in the observation group were better than those in the control group (P<0.05). The scores of pruritus, stinging, burning and tightness in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The depression index, facial erythema area and erythema index in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions in the observation group (7.84%) was lower than that in the control group (15.69%), but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Conclusion Hyaluronic acid dressing combined with IPL therapy can effectively improve the skin barrier function and skin state of patients with facial sensitive skin, alleviate skin sensitive symptoms, and has good safety and tolerability.