Chemical Peeling; The Most Powerful Skin Treatment

The term chemical peeling might sound a little too extreme or even scary as a beauty treatment right? After all, one thing that has been experiencing a dramatic uptrend over the past few decades has always been the use of natural remedies as it is often believed they are the way! Likewise, using chemicals for such treatments has always been thought to not only be ineffective, but also irregular with catastrophic results!

Today we know as a fact that such myths are not true. In recent years, a variety of chemical peeling techniques and methodologies have been known to produce extremely satisfactory results for the patients for a wide array of applications. 

This article is going to dive deep, and we mean it, into the realms of chemical peeling and why it has been climbing the beauty-trend-ladder drastically. So let’s get started!

What Is Chemical Peeling?

So before we get to the details, we need to know what chemical peeling actually is right?

As you might have already guessed, chemical peeling is a form of chemexfoliation where a professional dermatologist applies a wide variety of solutions onto your skin causing physical trauma and injury to some of the layers. This is of course a good injury! This injury will result in your body to make a smart move, shed the traumatized skin and let the new healthy skin surface and shine!

The resulting skin is most often is more even in tone, brighter, smoother and free of fine lines and wrinkles.

Does Chemical Peeling Actually Make A Difference?

The obvious answer is a big fat yes! However there are certain conditions if we want the chemical peeling process to achieve what is meant for. For example the professional who is taking care of the treatment must have a clear idea about the stages of the process and how they are going to plan the entire thing out that is not too extreme to put you or your skin in danger. 

That is why you must choose your center and dermatologist with maximum care for this type of treatment to work. One good way is to ask your family and friends if they have had any experience with chemical peeling and if they were happy with their results, ask them about the center or doctor.

Truth being told, chemical peeling is a process that must be tailored and customized towards the skin condition of each patient. It is not a one-size-fit-all treatment that you can follow at home or ask a friend to do for you. 

What Conditions Does Chemical Peeling Treat?

Chemical peeling is often used for treating a large number of skin conditions. These treatments are most often required to improve the tone, texture and overall appearance of the skin. 

This treatment is most often used on the patients’ face, neck and even hands!

Some of its uses include:

• Getting rid of the wrinkles and fine lines under the eyes and the mouth that were caused by the factors such as aging, sun damage and even hereditary factors;
• Some forms of acne;
• Light to mild scars;
• Spots on the skin such as those from the son, aging and even freckles and liver spots;
• Uneven skin coloring;
• Actinic keratosis which are precancerous scaly spots;
• Scaly patches, rough skin and dull complexion.
• Dark patches that were caused by pregnancy or certain birth control pills.

But how far should the peel actually go? That is something you will have to find out with the help of your dermatologist as it may vary greatly depending on the actual objective of your treatment and overall skin condition.

One thing that is crucial for you to remember is that chemical peeling is not going to act like a magic wand solve all your problems. There are a range of conditions such as sags, bulges, very deep scars and facial lines and extreme wrinkles that may be as responsive as you would expect toward chemical peeling. These are often treatments that require either some sort of cosmetic intervention such as carbon dioxide laser surfacing, face lift, brow lift, blepharoplasty, filler injection or even heavier surgical interventions.

Again, this is something that your dermatologist will have to guide you for.

How Is Chemical Peeling Performed?

Chemical peeling is a quite easy process to carry out, so much so, that it can be performed in a doctor’s office. Of course there’s nothing wrong with undergoing it as an outpatient procedure if that’s what your dermatologist is recommending specially for some of those deeper chemical peeling treatments which we will talk about later in this blog. It is important to mention that your eyes and hair are fully protected while the cleansing agent is being applied to your skin so there is nothing to worry about on that front.

What basically happens is that your dermatologist will first remove a layer of hair and skin from your skin, which depends on the details of your treatment, and then applies the agent onto the skin. The solution used for chemical peeling often contains glycolic acid, trichloroacetic acid, salicylic acid, lactic acid or carbolic acid (also known as phenol). As mentioned before, each of the above mentioned will cause a certain level of controlled trauma to your skin by penetrating different depths of the tissue and removing the necessary layers to reveal a whole new skin.

Different types of chemical peels

Now that we have had the uses of chemical peeling out of the way, let us take a general look at how it is done.

Generally speaking, there are 3 main methods of chemical peeling which are distinguished by how deep they penetrate your skin. These are Superficial peeling, medium peeling and deep peeling. Now let’s take a closer look at each to see what they are about.

Superficial Peeling 

Superficial peeling is the lightest form of chemical peeling and penetrates your skin the least. So here are the steps to carrying out a superficial peel. This is the least extreme option of all three. So firstly your dermatologist will remove the top layer of your skin as necessary. This is called epidermis. Once they are sure the lower layers of your skin are ready, they will apply the necessary solution to your fresh skin and leave it for a few minutes. Your skin is very likely to feel tight for some hours after the treatment. The magic of this kind of chemical peeling lies within regular commitment otherwise the positive effects of it will not be maintained.

Medium Peeling

As the name suggests, this type of chemical feeling doesn’t work on the top layers but doesn’t go too deep in the tissue either. Similar to superficial peeling, in medium peeling your dermatologist will have to remove some layers of your skin before applying the solution. What sets this treatment apart from the previous (and the next one) is the level of this removal. In medium peels, the top and middle layers of your skin will be removed. The rest is pretty much similar to the previous treatment: your dermatologist will apply the necessary solution and leave it on your skin for a couple of minutes and then you are good to go.

What’s important though is that unlike the precious form of chemical peeling, you may feel your skin stinging or even burning while the solution is still on your skin. Your skin may even go red or brown for a few days and it may take up to 6 weeks for your skin to return to normal and start glowing. Also to maintain its effectiveness, you must commit to undergoing this treatment every 6 to 12 months.

Deep Peeling 

Finally, the deep peeling affects a deeper layer of the skin. I mean really deep! Much deeper than medium peeling so much so that it often requires some sort of local anesthesia to be involved prior to starting the process. Once the solution is applied to your face, it has to stay there for at least half an hour before it is removed; but again that is the minimum amount of time required; some treatments may need more time.

Deep peeling is deep and extreme in every sense. Due to use of phenol in this type of chemical peeling, many professionals tend to keep your blood pressure and heart rate under some sort of monitoring. There have been a few cases where this type of treatment has led to heart attacks or kidney failures.

Once you are out of the clinic or the office, you will experience a mild discomfort on your skin for a few days to a week but the swelling can stay with you for up to 2 weeks and the redness will stay for as long as 3 months!

But why go through all that? Because it will lighten your skin and make it shine like the sun! Also it is worth mentioning that once your courage takes the best of you and you undergo deep peeling, you won’t have to do it twice!

It is a one-time treatment that will last for a very long time.

How Do I Prepare Myself?

That is an excellent question. Now that we have pretty much everything about the process covered, it is time to learn about the preparations.

Preparing for chemical peeling is neither rocket science nor fighting off a lion. It is quite simple. All you have to do is to try to doge the below mentioned items and you are good to go.

• Avoid direct sunlight and tanning for a good couple of weeks;
• Try applying topical products to your skin as your dermatologist directs you to;
• Avoid product containing retinoids at least 2 weeks prior to your treatment unless they are really necessary and prescribed by a physician;
• In some cases you may be prescribed some sort of oral antibiotics or antiviral medicine. It is crucial for you to start taking it at least 24 hours before your chemical peel;
• Make sure your peel areas are free of any sorts of open sores, lesions or skin infections.

Besides all of the abo0ve, your doctor may provide you with some specific instructions depending on your skin type and chemical peeling conditions so make sure to take those into account as well.

Risks

The last thing we are going to address in this blog are the risks. Are there any risks involved in chemical peeling? The answer is yes!

It is no secret that similar to all the other forms of treatments, chemical peeling also comes bundled with a few minor risks. Possible risks of chemical peeling include:

• darkening or lightening of the skin which may actually be permanent;
• cold sores returning if you’ve had them before
• Although these are very very rare, a tiny portion of patients have reported scarring or an infection after receiving chemical peel.

Another thing that is worth mentioning is that your skin will feel much more sensitive towards sunlight during the recovery phase so using a good quality sunscreen will be paramount for at least 4 weeks after the treatment.

What Now?

While chemical peeling is a good solution as a beauty and skin treatment, it comes with its own ups and downs. What we suggest for you is to get in touch with a professional. You can do that by contacting us at TatoyanMD Med Spa and enjoy a quality consultation with our professionals. Also make sure to check out our Derma Peel products and services by clicking here.