Procedures - Chemical Peels

Wrinkles and Blemishes

Chemical Peels

This surface technique of facial rejuvenation peels away old, coarse, sun-damaged, pigmented, and wrinkled skin, leaving younger, thicker, healthier skin behind. In fact, the "new" skin is actually younger in its structure. In damaged skin, the skin's structural proteins have become weak, thin and loose. Chemical peels allow these proteins to rearrange into dense, strong sheets, as they are in much younger skin. Chemical peels are an excellent way to improve your skin quality without surgery. Although the healing period can be a nuisance, the improvements in your skin are often dramatic.

Chemical peels come in three varieties:

Superficial peels

Superficial peels are often derived from fruit acids. Alpha-hydroxy acid, or AHA, is most commonly used today. These peels do little to the underlying skin proteins, but they can improve some very fine wrinkles and slight pigment problems. A series of six peels, one weekly for six weeks, is usually needed to provide optimum results. There is almost no recovery needed, making these peels known as "lunchtime peels".

Medium peels

Medium peels remove more of the skin surface and penetrate deep enough to improve the skin's structure. These peels can improve medium wrinkles like those around the eyes and remove sun pigment spots. Our preferred medium peel is Jessner's -- Trichloroacetic Acid (J-TCA). After these peels are applied, your skin will swell and might crust during the first week. Make-up can be worn once the crusting stops within five or six days. You can resume social activities in seven to ten days.

Deep peels

Deep peels are usually reserved for severe, deep grooves around the mouth or face. Our preferred deep peel is the Baker-Gordon phenol peel or the CO2 laser peel. If the full face is peeled, the procedure must be performed in the operating room under local anesthesia, as the burning can be quite uncomfortable. Crusting can be severe. Recovery is complete between ten days and two weeks. Some permanent light areas can occur in skin having undergone a deep peel, so you must be prepared to wear make-up on these areas. Despite these shortcomings, it is a good treatment for severely wrinkled skin, especially around the mouth.