Beauty Doc Blog

Chemical peels are an effective precursor treatment to a face lift. Chemical peels use solutions of chemical to smooth and improve the texture of facial skin by removal of damaged outer layers of skin. Those individuals who have facial blemishes, uneven skin pigmentation and wrinkles often benefit from chemical peels. These can include phenol, trichloracetic acid and alphahydroxy acid. They can be considered light or deep peels. A chemical peel can be performed in conjunction with a facelift, but is not a substitute for a facelift. The two can however work well together. Both are performed most often for cosmetic reasons, to improve appearance and self-confidence.

The lightest and most commonly performed chemical peels are AHAs or alphahydroxy acid peels. These utilize fruit acids, lactic acids or glycolic acids and produce a light chemical peel. They create brighter looking skin and have a faster recovery time that the deeper phenol or TCA peels.

Medium peels are most often trichloroacetic acid. They will help with fine wrinkles, pigmentation problems and other less dramatic needs. At times more than one peel treatment is required. The strongest chemical peel available is phenol, which produces a very deep peel. It is used often to treat very coarse facial winkles, blotchy and damaged skin areas due to excessive sun exposure and pre-cancerous growths. Phenol often lightens the treated areas and that should be taken into consideration by patients. Phenol is used mainly on the face and if used on the neck and other body areas it can result in scarring. Of course there is always some risk to chemical peeling but when performed by a qualified, experienced Board Certified plastic surgeon there is much less risk of infection, scarring or complication.

The lightest peels are AHA, or alphahydroxy acid peels. They can cause redness, stringing, and irritation  but do not require anesthetic as deeper peels may, and have a very quick recovery time.

With a medium or TCA peel the  healed skin will be able to produce pigment as before.  The peel will not bleach the skin, but sun exposure should be avoided. TCA is milder than deeper phenol peels but it can cause color change to the skin.

A phenol or deep peel will sometimes result in skin that cannot tan or create pigmentation. After a deep peel the sun should be avoided. Also your surgeon should be aware of your medical history, including heart problems.