Chemical peels help improve the look of your skin

Chemical peel can be used to improve the face, neck or hand’s appearance. It helps reduce fine lines around the mouth and under eyes, improves the appearance of mild scars, helps treat acne types, treats wrinkles, reduces dark patches, age spots and freckles and improves the look and feel of skin.

The procedure involves applying a chemical solution to the skin after which the skin blisters and peels off. The resulting new skin is generally smoother and less wrinkled than the old skin.

As the skin is temporarily more sensitive to the sun after a chemical peel, you need to wear ‘broad-spectrum’ sunscreen every day after the peel for protection from the sun’s UVA and UVB rays.

Make sure that the sunscreen is physical, and has an SPF of 30. It is also better if you limit the time spent outdoors in the sun, especially between 10am and 2pm. Wherever possible, it’s better to wear a wide-brimmed hat while outdoors.

Good candidates

Those with fair skin and light-colored hair are the better candidates for chemical peels. Of course, you may also get good results if you have darker skin, but the outcome of the results are based on the type of problem to be treated. There is also a chance of your ending up with uneven tone after the peel if you have dark skin.

If you have bulges, severe wrinkles and skin sags, they do not respond well to chemical peels. They need to be treated with other procedures like a facelift, brow lift, laser resurfacing, eyelid lift or soft tissue fillers like collagen or fat. Your dermatologist will decide and recommend the best procedure for your problem.

The procedure

As the chemical peel is an outpatient procedure, it can be conveniently done in your doctor’s office or surgery center without any overnight stay. Your skin is first cleaned thoroughly and then the professional will apply one or more chemical solutions like glycolic acid, salicylic acid, carbolic acid or lactic acid, to some areas of your skin. This triggers a controlled wound which lets new skin take its place.

Most people experience a burning sensation that lasts for about 5-10 minutes, followed by a stinging sensation during a chemical peel. While cold compresses on the skin can ease the stinging, you may need pain medication during or after a deeper peel if you find it difficult tolerating the pain.