Womens Health in the News

The chemical peel is a type of cosmetic surgery used to smooth the texture of the facial skin by removing the damaged outer layers of skin; the three types of chemical used in the chemical peel are Phenol, trichloroacetic acid and alphahydroxy acids. Usually the face peel is performed when having a face-lift although the procedure can be done alone to help you look younger by smoothing away wrinkles and blemishes.

Although the chemical peel is primarily performed purely for cosmetic reasons it can also help with removing pre-cancerous skin growths, soften facial scars brought on by severe acne or it might even be used as a way of controlling acne.

The treatment

The light chemical peel

The light chemical peel can give you brighter, smoother skin and is suited for those people who can’t spare the time needed to recover from one of the harsher treatments. This type of peel is used to treat dry skin problems, fine wrinkling and to help even out the pigmentation of uneven skin.

The medium depth peel

This type of peel is used in the treatment of fine wrinkles on the surface, superficial blemishes and problems with pigmentation. A little more recovery time may be needed with the medium depth peel.

The deep peel

The deep peel is the harshest of all the chemical peels and takes the longest recovery time; it is used to treat course wrinkles and areas of course or blotchy skin.

With all chemical peels the skin should be treated beforehand with a treatment called Retin A, this is to help the skins surface layer to thin out before the treatment, making it easier. You might have to spend a month or so preparing your skin this way before the actual skin peel can take place.

Usually all skin peels will take place in the doctor or surgeons office on an out patient basis, the only reason you might have to stay in hospital would be if you were having any other form of plastic or cosmetic surgery at the same time.

Anaesthetic isn’t usually needed for the surgery as the chemicals themselves act as an anaesthetic although you may be given a sedative to help you relax during the procedure. The whole chemical peel process generally takes about 15 minutes and no covering is needed on the face, it is usual for the patient to experience some flaking, dryness, scaling or redness after the treatment and you could feel a mild throbbing or tingling sensation.

If you have the deep peel then very often, your face could be swollen including the eyelids for a couple of days, if this is the case you should make arraignments for someone to care for you during this time.

Your surgeon may also suggest a liquid diet for the first few days and you might also be asked not to talk for a few days, you will also have to keep out of the sun for a while following the treatment but you should be able to return to work in about 2 weeks after the deep scan peel.