As there are several strengths of chemical peels, the type that your doctor uses is going to depend on how bad your scarring is.  Compositions of chemical peels can be changed by your doctor in order to treat the particular needs you have, and to achieve the desired treatment results. All types of peels can treat the face, and most of the available peels can also treat areas on the neck and also on the hands.

photo credit: titlap

Three main types of chemical solutions are used for chemical peel treatments: AHA (alphahydroxy acid) or glycolic acid peels, TCA (trichloroacetic acid) peels and, lastly, phenol peels. AHA types of peels are the most gentle and lightest, TCA types of peel have a little higher strength, and phenol peels are the highest strength. For light peels, you will probably have very little discomfort if any. AHA peels usually take around fifteen minutes for a treatment and you may need weekly treatment over a set period of time. TCA (trichloroacetic acid) is normally used for peels of medium-depth.  Although TCA isn’t as high-strength a chemical peel as phenol, the TCA type of peels can result in unwanted changes to skin colour. Medium-depth peels won’t affect the pigmentation of your skin permanently, however some colour change might initially occur. For medium-depth to deep peels, you will probably have to get somebody to drive you home. Following a phenol acne scar chemical peel, the patient’s face may be badly-swollen. In the worst cases the eyes may even be temporarily shut due to the swelling. Because of this, up to two weeks of recovery at home are normally needed following a phenol peel. A phenol peel is normally the highest-strength type of peel offered.

The biggest downside of phenol treatment is permanent skin paleness. Because of this, a deep peel should be avoided for darker skinned people such as Asians or Black people. The high-strength types of chemical peels remove a larger number of skin layers than the gentler types of peels. Using tretinoin before undergoing these types of treatment and other types of facial treatments has been clinically proven to give better results and reduce the healing time.

Related Posts

1. Using Laser Resurfacing Treatment For Acne Scars
2. Treatment Of Acne Scarring With Dermabrasion
3. Acne Scar Treatment With Lasers

To determine a patient’s suitability for the treatment, the doctor needs to take into consideration the type of skin, medical history and colouring of the patient-to-be. The procedure is usually carried out in the doctor’s surgery, although it might also be performed at the hospital or at an outpatient surgical centre, depending on your doctor’s preferences in addition to your own. The procedure may be performed in combination with other resurfacing treatments, e.g. microdermabrasion, laser resurfacing and chemical peels.

photo credit: Norrel Blair

The actual acne dermabrasion procedure is usually performed using a hand-held electronic instrument (about the size of a pencil) which has a rotating sanding tool which contains diamond particles or a wire brush. Some surgeons will give sedation before whole-face dermabrasions while others may use local anaesthesia if the area to be treated is limited , e.g. a single scar. After the treatment , the treated area may be covered with a wet or waxy covering, an ointment, and/or a dry covering.

Not all individuals will have the same outcomes after treatments. Patients who have lighter skin tones usually have the best results from this type of treatment than patients who have darker skin. For example, those patients who have dark skin tones may find that their skin becomes permanently blotchy or discoloured following their dermabrasions.

If you are thinking about having this type of procedure, you should bear in mind that you will probably not be able to see the true results of the procedure until at least several weeks after surgery. Following the procedures the patient’s skin is likely to be red, and swelling of the skin is common. Patients may also have difficulty when trying to talk or eat. Any pain experienced after the process should treatable with pain-relieving medicines and any swelling is likely to begin to reduce starting from several days to a week after.

After this type of process, the most important thing to do is protect the treated skin areas from exposure to sun until the skin’s pigment has returned to normal. This might take as much as a year after the treatments have been carried out.

Related Posts

1. Using Laser Resurfacing Treatment For Acne Scars
2. Acne Tips To Prevent Scarring
3. Acne Scar Treatment With Lasers