Chemical Skin Peels

For moderately damaged skin with fine wrinkles, poor complexion and patches of hyper pigmenta-tion, a peel of the skin may be recommended. Skin peels, as its name suggests, peels the superficial to intermediate to deep layers of the skin. Once these layers of the skin have been peeled, new youthful skin grows back. The depth of the peel is deter-mined by the concentration and type of the peeling agent used. Glycolic acid, Trichloroacetic acid and Phenolic acids are some of the peeling agents which are used in various concentrations such as 30%, 50%, 70%. The higher the percentage, the deeper the peel. Glycolic acid is a mild peel, which usually does not actually cause or result in a visible peeling of the skin. It is hence safe to use on darker skin types. When applied to the skin, the acid stings a little and eventually the skin looks red to white in color depending upon the depth of peel.

This is an effective treatment to remove superficial pigmenta-tion blemishes from the skin. It has a firming effect on the collagen of the skin and thus decreases fine wrinkles and fresh acnes scars. 4 - 6 sittings are required to be done every 15 days for a good result in advanced cases. Maintenance peels may be done every 2 months. These peels should only be done by a specialist who is trained in Aesthetics. If ad-ministered wrongly, they can even burn the skin and damage it permanently. Hence utmost care is necessary. The downtime is usually only a day or two. Adequate sun protection an moisturisation is necessary during and after peeling process.