Chemical Peel - When Is It Required?

A chemical peel is a technique used in dermatology to improve the appearance of the skin on the face, neck or even on the hands. An acid solution is used to remove the damaged outer layers of the skin by applying it on the skin, thereby causing it to shed from the skin’s surface and finally get peeled off. The newer, regenerated skin becomes smoother and happens to have less wrinkles than the old skin. On a temporary basis, the newly reformed skin becomes more sensitive to the sun.

Types of Chemical Peels
There are basically three types of chemical peels:

1. Lunchtime or Superficial Peel: In this type of chemical peel, alpha-hydroxy acid or any other mild acid is used to seep through only the outer layer of the skin to gently shed it from the outer surface. This treatment helps to improve the appearance in coming out of mild skin discolouration and rough skin. It also assists in refreshing the face along with other body parts like neck, chest and hands.
2. Medium peel: Medium peel treatment involves use of glycolic or trichloroacetic acid, which gets applied to penetrate through the outer as well as the middle layers of the skin, hence lead to the removal of damaged skin cells. The treatment helps to improve spots because of aging, fine lines and other problems like wrinkles, freckles and moderate skin discolouration.
3. Deep peel: During this type of chemical peel treatment, tricholoracetic acid or phenol gets applied deeply, in order to penetrate the middle layer of the skin for removing the damaged cells of the skin. This form of treatment helps to remove moderate lines, spots which emerge due to aging, freckles and scars. Patients can realize a drastic improvement in the appearance of their skin after going through this treatment.

When Can Chemical Peel Treatment Be Used?

Chemical peels are used to treat a number of candidates suffering different kinds of problems including:

1. Scars from Acne: An acne chemical peel can treat some patients’ deep acne scars in an effective manner. Phenol chemical peel helps in resurfacing the treated skin to eliminate the acne scars from appearing. Still, no single treatment can be termed as best for everyone as skin texture and extent of the problem vary from person to person.
2. Aging Skin: Vitalized chemical peel is an ideal way to treat and improve the effects of aging skin. With age, it tends to develop fine lines, wrinkles, and melasma. Chemical peel helps to get relief from all these problems.
3. Skin Damaged From Exposure to Sun: This chemical peel treatment helps to give relief from skin damaged due to exposure to the sun. Sensitive skin may break up from getting exposed to sunlight but the cleaning of skin followed by application of chemical solutions help protect the skin from sunlight.
4. Sagging Skin: Sagging skin is a natural part of the aging process which occurs at the lower face and neck. Chemical peels help to improve the appearance of sagging skin in the face and neck by using a chemical solution to remove the outer layer of old skin.