Chemical peels are great for the right patient. Not all patients are candidates due to the risk of post op hyperpigmentation, scarring or ochrinosis. TCA (trichlorocetic acid) is a great product for treating blotchy hyperpigmentation of the skin or sun damage without the downsides of phenol (hypopigmentation and cardiac arrythmias). But remember, chemical peels (aside from deep phenol peels) do not treat wrinkles--just discoloration and complexion issues.
Having said all that as a prelude:
Light TCA peels will have minimal downtime with only light peeling/flaking similar to a RetinA treatment -- downside is -- because it does not go as deep as a medium depth or deep TCA peel, your results will be less and will require repeated treatments to achieve better results.
Medium to deep TCA peels will require a good 7-10 days to recover from (ie. until the peeling has finished). Make up can be applied only after the peel is complete and all areas of redness are seen to be settling evenly and at the same rate.
All of my patients are pretreated with products for 6-8 weeks prior to the peel in order to:
1. Reduce the risk of post operative hyperpigmentation
2. Improve the speed and course of healing.
Do your research. Check out our national site, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery or American Society of Plastic Surgery for more information.
