Chemical peel causes fever blisters

If you have a history of "fever blisters", or oral herpes infection, any stress, irritation, bad sunburn etc, can initiate a recurrence or a new breakout. Many practitioners will will give patients an anti-viral medication to start prior to aggressive peels or laser treatments  to minimize... more

Hello, The short answer is that peels of the face cause irritation of the skin. This irritation can "awaken" old viral infections, causing an outbreak with cold sores. Some people have the tendency toward these outbreaks.