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POSTED UNDER Phenol Peel REVIEWS

Modified Phenol or Croton Oil / Hetter Peel - Texas

ORIGINAL POST

I am 4 weeks post peel. It was paintful for the...

Grandmary90
WORTH IT$3,800

I am 4 weeks post peel. It was paintful for the first 11 days but with the pain medication (I took Percoset)and numbing meds (Lidocaine)I was ok. Slept pretty much the first 4-5 days. It is imperitive that you have someone with you (preferably a nurse) to administer your medications and apply the treatments.

The first 2 days you treat the face every 2 hours with sterile water and a bit of vinegar so remove the slothing skin. Then you apply a mixture of bacitracin and Lidocaine that is whipped up and kept in the fridge. This is applied like you would ice a cake with a tongue depressor. After the 2nd or 3rd day the facial washes are not so frequent but several times a day. Not only is this beneficial to healing and preventing scaring but it also feels really good. After about 10 or so days most of the "crap" has come off and you have red very tight skin. For me it has been hard to open my mouth real wide.

I will say this, I am 65 and had pretty deep wrinkles around my mouth and also deep lines between my eyebrows.........ALL GONE. It is amazing and I am willing to wait as long it takes to completely heal. I used a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon and my procedure was done in a hospital setting anthesia was administered by an Anethesiologist. I had to have a cardiac clearance prior to my procedure because of my age.

There is a lot of preparation for this peel including 6 weeks of hydryoquinone and retin A. There are certain vitamins you will stop a couple of weeks before and different healing vitamins you will start a couple of weeks before. You really need to be dedicated to this and plan on waiting at least 3 weeks to go out. I am still really red and probably will be for up to 6 months. I wear a heavy duty sunscreen but make-up seems to make me look pretty normal now to go out in public. My face is flawless. I would do it again although this will last me the rest of my life if I take care of my face.

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Dustin L. Reid, MD

Dustin L. Reid, MD

Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

5.0 | 132 Reviews
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Replies (31)

October 20, 2011

Hi Grandmary, 

Holly amazing pictures Batman! You look like a whole new person, this peel was awesome. Your review is great too because it provides so much info about after care and what not which is so important to the community. Do they do the cardio prep for everyone, every time? 

Happy Thursday, and thank you!

-Britt

October 20, 2011
I am not sure who all they do the cardio prep on, but I am sure they make everyone get some kind of medical clearance. They are just so ultra careful. I am going to be 66 next month so maybe because of my age plus I have a history of hypertension, otherwise I am pretty healthy. People really need to understand that this takes a long time to heal, you could see improvement up to a year afterward . I am 9 weeks out from my peel now, still red but noticing my face is making changes daily. I am really pleased and excited with my result. People tell me that my skin looks really good and that I look waaaaay younger than I actually am....woo hoo! That's what I was hoping for, smoother, unwrinkled skin.
December 7, 2011
Grandmary.....Thank you for posting your 4 paragraph very informative explanation of your peel. I am looking for encouraging comments on this entire procedure for I had it done just 1 week ago. As you said, it IS painful and so messy with the continuing ointment I have to paste on my face. The peel hasn't taken place yet, but keep looking for signs of it.
January 23, 2012

You look AMAZING!

January 31, 2012
You look absolutely amazing, at least 15 years younger! Thank you for your post.
UPDATED FROM Grandmary90

Modified Phenol or Crtoton OIl Peel

Grandmary90
It's been almost 3 years...............I am still very pleased. The healing took a long time..........the redness lasted almost 6 months. It was so worth it though. I am going to recommend this procedure to anyone that has lots of wrinkles......just remember that the recovery takes a while and you must be committed to it.

Replies (26)

July 21, 2014
I had a Phenol Peel under eyes 12 years ago, when I turned 40. My eyes have NO wrinkles and they look to be that of a 35 year old, now at 52. I just had a phenol peel on my upper lip and lower face, along with a lower face and neck lift, 26 days ago. This peel is MUCH harder to hide and I can not go out in public, least everyone stares at me. It is really hard to wear make-up as it is summer time and the heat and humidity results in the make-up being sucked into your face. I fear this will take at least 3 months to fade. I am a teacher and am going to scar the kiddos, I am sure. The lower face life was the easy part. This was VERY painful and looked horrid, especially on days 2-7. It helped to rinse 4x a day with a mix of 1 tbsp white vinegar and 1 cup water. Took away the burn.
April 5, 2018
Hi there, how is your upper lip now. Is there a big difference in skin texture and color from the rest of your face ??? Thanks so much--- trying to decide between full face and only upper lip ???.
July 21, 2014
In addition; When I stated "This was very painful" I was referring to the Phenol Peel, not the lower face lift. That hurts also but mainly in and around the ears. Literally if you have the lower face/upper lip phenol peel you WILL look like Planet of the Apes for a few days and then the redness continues to resemble that of a monkey's mask, as they do this in sections and it is in a circular circumference. Do not think that you will be fine in 7-10 days. I'm at day 26 and do not want to go out in public. I know eventually this will look good but now I look like I have a badly burned face.
July 21, 2014
Wow, you're pretty brave to go through all of that. I was told not to do a phenol peel in small areas because of discoloration of the skin. What did your doctor say?
July 22, 2014
Grandmary, I have to say that you look amazing. Did the peel change the color of your skin? Is it true that you have to stay out of the sun for the rest of your life or can you just wear sunscreen?
August 18, 2014
It's been three years now and I do everything I have always done except with lots of sunscreen....It didn't change the color of my skin because I am fair to begin with...........Dr's don't like to do it on anyone that doesn't have fair skin because it can lighten your skin
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August 18, 2014
Your results are awesome. I get my peel next Monday. I am hoping to get rid of those vertical lines above my lips. Your doc did an excellent job.
August 18, 2014
Good luck..................just hang in there and remember the end results. Contact me if you have any other questions marymckenz@aol.com
August 18, 2014
Grandmary, Just curious. Is the reason you have to always wear sunscreen because you could end up with hypo/hyper pigmentation or is it because your skin could wrinkle more easily?
August 18, 2014
Does anyone know of a doctor in New Jersey or Pennsylvania who does phenol peels on a regular basis?
August 19, 2014
hypo/hyper pigmentation.....................
August 19, 2014
Remember, you don't want a "phenol peel" you want a croton oil peel or a modified phenol peel. There's a big difference.
August 19, 2014
Thank you Grandmary. What is the difference between the two peels?
August 19, 2014
A Phenol peel can be very dangerous to your heart while being administered and also it makes your face "white" and very waxy....not skin like. They've made great strides with modifying and improving the combination of drugs that are used. My Dr. told me it looked like a chemistry lab in there (the operating room).
August 21, 2014
Grandmary, I am curious, did you start out by trying TCA peels or did you just go right to the big guns?
August 21, 2014
About 4 years prior to the peel I did a twelve week protocol of Obagi with retina.........it did a really nice job but not on the deeper wrinkles....that's all I ever did prior to my "big guns" peel.
August 21, 2014
Thank you Grandmary90, you have been really helpful!
August 18, 2014
I wish I could find a doctor in the Philly area that could do that good of a job for me. You really look fantastic!
UPDATED FROM Grandmary90

Modified Phenol Croton Oil Peel

Grandmary90
3 years and still loving it.............

Replies (8)

August 30, 2014
You look amazing, thanks for sharing.
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November 17, 2014
Hi there, I loved reading your experience, thanks so much for sharing! I recently had the hetter peel and I'm 2 weeks post-peel and loving what I'm beginning to see so far. Can I ask you what you noticed in the first 4-6 months after your peel? Did your skin become progressively thicker and more elastic (I've been told that the collagen and elastic fills the new skin and makes a huge difference as time goes by). Have you found this to be the case? Thank you!!!
November 17, 2014
It's been 3 years ago this past August for me and my skin is still looking great and seems to be improving still. I know it's a very long arduous process but so worth it. You'll really start noticing fabulous results in about 6 months and it just gets better from there. My redness lasted a long time though. I noticed in the Christmas pictures (taken 4 months post) that I looked very very flushed. Congratulations on taking the plunge, you won't be sorry.
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November 18, 2014
Yes, your skin fills with collagen just like you had when you were young and it eventually takes on a new texture. I am 3 months out and I love what I am seeing. Doc saids there is still more improvement to come in the next couple of months. Remember, stay out of the sun! And I am still fighting the discoloration from the hyperpigmentation. So, I use Lytera every morning and night.
April 24, 2015
Hi, you look great! Where you much lighter after the peel? Was there a demarcation line between your face and neck? Thanks for sharing!
April 29, 2015
Thanks for the nice comment.....I was already very fair skinned so no difference in my skin coloring....no demarcation lines either.
September 14, 2017
Beautiful/ Did you have this this done in conjunction with a facelift?
April 8, 2018
Hi I´m considering these treatment. But doing my homework. Can you tell me did you experience any long term side effects? Like bumpy skin, scars, redness that does not go away, bad texture ?