Down Time for Jessner Peel?

Question

It was recommended to me that I do a series of 6 Jessner peels every 2 weeks over a period of 12 weeks. I am new to Cosmedix and am concerned that a total of 6 treatments may be a form of a sales thing and that many not be entirely necessary.If they are, will the down time I experience be consistent from Peel to peel, or do you expect that it would decrease the more peels I have?

David Hansen, MD · Answer

Jessner's peels are light great peels that do very little by themselves but in a series of 6, they can really make the skin look so much better.  the more you peel your skin then the better your skin gets. With all peels, the 1st peel has the most downtime since the dead sundamaged skin is thickess at first and so more bad skin comes off with the 1st peel.  The next peels penetrate deeper and do more to tighten and smooth the skin but has less skin to peel off so the downtime is minimal. Don't equate the amount of dead skin peeling off with the amount of results. You usually only get a lot of skin peeling on the 1st peel. Sincerely, David Hansen,MD

William Ting, MD · Answer

Downtime associated with chemical peels depend on the depth of the chemical peel, preceding skin care such as prescription strength tretinoin, as well as individual variability. 35% TCA chemical peel may take 6-9 days, 10% TCA chemical peel may take 4-7 days, Jessner's peel may take 3-6 days, 70% glycolic acid peel may take 2-4 days, 30% glycolic acid peel may take 1-3 days.

Ran Y. Rubinstein, MD · Answer

The downtime from a Jessner peel varies from person to person.  The average amount is 5-7 days.  The downtime you experience after each peel may vary to some degree but not a drastic amount.
It would be helpful to know what you are looking to treat.  This approach seems to offer quite a bit of downtime.

Dina D. Strachan, MD · Answer

Generally, the downtime for a Jessner's peel is about 1 week. I generally describe this kind of peel as a 'low to no" downtime peel as usually the peeling begins 1-3 days after treatment, is most significant for the first day after it starts, and tends to be much less after the first day. The amount of peeling you experience from peel to peel may, indeed, vary. What are your goals in getting the Jessner's peel? Depending on what you are trying to accomplish, the package that you purchase may be appropriate.

Down Time for Jessner Peel?

Answers (4)