Had facial TCA chemical peel 3 days ago. Should I moisturize my peeling skin?

Our treatments use combination therapy to improve the epidermis and dermis for most deep scars. The options available for acne scars depend on the character of your scars, in terms of topography and contour. We see atrophic and hypertrophic acne scars, as well as scars that have hypo and hyperpigmentation. We begin each scar evaluation with an assessment of scar quality and subtype. Our main concern is rebuilding collagen and that is why we use a HIDEF protocol that includes combination therapy. Morpheus 8, scar subcision, fibrous release, fractional laser, CO2 laser, Thulium laser, PDL Vbeam laser, and fractional resurfacing can be used in addition to TCA Cross and chemical peels to further improve skin. Patients should start Melarase AM and Melarase PM for active hyperpigmentation. Always begin with a consultation to decide whether early subcision should be started.

Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian
Realself100 Surgeon

There is no question you should be moisturizing your skin post a TCA peel.  Your physician should have given you post care instructions or a post care kit of products.  If he/she didnt, you should contact the office and inquire about it.  It is absolutely necessary to have a post care instruction to get the best outcome.  For deep peels, TCA 30+ or Jessner's / TCA i have patients use a greasy ointment for 1-3 days then switch to a ceramide or growth factor/peptide containing cream for the rest of the week.  Sunscreen and hat is essential if in a sunny area at least for 2-4 weeks post medium depth to deep peels.  Please speak to the physician who treated you.  I wish you the best of luck, Dr. Emer.

In our office we DO advise patients to moisturize after receiving a TCA peel. We find that after the peel skin is extremely dry and irritated, needing something to push the healing process in the right direction as well as keeping the patient comfortable. Generally I will prescribe the use of a desonide lotion two or three times daily, and some aquaphor in more "raw" areas if necessary. 

It really depends in how strong your TCA peel was. But from your description (cracking) I assume it was 30-35%. Indeed lotions are not ideal in this case - better are heavy "grease-type" ointments like Vaseline and they can be applied liberally.