Is the Obagi Blue Peel Worth the Cost of the Anesthesia?

The Obagi Blue peel would be very painful without easy techniques to make if less so. In our office we use a combination of topical anesthesia, oral sedation and local anesthesia nerve blocks. Most patients are very comfortable and many do not even remember the specifics of the procedure.  We have not found the need to use general anesthesia for just the Blue Peel, a very popular procedure in my office.

  I agree that you should not pay for the extra expenses involved with anesthesia, OR, etc for an Obagi Blue Peel.  That said, it is likely that with sedation, the cosmetic surgeon can likely achieve a greater depth than without any sedation.  In fact, I believe that Dr. Obagi does use sedation for his peels in his Beverly Hills practice.  But in my opinion, it likely would not justify the higher cost for the vast majority of patients who may not have the financial means as his patients.

I have done hundreds of Obagi Blue peels and I have never used general anesthesia or IV conscious sedation to perform this peel. In my opinion, it is done comfortably without any medication and in the rare patient with 5 mg of oral valium. 

A physician generally can getter greater depth with sedation than without.  Having said that, we would offer other treatment options that might be possible if that type of depth is needed. We have not needed anesthesia for our chemical peels. Consult with your surgeon to ensure you understand all options available.

In my experience most blue peels can be performed with no sedation or oral sedation however it depends on 3 things. TCA concentration, how many coats are applied and patient tolerance. If a patient needs a higher concentration and more coats, sedation will certainly be more comfortable for you.

I have overseen thousands of Blue Peels performed in our Med Spa. There is mild discomfort and we often times will use a cooling device. This device blows chilled air onto the face and really helps with the temporary discomfort. Pre-medication with oral Valium is often times very helpful. Lastly, topical placement of an anesthetic one hour before the treatment is nice. The peel itself is going to give you a nice result.    I am worried that this particular office may lack experience.

In most cases Obagi Blue Peels and other trichloroacetic acid peels can be performed with topical anesthetics and/or sedation (oral or IV).  If you have an unusually low pain tolerance, you could consider general anesthesia but I have found my patients do fine with topical anesthesia and a light sedative.

I have been doing trichloroacetic acid peels, including Obagi Blue Peels as well as deeper peels, for over 25 years and none of my patients have ever felt that anesthesia was necessary. Blue peels are relatively simple to do and I charge $600 for the peel. There should be no other associated charges.