Tca Peel and Anesthesia

I've done thousands of TCA peels and have never needed anesthesia nor pain meds for TCA peels at all.  What you will need is prednisone pills to take down the redness and swelling and you will need a good cortisone lotion, sunscreen, gentle cleanser and good followups with your doc and well as retin A or bleaching cream afterwards.  Sincerely,

David Hansen,MD

I would suggest that any TCA peel of 35% of greater needs some time of anesthesia. Generally I perform 35% TCA peels with immediate topical lidocaine. Everyone is different and if pain is a concern, consider having the peel performed with an intravenous anesthesia, though I have never had this be a concern.

TCA comes in many different strengths.  When you get to 35% or higher then pain is going to need to be managed,  That being said, I have some patients who need no anesthesia when I perform a 35% TCA peel but they are rare. In general, 4 nerve block injections do well to minimize much of the discomfort.  The peel is short lived and after pain control is not needed. Be sure you have an experienced dermatologist performing your chemical peels with TCA as they can scar if done inproperly.