Better Peel: Lift, smoother cheeks, jawline

I was referred to Dr. Kass by Dr. Eric Joseph in NJ. I love and trust Dr. Joseph so followed his suggestion to have a consult with Dr. Kass for a chemical peel. It's called a Better Peel. This is a combination of Croton Oil and phenol and possibly other products. It's something that not many doctors perform. But Dr. Kass has been doing this peel for years. To quote him, I was paying him "for his experience", which was extensive. The before and afters were amazing, especially when paired with a face lift. I had had a face lift with Dr. Guyuron about 10 years ago. I turned 70 this year and decided after consulting with Dr. Kass to do a revision of the lift with the peel.

My procedure was on March 22 of this year (2022) so I'm a little over 3 months post at this time. The lift was perfect..exactly what we discussed at our pre op meeting. He was conservative. Je smother my cheeks and cleaned up my jaw line. I couldn't have asked for a better result. I am still massaging the suture lines around my ears with silicone gel twice daily and the suture lines and lumpiness is insidiously resolving to my great relief. I foundnthe vicryl suture to be inflammatory. This has nothing to do with Dr. Kass or his skill level. It has to do with my DNA. But, as I said, the inflammation is gradually resolving and I believe it's going to be lovely in a couple more months.

The Hetter peel is still healing. Now here is wherein have a little issue with the office. I was given several dofferent answers to my question, "How long will I be red and blotchy"? One answer I got was 10 daus to 2 weeks, which is laughable. Another answer I got was about 3 months or so. One person said I may have lingering pinkisjness for up to a year. So they were all over the age with it. And I get it... Different people will heal differently! It has to do with the depth of the peel, the individual patient's skin and the patient's willingness to follow meticulous post procedure care instructions.

Here's the other part of my issue. During our pre procedure meeting I asked Dr. Kass if he would "feather" the edges of the peel so I wouldn't have hard lines of demarcation during the healing process. He smiled and reassured me to my satisfaction and made me feel assured and confident. Now here I am at 3 months and one week Post with hard lines of demarcation on both sides if my face that are impossible to cover with makeup. Even heavy "geisha" pancake makeup only lasts an hour before those awful crisp lines become visible.

I talked to his office last week at the 3 month mark and the staff assured me that "Dr. Kass is confident that ALL of the redness will disappear". I was very happy and relieved to hear her words and have no reason to not believe her...except that I was never supposed to have these hard lines of demarcation at all. Not only can you see the lines, but you can FEEL the lines. I hope this isn't scarring but understand that this was a deep peel and I could end up with scarring. I will update this review at my 4, 5 and 6 month marks. During the same call I made last week which was reassuring regarding my lingering pink blotchiness and hard dark pink lines, I was also advised that the discoloration may last up to a year. If I didn't have these lines I could feel better about it as I would be able to cover it up with make up. Also, she said I could come back and Dr. Kass could do a lighter peel to soften the hard lines. Think I'll wait and see if that is absolutely necessary. It's a lot of expense and a pain to fly down and go through this again. On the positive side, the Hetter peel has nearly completely erased the deep Perioral lines. (He missed a few places) Amazing. Now...hopefully it will all be lovely when the discoloration resolves. The jury's still out but I WILL let you know more as I heal. I will also post pictures from the first day post and then marching out to the present day. I'm just too tired to fool with it tonight. Please feel free to contact me with questions.