Vi Peel - do not peel skin! i was told subsequent peels will hurt more bc skin is healthier. may take 10-14 days - Sterling, VA

I had a VI peel in December (in Florida)as a Christmas present. The peel cost about $250 but then I had to pay about $500 for OBAGI products to follow up with. Although I looked awful for several days I had decent results with the peel. That being said, I was just trying to get rid of some mild sun damage and some melanin left on my skin from pregnancy. Honestly, I began noticing much more of a difference the longer that I used the products. The peel without the products did not seem to make much of a difference. However, the peel with the OBAGI products (Retin-A, blender....) overtime (it's been about 2 months) has made a significant difference for someone with mild skin damage.

I just got my second peel. The first one was relatively painless the second one was not! It started burning during the application (my eyes even started watering from the pain). The doctor explained the SUBSEQUENT PEELS WILL HURT MORE BECAUSE YOUR SKIN IS HEALTHIER GOING IN TO IT. It burned like fire for about 2hrs. After that the pain subsided. I paid $300 for my second peel and had it done in Virginia. May face started peeling (large chunks of skin were hanging off of my face)on day 3. I "helped it along a little." DON'T PEEL THE SKIN! The skin underneath was red and raw. I couldn't even go on a walk with my husband and kids because the wind on my face was too painful. My face continued to burn and sting so I started taking over the counter pain medication round the clock. I skipped church today even though my family went because I am so uncomfortable I don't want to leave the house. Now, my skin is so dry and tight around my cheeks, chin, and mouth that I have trouble opening my mouth wide enough to eat. I'm reduced to drinking smoothies and shakes. It is day 5 and my head still hasn't peeled. It didn't peel evenly in that the bottom half peeled and top half didn't (I'm sure my helping it along might have had something to do with it but I would have thought my head would have peeled my now). I plan to go back and see the Dr on Monday. I want him to look at my skin and let me know if I did any permanent damage in picking and peeling at it or if it will just take longer to heal. I will update the post after my appointment.

I went to see the Dr. to make sure I was healing correctly because, honestly, I picked at it a little bit and the skin on my cheeks came off but not the skin on my head. The Dr said that it is not unusual to peel around mouth and nose before the head. I told him that the peel burned like fire for about 2hrs and he said that, that is not unusual. I also told him that the new skin was saw raw that it burned when the wind touched it. The receptionist said that she had the same experience. Apparently, my skin is going to peel a second time. He said that it is fortunate that I am getting two peels in one. I told him that my skin was so dry that when I open my mouth to eat or brush my teeth that it cracks and bleeds he said that tight skin is a good sign. I asked him why they advertise it as being relatively painless and he said that THERE IS A BELL CURVE and that there are people on both ends of it (SOME FEEL NO PAIN, SOME - like me and the receptionist - FEEL A LOT OF PAIN). I told him that IT SAID THE PEEL WOULD BE COMPLETE IN A WEEK. HE SAID THAT THIS WAS AN AVERAGE. SOME PEOPLE MAY TAKE UP TO 10-14 DAYS...like me (and the receptionist). He told me to mix hydrocortisone cream with Eucerin cream and to put it in the refrigerator. He said I Bacitracin. Honestly, THE ONLY THING THAT GAVE ME ANY RELIEF WAS THE BACITRACIN WITH LIDOCAINE. PUTTING THE LIDOCAINE IN THE BLOODY CRACKS ON MY FACE FINALLY DECREASED SOME OF THE PAIN. So now I am waiting another week to heal, although the Dr. says that my skin will look beautiful when it does. Time will tell.