Through sun damage and aging, our skin can accumulate irregularities of color and contour, skin laxity, as well as fine and deep wrinkles. While some of these problems need to be addressed with surgical procedures such as a facelift, small skin irregularities of color and contour, fine wrinkles and to some degree skin laxity can be addressed with chemical peels. There are many types of peels and these are classified by depth. A superficial peel or a deep superficial peel are mild peels that are appropriate for patients of all skin types and can treat mild to moderate color and contour irregularities as well as some fine wrinkles. Medium and Deep peels can target more significant wrinkles as well as color and contour irregularities, but usually are only done on patients with lighter skin types due to risk of depigmentation. In addition these require more down time and healing before results can be achieved. Still in the right patient these are an excellent adjunct to facial rejuvenation. Our office is now offering the VitalizeŽ Peel, a deep superficial peel that is safe and effective in patients with all skin types. Typically a patient is put on low dose retinoic acid to prepare the skin for several weeks prior to the procedure, this is stopped 5 to 7 days prior to allow the skin to heal. This is restarted about a week after surgery for maintenance. The peel itself occurs in three steps with cleansing and a peeling solution applied to the skin, application of a retinoic acid solution, and then the vitalize peel mixture. Discomfort is typically minimal and overall the procedure is well tolerated and takes approximately 15 minutes. Peeling typically occurs on the second day and complete by about days 3 to 4. By one week the patient's skin will have settled down almost entirely and the patient can feel free to go to social occasions, even without make up. To get the most dramatic effect the vitalize peel is typically repeated for a total of six treatments spaced 3 weeks apart. Complications are minimal and can include some minor hyperpigmentation which almost always responds to hydroxyquinone ointment. Patients with a history of cold sores can get an outbreak with the procedure, if you have this problem let us know and we can significantly reduce the risk of a flare up prior to the procedure by prescribing acyclovir.
If you are interested in looking and feeling younger and think you may be a candidate for one of our peels please give us a call.
|
|
