You just had your chemical peel treatment. You’re feeling great! But now you have some questions about how to treat your skin after a chemical peel. If you’ve ever had a chemical peel before, you know that it’s not something you want to mess around with. You want to make sure that the treatment is done properly and safely, and that you get the results you want out of it.
You can’t just throw on some moisturizer and call it good after a chemical peel. Chemical peels are designed to remove layers of dead skin cells and reveal the new, healthy skin under them—and they also weaken your body’s natural defenses against bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. So if you don’t take care of yourself right after getting one done, there’s a good chance that something bad could happen!
Read on to learn more about How To Treat Your Skin Sfter A Chemical Peel, How To Treat Hyperpigmentation After Chemical Peel
How To Treat Your Skin Sfter A Chemical Peel
Chemical peels are a great way to rejuvenate the skin and treat acne. However, it’s important to know that there are some side effects of chemical peels that you may not have thought about.
One of the most common side effects is acne breakouts. If you’ve had a chemical peel in the past and started to experience breakouts afterward, it could be due to residual chemicals in your skin.
How To Treat Breakouts After Chemical Peel
If you’re experiencing breakouts after a chemical peel, there are several things you can do to help them go away. Here are some tips:
Wash your face twice a day with warm water and mild soap or cleanser. You may also want to use an exfoliating scrub once or twice a week on your face, but avoid any products with harsh chemicals like salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide, which could irritate your skin even more.
Apply a topical antibiotic like benzoyl peroxide or clindamycin gel one time per day for two weeks, then stop using it for two weeks before trying again if needed. This will help prevent more breakouts from occurring while helping clear up existing ones.
If you have a chemical peel, you will likely experience some redness and peeling. These are the normal side effects of having a chemical peel, and they should go away within 7 to 10 days. If your skin doesn’t clear up within 10 days, contact your doctor.
It’s important that you know what to expect after having a chemical peel. The recovery time varies depending on the type of peel you have and how deep it is. A superficial peel may only require that you avoid direct sunlight for a few days while more invasive options require more serious precautions
If you experience any abnormal symptoms after having a chemical peel, call your doctor immediately. Some complications may include:
Sunburn: Chemical peels cause your skin to be more sensitive to sunlight than usual; avoid going out in the sun for about two weeks after having a chemical peel. If you do go out in the sun during this time, use sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher and wear protective clothing such as hats and long sleeves.
Swelling: Swelling is common after having any type of procedure done on your face — especially if it involves removing tissue from underneath the skin surface. Swelling typically goes away within three days but can last up to two weeks
Whether you want to exfoliate dark spots, want an instant glow or need a complete complexion makeover, chemical peels can do it all. They stimulate regeneration of skin, in effect removing the damaged layer and revealing fresher, brighter skin from within. A chemical peel involves the application of a solution to the surface in a controlled manner, producing controlled tissue damage. The solution may be an acid, a fruit extract, a botanical extract, or even a milk extract. The type of peel is decided by the doctor depending on the skin problem faced. Here’s is everything you need to know about skin peels.
It is, however, important to be clear about how you can prepare for the treatment, what you want from the treatment and how you can care for your skin after the treatment. We got renowned celebrity dermatologist Dr Jaishree Sharad to tell you everything about how to look after your skin after a chemical peel.
- Apply ice compresses immediately after a peel. Leave the ice compress for around 10-15 minutes.
- It is best you avoid hot water and scrubs for at least ten days after a chemical peel procedure.
- Use mild, gentle and neutral pH facial cleansers like a sebamed olive wash or Cetaphil cleansing lotion to clean your face.
- Do not step out without a sunscreen if you have just undergone a chemical peel treatment. Be sure to reapply the sunscreen every two hours if outdoors.
- Also, start using a moisturiser two days after you are done with the chemical peel treatment.
- Avoid picking or removing the skin which peels after a peel procedure. Let the skin peel on its own and do not touch your face.
- Remember to not anti-acne creams or skin lightening creams while the skin is peeling.
- Avoid bleaching or any other form of hair removal while the skin is peeling. Here are some expert solutions for common skin problems.
How To Treat Hyperpigmentation After Chemical Peel
There are some things that naturally come with getting older that we have to accept, but hyperpigmentation – that is, irregular patches of skin becoming darker – is not necessarily one of them.
Candice Gardner, Education Manager at Dermalogica, often has to deal with concerns surrounding hyperpigmentation and puts this down to two things: “The first is stress. Long term release of cortisol causes the development of hyperpigmentation, commonly seen across the forehead and around the temples and orbital area.
“The second is due to post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH). Melanin (natural pigment found in the skin) is a natural anti-inflammatory and our skin will produce increased amounts to regulate an inflammatory response. So it is not uncommon to see the skin darken in areas where there has been infection, trauma or irritation,” Gardner notes.
But, what is hyperpigmentation exactly and how can we tackle it?
What is hyperpigmentation?
Whether manifested on the skin as sun spots, age spots or melasma, hyperpigmentation is a common condition in which irregular patches of skin become darker than the surrounding area leading to an uneven appearance in skin colour. It is caused by an excess production of melanin, our natural biological pigment, and can be triggered by a range of factors, according to Gardner.
Not to be confused with melasma, which is a form of hyperpigmentation, the latter is usually found nearer to the surface of the skin anywhere on the face and body and is predominantly caused by external factors such as sun exposure and acne. It usually presents itself as freckle-like spots of different sizes – or clusters of spots that form patches of pigmentation, points out skin specialist and InMode ambassador, Nilam Holmes.
The causes of hyperpigmentation
There are a range of causes for hyperpigmentation, which at times may not be a singular factor, making this condition a tricky one to treat.
“From sun damage and pollution to pregnancy and hormone imbalances, the effects will be visible as areas where skin appears darker. Sun exposure, the best-known trigger for melanin production, is a leading cause of uneven pigmentation. In fact, research also suggests a strong link between airborne pollution and dark spots, where particles become lodged in the skin’s deeper structure leading to low grade chronic inflammation and free radical damage, which results in uneven pigmentation,” says Gardner.
It is worth noting that the deeper your baseline skin colour, the more significant hyperpigmentation will be and the more challenging it can be to treat. Those with a more mature skin type may also be more susceptible to the condition.
Gardner points out, “as we age our melanin producing cells can decrease in number or produce irregularly due to a decline in metabolic function or long-term UV damage. This causes uneven distribution of melanin in the skin, leading to a mottled complexion. However dark spots can add up to 10-20 years to one’s perceived age, and can be as much a concern at a younger age.”
Is hyperpigmentation age-related?
Age spots are a type of hyperpigmentation and usually appear on older adults. However, UV light exposure remains the key factor.
Although sun spots can be more common in adults above 40, they can also appear on younger people – due to a lack of sun care and protection.
These spots are a result of local concentrations of excess melanin – caused by increased activity of melanocytes (our melanin-producing skin cells). As your skin ages, the number of melanocytes decreases – however, the remaining ones actually increase in size and become more focused in their distribution.
Within the melanocytes are melanosomes which contain tyrosinase – the pigmentation enzyme which is crucial to the skin’s melanin production. As your skin ages, the regulation of these melanosomes also becomes less controlled – and these changes can explain the increase in visibility of age spots in older adults.