All About Skin Peels, Broadway, Sydney
Skin peels resurface the skin to treat blemishes such as sun damage, wrinkles, uneven pigmentation, acne and some types of acne scarring. They exfoliate the outer layers of dead skin to reveal the more beautiful, fresher skin beneath which has improved tone, smoother texture, and more even color. Peels can be light, medium (TCA) or heavy. All skin peels at Heber Davis are performed by our qualified doctors or specialised cosmetic nurses.
Our skin is a living organ made up of millions of cells. Every day thousands of cells die, fall off and are replaced by new cells from below. As we age, this process becomes more haphazard and our skin becomes increasingly less able to shed abnormal pigmentation or sun damaged cells. Consequently, without attention, over time our skin becomes ever more dull, lifeless and uneven.
The function of skin peeling is to create an even, controlled shedding of several layers of damaged cells. We use a variety of skin peel solutions and individualise the type and intensity according to each client's skin type, skin color and the condition being treated.
Skin peels are classified as light, medium or deep, depending on their depth of penetration into the skin. We currently perform only light and medium depth peels, as deep peeling has largely been replaced by modern laser skin resurfacing techniques.
- Light peels are used to treat fine wrinkling, areas of dryness, uneven pigmentation and acne. A variety of peeling solutions are used, including alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs), such as lactic acid, and beta hydroxy acids (BHAs) such as salicylic acid, with or without high concentrations of antioxidant vitamin solutions. Light peels are ideal for people who want to improve the condition of their skin gradually over a course of treatments without significant downtime. See our menu of light peels.
- Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) at concentrations between 20% and 35% penetrates more deeply than superficial peeling solutions to treat fine wrinkles, superficial blemishes, and pigmentation problems in one or two sessions. TCA peels require a few days to a week of downtime.
- Deep chemical peels are the strongest of the facial peels. Though now rarely performed, these peels used phenolic acid to treat severe facial wrinkles, significant signs of aging or sun exposure and pre-cancerous growths. They usually required general anaesthesia, prolonged recovery time and involved significant risk of causing permanent lightening of the skin. Deep chemical peels are not performed at Heber Davis. For severe wrinkling around the eyes or mouth we recommend Erbium laser resurfacing as a safer alternative.
In general, an ideal candidate for a skin peel is in good physical health, understands the procedure and has realistic expectations of the outcome. You are likely to be pleased with the results of a skin peel if your goal is to improve acne, sun damage, wrinkles or skin texture, to increase skin clarity and vitality or to eliminate age spots.
With the ever-broadening range of skin refining techniques available today, it's easy to become confused about which treatments will best suit our needs. Our patients commonly ask about the respective benefits of skin peels and microdermabrasion.
While both treatments aim to exfoliate the uppermost layers of the skin, their most obvious difference is that microdermabrasion is a non-chemical abrasive procedure that improves imperfections by actually “sanding” flaws from the skin surface. We often recommend that our patients include both treatments as part of their skin rejuvenation programme.
Patients prone to broken capillaries are advised to choose light peeling as a gentler alternative to microdermabrasion which can exacerbate this condition.
Both treatments deliver impressive results, as both resurface the skin to varying depths. Lasers allow your doctor to target specific skin flaws and imperfections with more precision than peels.
