In skincare, doctors use chemical peeling as a procedure to remove sun-damaged pigmented and wrinkled skin by peeling it with chemicals. As the old skin peels off, new skin appears that is much fresher looking. But chemical peeling does not slow the ageing process or prevent it. What is dose is to remove old damaged skin with a fresh looking new skin? After that, it is up to you to take better care of your skin to keep it younger for more time by protecting it from the sun. The process itself does not affect the internal ageing of the skin. If you expose your new skin to the sun again, you will get damaged as you got damaged before.
As the name implies Chemical peeling peels the skin with chemicals. It is also called derma peeling or chemexfoliation. By peeling off the skin layer, it allows new skin to form, which is new and fresh, and without some wrinkles. Chemical peeling is used to remove photo aged skin damages.
How chemical peeling is done for skincare – In chemical peeling, chemical solutions are applied to the skin. The choice and strength of chemical dependence upon the results desired. For mild peeling, mild chemicals are used and so on. Sometimes, the light peel is repeated overtime to get the desired effect. With mild peel, superficial wrinkles and sun damage is removed. For more damaged skin such as skin having age spots, freckles and actinic keratoses, a medium peel is used.
Skincare and strength of chemicals – Depending upon the skin damage, and the results desired, the dermatologist decides about the kind of peeling to be performed.
Skincare and peeling chemicals – Common peeling chemicals include alpha-hydroxy acids, trichloroacetic acid, carbolic acid and other chemicals.
Skincare and side effects of chemical peeling – The chemicals peel the old skin and that is like sunburn. What the doctor is doing is to remove the old skin to a certain depth. That naturally causes redness and scaling of the skin. As new skin forms, the redness and scaling disappear. With medium or deep chemical peeling, the skin may develop blisters and swelling along with redness and peeling that may last for up to two weeks.
Skincare and discomfort with chemical peeling – Some discomfort is the result as the skin peels. Your doctor will prescribe some lotions to reduce the discomfort. Exposure to the sun must be avoided for some time and protection must be taken from the sun till the new skin forms and all the side effects disappear. With chemical peeling, surface skin damage is removed.
Skincare with chemical peeling and skin damages – Chemical peeling will remove mild skin wrinkles; sun damaged spots and pigmentation. It also will remove the leathery appearance of the skin. The chemical peel will help remove some pre-cancerous spots and facial scars. Mild chemical peeling is used to treat acne in some cases.
Can chemical peel damage? In rare cases, the chemical peeling procedure can damage with infection and scarring. You must talk to your doctor about this. No procedure that changes the body in any way is free from risk. AHA formulations are used to give light peel, TCA is used to give a medium depth peel and phenol is used to give deep peel to the skin. You can visualize the process like this- the deeper your skin problem, the deeper peel may be used. So for surface aberrations, a mild peel and for deeper scars a deep peel. Your doctor will decide that after looking at your skin and consulting with you about what results in your desire, the time you want to give and the care and discomfort you are ready to undergo. Deep peels give more discomfort but produce better results. You will have to discuss these issues with your doctor.
What are AHAs?
AHAs are becoming very popular in the fight against ageing skin and are getting added to most of the beauty and skincare products. AHAs are one of the ingredients that help us keep skin looking young for a longer time. Let us find out about common AHA molecules and how they help in skincare.
Glycolic acid – This is one of the most commonly used Alpha Hydroxy Acids in skincare. It is derived naturally from sugar cane juice. Glycolic acid has a very low molecular size. This low molecular size allows glycolic acid to penetrate the skin faster. The dead skin cells that bind with the skin are removed by glycolic acid by loosening the glue that sticks the dead cells with the skin. As the glue loosens, the dead cells exfoliate giving a cleaner look to the skin. Shedding dead cells faster also allows the growth of new cells. Glycolic acids also smoothen fine wrinkles. This acid also helps in the treatment of blackheads and dries out the excess surface oil on the skin. It is also thought that glycolic acids stimulate collagen production to some extent. This acid also keeps the skin moisturized by keeping water bound to the skin and prevents drying of the skin. It can also bleach some spots on the skin. One added advantage of glycolic acid is that it helps other skincare ingredients reach deeper in the skin and makes them more effective. Glycolic acid is on the frontier of skincare.
Lactic acid – It is derived from milk. Milk baths have been popular since ages to get fresh skin and better skincare. That is because of the lactic acid. Lactic acid is a good skin moisturizer as it helps retain water in the skin. It is also a good exfoliator of dead skin cells. It is generally used in combination with other AHAs in skincare products.
Citric acid is also an Alpha Hydroxy Acid. Citric acid is derived from citrus fruits. It accelerates collagen production and also removes spots on the skin. Citric acid is not a good exfoliator. It is considered a good antioxidant, as it neutralizes free radicals that age the skin. Citric acid has been used for skincare since long in household remedies.
Malic Acid and tartaric acids are other popular Alpha Hydroxy Acids. They are not commonly used alone for skincare treatments but are added to make a combination of AHA skin care products to derive multiple benefits.
Often the biggest frustration for those with combination skin is caring for it properly. Having both dry and oily skin areas on your face can make skincare seem almost impossible. There are, however, things that you can do to care for and keep your combination skin healthy and feeling good.
For one thing, some areas of your face may feel tight after you wash. This will typically be on the parts of your face not included in the T-zone area. These areas will likely also look flaky and dull and may feel rough.
First of all, make sure you are cleansing every day. Use a mild cleanser on your entire face. Use the cleanser twice a day, preferably before bed at night and after getting up in the morning. These are the times your face most needs to be cleaned anyway, but if you have combination skin it is imperative.
Get a good moisturizer. Once you have identified which parts of your face are the dry parts, most likely these areas are not in the T-zone and this is the area you will treat. Use the moisturizer on those dry areas only. Using it in your oily T-zone will only make that area worse.
The goal when you have combination skin is to normalize it. Normalizing is trying to gain a balance between the oily and dry areas so that all your skin looks and feels the same. In order to accomplish this feat, you want to look for products that are made for such normalization. For instance, ones that contain alpha hydroxyl acids (fruit acids or AHA’s) or retinol will work best. Retinols are a vitamin A derivative. Such products should help you to gain more normal and even-looking skin.
The reason AHA creams are so beneficial to your skin is that they create a catalyst for skin cell regeneration. By burning off or removing the top layer of skin cells (or the too oily and too dry ones) they expose the healthier skin cells beneath them. These cells are more likely to absorb moisturizers. They also help improve skin elasticity through their water-binding properties. This can help with that ‘tight’ feeling you may get in the dry areas with your skin. The only thing about which you need to be aware of is that once you are using AHA’s, you need to continue using them. Once you stop, your cells will not regenerate at the rate they were with the AHA and will return to their original state very soon.
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