Chemical Peel

What is skin peeling? It is a controlled removal of part of the skin either chemically (creams or acids) or mechanically by machines as lasers.

What does peeling treat? Many conditions can be treated with peeling such as blotchy pigmentations, moderate acne vulgaris, melasma, photo-aging and stretch marks. Peeling can also be a way to prevent the appearance of aging signs as wrinkles.

What is chemical peel? It is the usage of a certain chemical (acid) to achieve a controlled burn in the superficial areas of the skin. These superficial parts of the skin contains the melanin which is the skin pigment, it also affects the collagen and elastin the skin proteins leading to a certain reactions achieving at the end normalization color (in case of melasma) or manufacturing of more collagen (in case of aging).

What is meant by peeling with a machine (dermabrassion)?

It is the use of a machine whether it is the (diamond dermabrassion or CO2 lasers or the microdermabrassion) to remove the superficial layers of the skin. It should be noted that research work and experience have confirmed that all these machines have no capability to treat melasma. Further more, CO2 laser resurfacing and dermabrassion are operations done under general anesthesia, and dark skin is a contraindication for treatment.

What are the kinds of chemical peeling?

There are 3 major types of skin peel; superficial, medium and deep. This depends on the kind and concentration of the chemical used and on the end point for penetrating the skin. The deep chemical peel is not popular as it does cause much pain and down time and is not recommended for darker skin color (Arabic and Mediterranean skin).

What is popular and used in this part of the world is the superficial and the medium chemical peel. The superficial chemical peel is used to treat mild acne vulgaris and the medium chemical peel is used to treat melasma and blotchy pigmentation.

Is peeling done on one setting? The deep chemical peel (which is not used) is a one setting but superficial and medium is done on multiple settings to achieve at the end the desired result with the least pain, complication and down time.

How often the medium depth peel (easy peel) sessions are performed?

The easy peel can be considered at times medium depth peel. It is done 5 times once every week. Then there is a 6 weeks period with no peel but only the creams recommended by Dr. Sahar Ghannam. This period of 5 weeks (peels) + 6 weeks of creams are one cycle. After this together you and myself sit down and according to the improvement decide on whether or not other sessions will be done.

How often the superficial peel sessions are performed? There is no fixed number for this. Superficial peels are done every 10 days to 2 weeks until the desired result is achieved.

How does the easy peel improve melasma? The improvement is gradual, it has to be noted that at the beginning of treatment the melasma patches could look darker. This is because when the cells starts peeling and moving upwards the skin surface it looks darker as they become more nearer to the skin surface. This is considered by us as good, healthy sign of improvement. Then it fades away with time and continuous treatment.

How does the easy peel treat stretch marks? The stretch marks schedule is different. The peels are done once every month and the number depends on the pre and post photos taken. The peel is more aggressive than the one used for the face and other parts for that the peeling of skin post operative is more vigorous.

Can other parts of the body be peeled? Yes, any part; hands, feet, back and chest, but each with its own schedule. Ask Dr. Sahar Ghannam if interested.

What are the side effects? With the recommendations and following the instructions of Dr. Sahar Ghannam, side effects are virtually nil.

Is there any pain during the peel? It is not pain but a kind of stinging feeling and it does only last for less than a minute, afterwards, it decreases a lot and even vanishes with the use of the post peel mask applied to you.

I heard that chemical peeling cannot be done in summer months, is this true?

This statement is only true for deep peeling and the more aggressive depth peels. But for peels done in this department (superficial and easy peel) this is not a problem, provided that you will not go sun tanning or to the beach and follow the post peel instructions. Dr. Sahar Ghannam has been performing chemical peels for more than 10 years with no problem regarding this issue.

Post easy peel instructions:

Ø No face washing (no water on the face) for at least 6-8 hours post peel.

Ø The religious use of sun screen (every 2 hours) recommended to you, before and after the peel.

Ø Keep the attitude to stay away from the sun as much as you can.

Ø If you want to remove hair by any method, please notify Dr. Sahar Ghannam and she will tell you what to do.

This is the peel sequale:

Ø On the second day of the peel, the skin is tight and shiny.

Ø Third or fourth day post peel the peel begins (please notify Dr. Sahar Ghannam during your next visit when did it begin). The peel has many pictures.

Ø Just flaking off the skin, these can be removed by the cream recommended by  Dr. Sahar  Ghannam.

Ø Peeling as a sun burn when a thin skin starts peeling and this also can be removed with creams.

Ø A thick black (dark) scales forms on part of the peeled area should not be removed or played with, but it is best and recommended to be left alone until it just fall on its own in 2-3 days at the most. Dr. Sahar Ghannam will tell you if this is anticipated.