This is a question someone had about chemical peels and the different depths and how long it would take to heal:

nullcan help with decreasing unwanted pigmentation, decreasing fine and deeper wrinkles, decrease pore size, improve skin texture, tighten skin, and improve the overall appearance. Basically, the more aggressive you are the more downtime you will have, the better results but the more risk.  When you are less aggressive you heal faster, but you will have less dramatic results. So it really depends on what you want.  Generally a superficial peel will heal and peel in about 2-4 days. A medium depth peel will take anywhere from 4-7 days. And a deeper peel that that such as a medium depth with dermabrasion / dermasanding will take around 6-8 days sometimes.  When you do a peel, you can control the depth of the peel through anatomic signs.  A peel with a little red will be a very superficial peel and heal in 2-3 days.  One with red and a little white specks will be a superficial peel will take 3-5 days to heal or less. One with more complete white and red still present in the background will heal in 4-6 days.  One with solid white will need around 5-7 days to heal more or less.  Pretreatment is often required with a combination of retinA, hydroquinone, and hydrocortisone and should be done for about 2-4 weeks before the peel to be totally safe.

Dr Young is located in Bellevue near Seattle, Washington

Hypopigmentation from a nullabout a month ago is a little early for permanent hypopigmentation. This condition can and usually shows up months later. If this is permanent there are some special treatment light systems that can help with bringing back the pigmentation. But these do not always completely help the pigmentation. Some others have attempted skin grafts with siginificant recovery and problems. I would wait to do anything extreme. I would consider topical skin medications to possibly cut down on the inflammation if there is any. This will help with the inflammation continuing to hurt the melanocytes and preventing their migration into the skin areas.

Consulting a Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon would be something that I would recommend. We specialize in the face and are highly qualified to help you with this.

Dr Young is located in Bellevue near Seattle, Washington

This is a question that someone asked in regards to a peel that was done by another doctor.  He had darker skin appear after a chemical peel.

This is very common in patients with darker skin color. There are definite ways to help this condition along. The options include triluma, or a triple combination of retin A 0.1%, Hydroquinone 4%, and hydrocortisone 1%. This can help the darker appearance. Also with this you can do microdermabrasion which can be done at 1-2 week intervals.  Repeating superficial chemical peels is another option that can also be done in between microdermabrasion at 1-2 week intervals. Staying out of the sun and wearing sunscreen is ultra important. The next time you have a peel you should have your doctor carry out a less aggressive peel. Don’t worry though help is out there and this will pass.

Chemicals peels can be very safe if done in the right hands.  Sometimes even with the best conditions complications are always possible.  Things that can happen include scarring, post procedure darkness, increased pigmenation (hyperpigmentation), decreased pigmentation (hypopigmentation), increased acne, and infections are among the things that can happen.  A lot of this depends on how agressive you are.

The more aggressive you approach your wrinkles many times the better results but the flip side is that you have a greater chance of complications. For fine lines a less aggressive chemical peel can help and my choice is tricholoroacetic acid 10-20%.  You can also consider retin A for fine wrinkles as part of your regular skin care regime.  Laser resurfacing is another option as well, on more lighter settings and even the new technology of active fx fractional laser resurfacing with less downtime can be a newer alternative.

One thing to consider under the eyes is that the skin is a lot thinner and sometimes you have to be less aggressive in this area to avoid problems.