Question: My family has a long history of skin cancer.  I have heard or read somewhere that chemical peels may remove pre-cancerous skin growth.  Would this be a good procedure for me to start having on a routine basis?

Answer: I am not aware of any study that has proven that repeated chemical peels can reduce a patient’s incidence of skin cancer, but it is certainly true that if a patient has multiple precancerous lesions on their face that a chemical or laser peel can get rid of those precancerous lesions.  Ultimately, it is really sun protection that is going to reduce someone’s risk of future skin cancers, but I certainly would agree with performing routine skin treatments such as chemical peels or light laser peels or even microdermabrasion in conjunction with good skin care and excellent sun protection so that your skin is as healthy as it can be throughout your life.

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Question: I’d like to get a smoother texture to my skin and also improve some pigmentation issues and acne scars. Does a chemical peel seem like a good choice for this?

Answer: A chemical peel can certainly be an excellent choice for improvement in discolorations and textural abnormalities of the skin and even acne scarring if the peel is deep enough to improve this.  Most peels, however, are not going to be deep enough to improve the acne scarring and you would need a very aggressive approach to make any sort of significant visual improvement in this problem; nonetheless, frequently by performing more superficial peels we can make a visible improvement in the texture and discolorations of the skin and this in turn makes the skin look healthier and can give the illusion that the acne scarring is improved.

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Question: I have heard people rant and rave about their chemical peel. My only concern is about the duration of its affects. Post chemical peel, how long do the effects last for?

Answer: The effects of a chemical peel are highly dependent on the depth at which the chemical peel treats the skin. Different chemicals penetrate to different depths and if you had a very superficial peel you may need another treatment in as little as a month. If you have had an extremely deep chemical peel you may never need another peel like that for the rest of your life. All patients, however, do need to continue to have good skin care which includes a medical grade skin care line as well as good sun protection.

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Question: I am planning on having a chemical peel (or series of peels) to remove some scarring from my face and to correct sun damage. How long will the results last and will I have to continue getting peels?

Answer: Well it really depends on what type of chemical peel is used as to how long it is going to last and whether you will need to get continued peels. Essentially the deeper the level of injury the longer this is going to last and the more infrequently you would require any sort of touch-up treatments. The more superficial peels may be something that you would need to have performed on a regular basis. Ultimately significant experience is what truly matters when contemplating any sort of skin treatment, especially for some of your concerns such as scarring and sun damage.

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