How Long do Chemical Peel Results Last
As you consider chemical peels as a solution to your skin issues, you’re likely wondering how long the results from chemical peels last. If you undergo the treatments and recovery, especially with a chemical peel that requires a bit more downtime due to skin peeling and redness as it heals, you want to be sure you’re going to look fabulous for as long as possible.
The results of chemical peels will always depend on your skin type, skin condition and the issues you’re treating with chemical peels, and especially the depth and strength of the chemical peels your physician advises for you.
All chemical peels work their magic by removing the top layers of the skin, where dead skin cells accumulate and dulling or fine lines occur. Lighter peels are easy to endure and require no downtime, but their results won’t last as long as deeper chemical peels that treat skin to a greater depth. Here’s why:
Light chemical peels are gentle enough, with treatment medications like salicylic acid and glycolic acid removing only the top, superficial layers of the skin, to cause only minimal peeling and redness while they work to remove those top layers and reveal fresher, more glowing skin. Light chemical peels as applied by your physician may last an average of 1 – 2 months.
Medium chemical peels use a different combination of slightly stronger acids, such as trichloracetic acid or Jessner’s solution, among others, to penetrate more deeply into the skin’s deeper layers and remove dead or flawed skin to a greater degree, safely under the judgment of your physician. Medium chemical peels are often a physician’s choice to treat deeper wrinkles, laxity and discoloration, since there’s more skin being removed and fresher skin being revealed once those aged and damaged layers are gone. With more repair happening via a medium peel, you can expect results to last 2 – 6 months.
Deeper peels are done with a physician’s careful guidance, since these treatments are conducted using stronger acids that create a true, burn-like wound on your skin to remove damaged skin to a deeper layer and maximize skin improvements like the removal of deeper wrinkling. Since this is such a deep and dramatic treatment, results can last for years.
Keep in mind that chemical peels will most often require multiple treatments spaced weeks or months apart, allowing for full and proper skin healing between treatments, to create optimal effects. Additionally, your doctor will advise you on proper skin care regimens to help your skin heal fully and well after each treatment. As a great patient, you will of course, follow your doctor’s careful skincare instructions, which may include the application of gentle, natural skin exfoliants and which will definitely including the daily application of a quality-strength sunscreen; and as a result you’ll play a big part in how long your chemical peel results and skin improvements will last.
Many patients opt to keep their skin improvements going with a doctor-created schedule of maintenance treatments every several months to encourage continuous improvement of skin tone and to keep those fine lines at bay. Staying on top of your skin’s condition and appearance with doctor-selected and doctor-applied chemical peels – and avoiding the burns and discolorations, scarring, and even infections that can happen if you try to self-apply a store-bought chemical peel product – can keep your skin looking bright, fresh, younger, healthier and more radiant for a long, long time.