What is Glycolic Acid?
Glycolic acid is one of the alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs), a group of naturally occuring substances often referred to as “Fruit Acids” because they are found naturally in various fruits and other foods. Glycolic Acid is found naturally in sugar cane. AHAs improve skin appearance and texture. Improvement has been found in patients with dry, oily and acne-prone skin and age spots.
What is Glycolic Acid Peel?
A Glycolic Acid Peel treatment is a specific technique for skin renewal. With this process, a high concentration of glycolic acid is applied to the skin for a short period of time and then chemically neutralised to end the treatment. This procedure rapidly removes the demaged layer of dead surface skin cells revealing the fresh skin, and stimulating cell rebuilding and restructuring of the deeper skin layers, which can help the skin appear smoother, healthier, plumper and tighter, with more even pigmentation.
How do Glycolic Acid Peels Differ From Other Chemical Peels?
In the past, chemical peeling agents have been primarily phenol and trichloroacetic (TCA). These types of chemical peels are effective in a number of conditions requiring a deep peel, although they are, by their very nature, toxic to cells. Phenol and TCA can produce treatment complications such as excessive colouration or discolouration (hyper pigmentation or hypo pigmentation) and possible scarring.
In contrast, Glycolic Acid Peels are not toxic to skin cells and are used as superficial peels requiring little skin recovery time. Usually done in a series of controlled superficial peels. AHA peels have been shown to provide improvements to acne prone skin and help reverse sun damage. When proper procedures and techiques are used, results with glycolic acid peels are comparable to deeper peels, without their complications.
Some Conditions May Make it Unsafe to Have a Peel.
** It is important to inform your physician of the following conditions **
Allergies | Atopic Skin Reactions or Eczema |
Rosacea | Seborrhoea Dermatitis |
Pigmentation Disorders | Recent Anticoagulant Therapy |
Circulation Disorders | Collagen or Autoimmune Disease |
Viral Infections (Herpes) | Hypertrophy or Keloidal Scarring |
Cryotherapy or Cryosurgery | Reacceptance or Oral Retinoid Use |
Smoking | Pregnancy |
What Kinds of Improvement Can I Expect With a Peel Treatment?
Be sure to discuss the type of skin improvement you hope to achieve from the peel treatment. Together you can decide if your expectations are realistic and redefine your goals if necessary to get your desired improvements. The following are types of improvements that are possible with the Glycolic Acid Peel Treatment program and items to discuss with your doctor:
Softening of fine lines | Lightening of pigmentation irregularities |
Dimunition of coarse lines | Increasing skin natural glow of radiance |
Increased smoothness in skin texture | Some minimization of pore size |
Mild to moderate leveling of acne scars |
How Will I Look or Feel After the Peel Treatment?
Initially your skin may be somewhat red or puffy. It may take up to one week for the renewal and rebuilding process to let your skin appearance return to “normal”. During this repair/renewal period patients have experienced some of the following: stinging, itching, burning, mild pain or discomfort, tightness and peeling of the superficial layer of the skin. Light peeling is an expected result and will lessen over the week as the skin returns to “normal”. Once healed, your skin will have refreshed, hydrated, more youthful appearance.