Question: Are chemical peels still used today? You do not hear much about them anymore. What are they good for treating and are other things, like injectables, better?
Answer: Chemical peels are definitely used today though I feel that the majority of the chemical peels performed are typically very superficial and in more of a day spa setting. With that said, there are a variety of chemicals that can be used for chemical peeling and these can do a wonderful job of improving rough texture as well as improving discolorations in the skin and can bring an overall glow to the skin. Many chemical peels can be performed with little-to-no down time but the more aggressive peels that are more affective frequently come with 1 to 2 days of down time or even up to 5 or 6 days of down time due to the peeling process. What technology has given us is the ability to treat many of these skin conditions without any down time or if down time is involved we tend to get improved results over chemical peels with a similar number of days of down time. The only down side of the newer technologies is that they are relatively expensive and this cost obviously needs to be passed on to the patient but we certainly feel that the additional cost is outweighed by the either lack of down time and/or improved results.