Question: I am scheduled for a chemical peel tomorrow. I am pretty nervous about the discomfort I am expecting, and I just realized that I have no idea how long the treatment is going to last. How long will the peel actually have to stay on my face?
Answer: That highly depends on what type of a peel is performed but most chemicals only stay on the face for a matter of seconds to up to a few minutes. For many of the peels, we can place a fan blowing on the face or at Quintessa Medical Spa we use a Zimmer cooling unit for any sort of a laser or chemical peel that causes discomfort. This is a machine that blows extremely cold air out of a relatively small hose, and this is then directed at the area that is being treated to greatly reduce any discomfort. Most of the chemical peels that we perform at Quintessa Medical Spa have very little, if any, discomfort as the far majority of them are relatively superficial. The advantage of the chemical peel is that it can penetrate into areas of the skin and provide nutrients and aesthetic improvements in those deeper areas without having to injure them. The majority of deeper peels that we perform are done with an Erbium laser, which is a very precise way to injure and ablate the skin and provide significant improvement in textural irregularities and pigmentation. Ultimately, we highly customize the skin treatment for each individual’s anatomic features and desires and, therefore, I would recommend a consultation so that a customized treatment plan can be created.
