Question: I have many age spots on my forehead and cheeks. Otherwise, I do not look too bad for a 76-year-old grandpa. I would like to reduce the appearance of these pigmented spots. Can a chemical peel do this and what would the recovery time be?
Answer: Well first we need to evaluate your age spots to diagnose the exact problem and make an appropriate diagnosis before we can come up with a treatment plan to rid you of these spots. Ultimately, a chemical peel can do wonderful things regarding pigmentation of the skin but frequently minor surgical procedures that can shave raised lesions off or laser resurfacing is going to be even more affective. The recovery time really depends on the extensiveness of the technique used to treat these age spots and can vary from no downtime if we try to treat pigmentation with broadband light or similar technology or up to a week of downtime if we do a full, deep laser or chemical resurfacing.