Once you pass childhood, your skin takes a beating. First, you have to weather the storms of acne breakouts and flares through adolescence. And just when it seems that you have acne beaten (if you do), out come the fine lines, wrinkles, and sun spots.
Although a variety of dermatologic cosmetic treatments can restore your skin’s strength and health, a chemical peel is an efficient, relaxing, and budget-friendly option to keep your skin cells looking and acting new and fresh.
At Specialists in Dermatology, our expert dermatologists evaluate your skin to see if you’d benefit from a chemical peel at our offices in The Woodlands, Texas, and Houston, Texas. We then prescribe a chemical peel in a strength that’s right for your skin type and issues.
Are you a candidate for a chemical peel? The following explains a few reasons why you might be.
Acne is a many-factored disease, but key to its development are unhealthy, clogged follicles (aka pores). When your body produces too much testosterone, your skin pumps out extra sebum, which is the oily or waxy substance that makes your skin look (sometimes too) shiny.
The excess sebum makes it hard for your follicles to slough off and shed old, dead skin cells. Instead, the cell debris gets stuck in the sebum. The resulting plugs create comedones, such as blackheads and whiteheads. When skin bacteria are added into the mix, inflammation results and so do pimples and cysts.
A chemical peel removes your outer layer of dead, dull skin. It also clears debris from your follicles. Clear follicles are better able to slough off and shed skin cells, so that comedones don’t form.
Regular chemical peels actually help improve the health of your skin so that you don’t break out in acne lesions as often. However, you can’t have a peel in the middle of a breakout.
As a bonus, chemical peels help even out a side effect of acne: acne scars. In fact, any facial scars are less visible after chemical peels.
Spending time in the sun damages the DNA in your skin cells, making them susceptible to skin cancer. Ultraviolet light exposure also weakens and thins your skin, so that it’s prone to wrinkling and sagging.
The DNA damage also creates brown or gray spots on your skin that are commonly known as sun spots. Chemical peels remove the outer, damaged layer of skin and literally peel off discolorations. You can also use chemical peels to even out your skin tone if you have melasma.
When your skin doesn’t reflect light, it makes you look and feel older and more fatigued than you actually are. The combination of dead skin cells that absorb light along with thinner, damaged skin conspire to take away your youthful glow.
A chemical peel removes that outer, dulling layer. Not only does it reveal fresher skin underneath — which does reflect light and give you a glow — it also improves the health of your skin overall. The slight irritation of a chemical peel triggers a healing process in your skin that amps up the production of strengthening proteins such as collagen and elastin.
Discover if chemical peels are the “solution” for your skin issues by calling our office, or using our convenient online contact form.
