Background

Phenol peels are a medical grade procedure.  They are the strongest and deepest type of chemical skin peel available. They penetrate the skin deeper than AHA peels to address more serious imperfections such as blotchiness, sun damage, coarse wrinkles around the lips and chin. Typically only a single treatment is required. Deep chemical peels offer more dramatic results but can have a lengthy recovery period.  They usually are only used on the face since they can cause scarring on the neck and other parts of the body. Phenol chemical peels are a long-tested procedure proven to generate results.

Procedure

Phenol peels offer the most dramatic results because the skin is forced into creating new, thicker collagen. The acids used in chemical peels force the skin to shed the outermost damaged layers. This is an ablative procedure and involves the removal of the upper layers of the skin.  Since deep peels are so strong they are always performed with anesthesia and our nurse will prescribe pain medication to take home after the procedure.

The phenol effect is due to the croton oil agent, but croton oil is not the only phenol agent found in phenol skin peels.  Any deep peel or laser may produce permanent pigment changes in some patients.

Recovery

Regardless of the type of peel that you eventually decide on with Dr. Goldberg, your skin may appear red and irritated for a few days after the treatment. You’ll experience swelling, redness, flaking and peeling, so you must keep skin hydrated for the first few days following treatment.   It will peel for at least one week before fresh, new skin is revealed.

Keep in mind that phenol peels, which are generally performed only once, can cause a demarcation line on your skin, regardless of your skin type, and require a healing time of at least two weeks.