Out of the frying pan, into the fire. With my face.
May 23, 2023 1:26 PM Subscribe
My dermatologist suggested a chemical peel for my stubborn forehead melasma. What can I expect?
SO. I have some very stubborn melasma on my forehead for the past few years. My old dermatologist put me on half a dozen different cremes and gels and none of them worked at all. I just switched to a new dermotologist and she suggested a chemical peel. I am scheduled to get the peel tomorrow. I am scared!
So I'm getting a "GLO Modified Jessner" peel. I was told it was a light peel and I would not really have any down time. My peel is at 10:30am tomorrow and I took the rest of the day off from work to rest at home, out of the sun.
I will ask the technician all my questions tomorrow before we start, but I'm looking for anecdotes from anyone who has had this done. Did it hurt? Did your face look like insanity afterwards or were you able to rejoin society the next day, as my doctor is assuring me I can do? I am REALLY nervous that I will do more damage to my skin.
I promise I will ask lots of questions tomorrow. But for tonight while I am freaking out, please give me your advice/stories!
SO. I have some very stubborn melasma on my forehead for the past few years. My old dermatologist put me on half a dozen different cremes and gels and none of them worked at all. I just switched to a new dermotologist and she suggested a chemical peel. I am scheduled to get the peel tomorrow. I am scared!
So I'm getting a "GLO Modified Jessner" peel. I was told it was a light peel and I would not really have any down time. My peel is at 10:30am tomorrow and I took the rest of the day off from work to rest at home, out of the sun.
I will ask the technician all my questions tomorrow before we start, but I'm looking for anecdotes from anyone who has had this done. Did it hurt? Did your face look like insanity afterwards or were you able to rejoin society the next day, as my doctor is assuring me I can do? I am REALLY nervous that I will do more damage to my skin.
I promise I will ask lots of questions tomorrow. But for tonight while I am freaking out, please give me your advice/stories!
From what I can read it is a combo of Salicylic, Lactic and Resorcinol.
The first two I’ve done before (salicylic is regular acne medication). Your skin will look great! Maybe some tingling and redness but gone within the day.
Acid peels are amazing for taking off layers of dead skin and you’ll look so refreshed.
The only damage is with sun exposure so use sunscreen for like 5 days afterwards like it’s your only true religion.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 1:50 PM on May 23, 2023
The first two I’ve done before (salicylic is regular acne medication). Your skin will look great! Maybe some tingling and redness but gone within the day.
Acid peels are amazing for taking off layers of dead skin and you’ll look so refreshed.
The only damage is with sun exposure so use sunscreen for like 5 days afterwards like it’s your only true religion.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 1:50 PM on May 23, 2023
Agree on the sunblock and I'd throw in a physical barrier too like a hat if it fits your lifestyle. I've never done this exact treatment (or perhaps it wasn't sold to me as such) but I've done chemical peels. On my skin (and this is where it's going to differ by person; fwiw mine is dry with some blocked pores so it's not quite a breakout) the sensation only lasts the duration of the peel. I don't ever recall feeling tender the next day etc but I always wear sunscreen and I tend to schedule my day after to be mostly indoors. ETA: i also don't really wear a lot of makeup these days so more likely than not the usual gunk on my face is just skincare. Though lately (due to the dry skin) I'm finding certain skincare-additive foundations helped in providing a light physical barrier for the day, and my skin doesn't dry out as much.
posted by cendawanita at 8:55 PM on May 23, 2023
posted by cendawanita at 8:55 PM on May 23, 2023
Best answer: I have a lot to say about this as I struggled with melasma for years and it’s only now under decent control. I’m sorry in advance but I’m super tired and it won’t be a very organized answer but I promise I’ve done tons of research and made mistakes and I’m 42 now and my skin is finally relaxed and my melasma has chilled out.
I have done chemical peels and I regret it (not in a BIG way but it didn’t really help and it just made it a little worse)… probably the most important information you are leaving out here- do you live in a sunny location? If you do then you should not do chemical peels for melasma. Chemical peels this time of year are a bad idea… you should do them in the late fall if you are going to do them. The SECOND you forget to put on a mineral sunscreen and hat to go check the mail or something your melasma will come right back out and probably worse than it was before. It’s not nice to be chained to sunscreen and a hat. At some point you forget and if the peel or chemical treatments were recent then WOW that evening when you go to bed your melasma is staring back at you. All your hard work destroyed.
So you should only try to treat melasma with chemicals in the winter. I used a teensy bit of hydroquinone for a month (2 winters in a row) followed by religious use of mineral sunscreen.
Melasma is activated by the sun/hormones and chemical sunscreens are NOT protective. Only mineral sunscreens. Nobody ever says this ever. You can be wearing spf 100 of a chemical sunscreen and it’s not helping. It needs to be mineral. The BEST mineral sunscreens are IS clinical and then colorscience makes amazing mineral sunscreen powders and make ups. Skinmedica lytera 2.0 has a special ingredient in it that is supposed to turn off the pigment making activity- it does when taken as a tablet but that has side effects so I never tried it but it does seem to help and I use that in the summer. Clinique even better foundation also has mineral sunscreen.
The woman doctor who did my peel actually said to me- you want to be careful here. You can make melasma angry.
posted by pairofshades at 12:06 AM on May 24, 2023
I have done chemical peels and I regret it (not in a BIG way but it didn’t really help and it just made it a little worse)… probably the most important information you are leaving out here- do you live in a sunny location? If you do then you should not do chemical peels for melasma. Chemical peels this time of year are a bad idea… you should do them in the late fall if you are going to do them. The SECOND you forget to put on a mineral sunscreen and hat to go check the mail or something your melasma will come right back out and probably worse than it was before. It’s not nice to be chained to sunscreen and a hat. At some point you forget and if the peel or chemical treatments were recent then WOW that evening when you go to bed your melasma is staring back at you. All your hard work destroyed.
So you should only try to treat melasma with chemicals in the winter. I used a teensy bit of hydroquinone for a month (2 winters in a row) followed by religious use of mineral sunscreen.
Melasma is activated by the sun/hormones and chemical sunscreens are NOT protective. Only mineral sunscreens. Nobody ever says this ever. You can be wearing spf 100 of a chemical sunscreen and it’s not helping. It needs to be mineral. The BEST mineral sunscreens are IS clinical and then colorscience makes amazing mineral sunscreen powders and make ups. Skinmedica lytera 2.0 has a special ingredient in it that is supposed to turn off the pigment making activity- it does when taken as a tablet but that has side effects so I never tried it but it does seem to help and I use that in the summer. Clinique even better foundation also has mineral sunscreen.
The woman doctor who did my peel actually said to me- you want to be careful here. You can make melasma angry.
posted by pairofshades at 12:06 AM on May 24, 2023
Ps- I think the key is to realize that melasma is not a thing that you can take off your face or deal with and resolve completely (like a scar or a pimple or sun damage pigmentation) it’s something that is part of you and happening within. It’s dynamic. Have you ever noticed that it gets lighter and darker from day to day? Crazy! Think of it as something that you need to be gentle with and you want to convince it to relax and take a nap.
posted by pairofshades at 2:41 AM on May 24, 2023
posted by pairofshades at 2:41 AM on May 24, 2023
Response by poster: Reporting back to say I ended up getting a "vitamin c and retinol peel" that you wear for 12-14 hours and then wash off. It did not hurt at all going on. I'm in hour 3 right now and my face feels totally normal. My face just looks shiny like I'm wearing too much moisturizer.
The techinican says it will peel in a few days, but just a little around my mouth and nose. If I react well to it, we'll try a more intense one at a later date. As pairofshades mentioned, I should do the more intense ones in the Fall/Winter when there is less sun exposure. It's a work in progress!
Also picked up some mineral sunscreen and will use it every day, I promise! Thanks everyone who commented!
posted by silverstatue at 10:12 AM on May 24, 2023
The techinican says it will peel in a few days, but just a little around my mouth and nose. If I react well to it, we'll try a more intense one at a later date. As pairofshades mentioned, I should do the more intense ones in the Fall/Winter when there is less sun exposure. It's a work in progress!
Also picked up some mineral sunscreen and will use it every day, I promise! Thanks everyone who commented!
posted by silverstatue at 10:12 AM on May 24, 2023
That sounds really good and relaxed. I am happy for you! Just want to note that the mineral sunscreens I mentioned I LOVE because they don’t have any white sheen… I tried SO SO many…. And I loved them for that reason, I could reapply many times a day in the summer on spots without it being weird. The expensive is clinical is 70 bucks and I put that on in the mornings and then the tinted one (30 dollars) I used through the day just on my troublesome spots… then when I was in the sun I used the various make ups I mentioned.
I also got a make up remover rotating brush to make sure I got it all off at night in the summers.
In the end it worked (plus the winter bits of hydroquinone) and I can’t see the huge dark patches of melasma now.
posted by pairofshades at 10:30 AM on May 24, 2023
I also got a make up remover rotating brush to make sure I got it all off at night in the summers.
In the end it worked (plus the winter bits of hydroquinone) and I can’t see the huge dark patches of melasma now.
posted by pairofshades at 10:30 AM on May 24, 2023
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