An Appeal for Peels

Professional chemical peels are an excellent way to improve a patient’s skin health. While lasers sound sexier to many health care providers, I want to remind my colleagues in the aesthetics space of the tremendous benefits of peels. There are numerous advantages associated with in-office peels, including customization, ease of use, accessibility, and cost.

A Range of Applications

Chemical peels can be tailored to treat any skin concern, including aging, discoloration, acne, and rosacea. The beauty of peels is they can be personalized to meet the needs and goals of your patients. The dermatologist or health care provider (HCP) picks the active ingredient(s) and layers the peels to achieve beautiful skin. For example, salicylic acid, lactic acid, and trichloroacetic acid (TCA) can all be used to control active acne in addition to helping with post-inflammatory dyschromia. Kojic acid, citric acid, resorcinol, and hydroquinone can be utilized to treat hyperpigmentation. The concentration of any of those ingredients can be modified to your patient’s goals. In addition, the doctor or HCP may add a “booster,” such as retinol, to enhance desquamation. Remember that visible peeling can be limited or maximized.

Easy to Adopt into Practice

The actual physical application of peels is quite simple, although there are nuances. In general, the skin needs to be prepped to remove oil and allow appropriate penetration of the peel ingredients. Commonly used degreasing agents, such as alcohol and acetone, are readily found in most dermatology offices. One can use either surgical grade or tighter woven gauze depending on goal. For example, our team utilizes acetone and surgical grade gauze to create micro-abrasions for improved TCA penetration when treating actinic keratoses and seborrheic keratoses. Remember to obtain a history of retinol use to determine the strength of TCA you may safely use. Pro Tip: Have your patient close his or her eyes to avoid injury.

A Cost-effective Option

Affordability of chemical peels allows ready access to both patients and physicians. Med spas may charge as little as $150 per peel, while most physicians charge a minimum of $250. Of note, many of your patients cheerfully pay $150 or more for facials, which have no actual benefit to the skin. Charge for your expertise. Optimal results depend on the selection of the appropriate peel for the patient’s concerns and technique to minimize undesirable outcomes.

The cost of goods is very reasonable for chemical peels, especially when compared with the cost of lasers. McKesson charges less than $100 for a 4oz. bottle of TCA 25% that can be used to treat 40 to 50 patients. Some cosmeceutical companies charge more for proprietary peels.

In our office, we use a variety of professional peels produced by PCA SKIN to allow us to layer a mixture of ingredients to enhance results while minimizing side effects. These in-office treatments use advanced ingredient blends to increase cell turnover, remove impurities, and reveal fresh, healthy-looking skin.

Don’t forget to recommend at-home skincare to enhance results from in-office peels. When paired with the right at-home skincare products, peels can produce dramatic changes in the skin.

A Starting Point

The goal with professional peels is to enhance your ability to treat all skin types and many dermatologic concerns of first-time and seasoned aesthetic patients. You will find your consumers segue to more advanced treatments.