Accelerated Chemical Peel & Acne Spot Treatment

Accelerated Chemical Peel

I happened upon this completely without realizing that I hadn’t finished peeling.  It had been nine days since I’d applied a 15% TCA chemical peel, and I thought I’d finished peeling on about day six.  Anyway, my face was starting to break out because it had been over two weeks since I’d done a glycolic acid peel, and that eliminates my break outs completely by keeping my pores clean.

After I applied a very thin layer, as I rubbed the solution around to make sure everything was covered, I felt some skin rolling under my fingers.  I immediately rinsed my face, but I still couldn’t see where the skin was coming from.

I applied some of my zinc oxide physical sunscreen because that always shows any flakes at all, and sure enough I had some areas on my cheeks that were not finished peeling.  Here’s a picture that shows there was still skin there.

I think my cheeks just needed exfoliating, so I reapplied the glycolic acid and left it on for about 30-45 seconds and rubbed gently in a circular motion.  The skin rolled off.

It really makes sense when I think about it.  Glycolic acid simply “unglues” dead skin, so it just allowed that skin to come off, and that’s when I realized that I could accelerate peeling, but I think it’s pretty risky to apply a peeling agent so soon after a TCA chemical peel.  I was definitely taking a huge risk, but I knew if I didn’t address the break out before any of them formed and opened, I wouldn’t be able to do a glycolic peel because the pain would be too excruciating.

Spot Treatment with Glycolic Acid?  

 This lead me to thinking of spot treatments with glycolic acid. That’s the perfect solution for dealing with a breakout after a TCA chemical peel.  Rather than risk putting the glycolic acid on all of my newly peeled face, I could use a cotton swab and dab it only on any spots that have arisen as a result of not using my glycolic acid in a couple of weeks.

I will definitely try the spot treatment after a TCA chemical peel, but I won’t be accelerating an entire peel with it, and I would advise anyone else not to do it.  I think that’s just too risky!