Embarrassed to have to ask, but can we talk about post-peel care?

I am fairly newly licensed (April) and am currently starting my own *small* practice. While I did use some peels in school, we were using the two quite mild peels from BioElements.

The other night I did a lactic peel on myself (Skin Script) following the protocol in the manual. Afterward I used a hydrating mask and my skin felt great when I went to bed. That was 2 nights ago. Since then my face has been itchy and feeling "rough". This is fine with me if it is on the way to looking/feeling better - or, is this not a good thing?

Last night and this morning I used a hydrocortisone ointment before moisturizer. That has seemed to help.

All of the sudden I am thinking I should know if this is normal - what if I did this to a client, they would call me and ask what I did wrong?!

I hate to sound like a newbie - I figure this is the best place to come for these questions.

So - what do you tell your clients to expect post-peel? What products should they use/not use immediately, and in the days that follow the peel?

Thank you for your help,

Julia Elliott

(Last week I had surgery under general anesthesia - I had considered that this might have also caused some extra sensitivity...)

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sally Connor on October 14, 2011 at 8:29pm

The use of hydrocortisone is helpful to calm and soothe the irritated skin (7 day intervals, not long-term use).

* Use products to soothe, hydrate and repair skin after a chemical peel.

* Use until peeling/flaking has resolved, typically three to five days.
For more sensitive skin or after more intense treatments, consider using for ten days.

* Apply moisturizer throughout the day to maintain hydration and decrease the appearance of flaking.

* Once skin has returned to normal you can return to your regular skin care routine

Permalink Reply by Jill Steele on October 14, 2011 at 9:22pm

PCA Peels come with a Post Peel Kit to use for a week after a Peel. It calms, hydrates & protects the skin. I enjoy using PCA Peels.

Permalink Reply by Brenda Griffin on October 15, 2011 at 7:13am

You should not be embarrassed, this is how we all learn. Tell your clients to be gentle to their skin, stay out of the sun or limit their sun exposure, keep it hydrated and that they may experience dryness or flaking for 3-5 days or so. When this process subsides, they will have fresh new skin. The anesthesia may have played a role in this as far as the drying effect.