Just had Jessner's/TCA peel done
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free skin care · Thu May 03, 2007 2:10 pm

I'm posting this here because I thought maybe some of you might be interested in this little "peel journey"!

I just returned from the derm's office, where I had a Jessner's peel done. I also had TCA used on some areas that needed additional agressiveness (sebacious hyperplasia and smile lines). It stung like the Dickens (where did that expression come from, btw?), and it still stings a little, but it's getting better. I took a Vicodin beforehand. They also gave me a fan which I blew on my face while they were peeling. I do 55% lactic acid peels (from MUAC) weekly, but I can't imagine how people do this level of peel at home.

The Jessner's is for texture, pore size, and hyperpigmentation. The TCA should help with the other issues I mentioned.

Right now my face is very pink. It should get tight and turn pinker (or brown where the TCA was done) and then start to peel. The derm wants me to moisturize a lot (4-5 times/day) as soon as it gets tight using either Cetaphil or Aquaphor, and of course avoid the sun at all costs. This derm says moisturizing will lessen the amount that I peel, but that he feels the results are improved long-term if you moisturize.

I will post updates as well as my results! It should take a full week. The TCA areas may still be peeling a bit after a week is over.

free skin care · Thu May 03, 2007 2:24 pm

seabliss -- you're so brave!

I know that there must be several here interested in your progress -- I know that I am! Maybe you could do a little online diary over the next several days?

TIA!
Marla

free skin care · Thu May 03, 2007 2:32 pm

Very interested to hear your story, please post your progress Surprised

free skin care · Thu May 03, 2007 2:59 pm

Absolutely! I will post what happens over the next several days. I didn't take photos, but I think the descriptions will help. I know I was really looking for info before I did the peel. It is a little scary to go for procedures that you know will be painful! Smile

But I'm hoping it will be much more effective than topicals and at a much lower cost than lasers.

I forgot to add that I asked him to be more agressive on my forehead, where I have the most texture issues, and where the skin seems tougher. So he did more layers there.

BTW, the Jessner's is considered a medium-level peel. The TCA he did is on the deeper end of medium level.

free skin care · Thu May 03, 2007 6:24 pm

I have had Jessner peels a few times on my upper chest area where speckled sun damage was visable. After the crustiness from the peel, peeled away, the skin was even and looked great! I would do this once a year in the winter, when I could easily cover the area with clothing. (Now that I am using Anthelios sunscreen religiously in that area, I don't get the hyperpigmentation anymore.) I think Jessners are great!

free skin care · Fri May 04, 2007 1:54 pm

Day 2: It's been a little over 24 hours since I got the layered Jessner's peel with additional TCA layered over in some areas. Today my skin looks extremely blotchy, with brown and red patches and brown dots in some areas (I assume where the TCA was placed). The skin still looks shiny and has a lot of tiny lines. The cellophane-looking top layer appears to be thin. It doesn't look like it's going to crack or start peeling yet. I'm waiting to moisturize until it looks that way. It doesn't hurt, but it's a little itchy.

With my face looking like this, it's definitely a stay-at-home day (and an avoid sunlight day!). Besides, no makeup can be used until after the face is mostly finished peeling, according to my derm.

free skin care · Fri May 04, 2007 2:15 pm

I know that I need to do this but at the moment I am too scared so I am trying to get the same after effect using Apeel correct.
In my heart I know that I am going to have to be as brave as you & go for the real thing soon.
Do please keep us updated as I am always interested in the healing process/ time scale & final results. I hope you get the result you want.

free skin care · Sat May 05, 2007 11:58 am

loopylori, I'll definitely keep posting! Hopefully this will help you with your decision.

Day 3:

Today I woke up with really tight skin. I can't open my mouth really wide. My skin is super crepey. Last night there was a little loose skin breaking up below one corner of my mouth. Now, as today progresses, the corners on both sides of my mouth are all rough and peely. The skin on my cheeks and chin is "pulling," so I think it will start peeling soon. It is a little itchy. I keep wanting to touch it.

I am thrilled because I look at my forehead and it's smooth and flat, even though it hasn't peeled yet and is blotchy and shiny. I had some sebacious hyperplasia there that the derm dotted with TCA over the Jessners. It looks like he missed one, but the others are gone! Of course, I will have to wait until the old skin peels off, but right now it looks that way.

free skin care · Sun May 06, 2007 7:52 am

seabliss -- sorry for the weird question, but how brown is your skin? like a megadark tan, or just slightly tan?

does it hurt at all, or is it just uncomfortable? have you gone outside at all and, if so, is the sunlight uncomfortable?

free skin care · Sun May 06, 2007 10:37 am

Marla, it's not like a tan at all, really. It's quite blotchy and very wrinkly and peely right now. Most areas are like a medium brown (not like a tan, but more like a "dead" brown), and some are red. There's no way I'm going outside looking the way I do right now! Confused

It does not hurt at all. It's just uncomfortable!

Here's my Day 4 update:
I told my husband last night that I looked like Freddy Krueger, and he kind of agreed, because of all the weird wrinkling and brown-ness. I'm not as bad as Freddy, but I am a sight! Peeling and flaking all around the mouth area, but the upper cheeks, nose, and forehead have not started peeling. (Well, the upper cheeks near the nose are just starting to flake.) Much of the "new" skin on the chin is already evident.

It is very hard not to touch my face. It tends to itch. Last night I was wearing cotton gloves to help me keep my hands off my face. My husband says we are going to have to get me a cone for my head, like the dog would wear, lol!

The skin is still really tight and I can't open my mouth wide. Most of my face is more brown blotchy than red, but the TCA spots on my forehead are red. The derm also used the TCA in wide swaths in the smile line/nasal labial areas, and these areas are brown and wrinkly and flaking.

I have started using warm compresses (warm wet washcloths held on for about 5 minutes) to try to speed the peeling.

In spite of the discomfort and having to be a shut-in, I am really excited about the peel. If all goes as I hope, pretty much all my skin issues will be helped (or even solved for now) with this one peel. I do take care of my skin with retinoids, great sunscreen, and vitamin C serum as my staples, but this is hopefully going to pretty dramatically improve the things that bother me, and then I can just try to maintain.

free skin care · Mon May 07, 2007 11:04 am

Day 5 update:
My skin peeled quite a bit yesterday. I had a very hard time not touching it, once again. I followed my doctor's orders and used scissors to snip off pieces of skin that were hanging. I moisturized with Aquaphor and did warm compresses a couple of times.

Today I only have a few patches of old skin left on my cheeks. My forehead hasn't peeled yet and is just starting to break up. My nose is partially peeled.

Now here's the big news: the skin that has been revealed is incredible! It is soft, smooth, finely pored, naturally moisturized looking, plump, and evenly creamy colored. In my smile line area, the line on one side is non-existent. On the other side, there is just a very faint, short, shallow line. I harbour no illusions that I have permanently conquered my smile lines, since they are caused by motion. However, they are gone for now!

When I smile, the skin near my orbital bones (eye area) does not crease up at all, but plumps out like young skin. Any roughness and tiny lines are gone.

Although my forehead has yet to peel, based on the look of my cheeks, chin, etc., it is not at all unreasonable to say I have taken at least 5, possibly 10 years off my skin. The signs of aging I had there are gone, and my critical eye cannot see anything that betrays age there.

Everyone's results from a peel are different based on the depth of skin damage they have, etc. That's why I would say, go to a derm for a peel of this extent. Good derms know how to gauge exactly what type and how many layers to do a peel to get the results you seek. And lots of people need more than one peel.

Also Marla, I forgot to say that my derm warned me severely to avoid the sun at all costs. The new skin is extremely susceptible and will get dark hyperpigmentation with sun exposure. I'm not going to jeopardize the lovely new skin and the work of the last several days!

free skin care · Mon May 07, 2007 11:38 am

Excellent news, seabliss!! How exciting for you!

One of these days I'm going to take a few days off to do a full TCA. I hate to admit it, but I'm far too vain to be out and about with a brown/peeling face. A friend of mine does a TCA about once every six months (she has lots of sun/acne scar damage) and her skin looks better and better after every peel.

What sunscreen do you use?

free skin care · Mon May 07, 2007 1:55 pm

Hi Marla, I would never go out with a brown/peeling face either! That's what husbands are for! Laughing

I just made mine do some grocery shopping. Of course that requires him keeping me on the phone the entire time, asking me questions about every little thing and giving me an inventory of the store ("They have chocolate Milano cookies! They have French bread!")

I work from home, so it is a little easier for me to stay home for the peel than it is for others, I'm sure. Some people do a series of lighter peels and time them so they peel over the weekend in order to make it work.

I use Anthelios Dermo Peds, the SPF40 spray for most days, and the SPF50+ for driving/more sun days. I reapply during the day, and I wear sunscreen indoors too. I also just bought a sun-protective hat and driving gloves for the summer months.

free skin care · Mon May 07, 2007 2:50 pm

Adding thank you's without a comment here is kinda pointless.

I & others I'm sure are not only intrigued by this journey - but grateful for the time you are taking to explain the process. Working from home or not, it's time consuming & I for 1 thank you.

free skin care · Tue May 08, 2007 2:20 pm

Thanks for the feedback, Candy! I know everybody's experience is different, but I hope the info will help.

Day 6:
I'm almost all peeled by now. There are just some spots on the forehead that haven't peeled yet, or if they have, are red. I think he went deep to get those sebacious hyperplasia (yay!) He missed one, so hopefully I can talk him into just taking that one off with his hypercator or whatever it's called for free.

There is also some light peeling happening on the lower cheeks near the outer corners. I don't think he used many layers there, so it's just now peeling.

The skin is definitely improved. Smoother, the hyperpigmentation is greatly reduced or gone, pores smaller, tiny lines gone, etc. I would definitely say 5 years worth. It's not perfect, but it will never be perfect, I don't think. Also, I still have my other yucky issues that can't be helped with a peel, like a few broken caps and the fat pads under my eyes. Those things take other procedures to fix. Also, I will still need to get Botox if I want to keep the movement lines away.

I put on vitamin c serum and sunscreen as well as a little light makeup (just around my nostrils and under eyes), slapped a hat on my head, and ran errands today. It's the first time out and about in almost a week.

All in all, I would say the peel was definitely worth the money (for me, $125) and the downtime. It truly has done far more than any topicals can hope to do, except if you want to take months of peeling with Obagi or something--not for me (I can't tolerate Retin A anyway). Plus, no topicals can remove sebacious hyperplasia.

I hope my journal has been helpful!

Seabliss

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