TCA peel Advice
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Mon Sep 12, 2011 6:47 pm

I am a 26 year old male who had bad acne as a teen, accutane 3 courses for 3 years cured that, then after I got off i remained clear with benzoyl peroxide. I decided I wanted to tca peel after my girlfriend mentioned it to me to help with a few scars and pores.

I did my research and basically did a few salsylic acid peels first. Now im not sure if it was that or I took nasonex for allergies that week (nasonex lists acne as a side effect and does break me out) but i broke out badly on both sides of my forehead.

Oddly I had some free time and decided to do the tca peel.

I think it was a mistake because the acne in that area got worse, and multiplied.

So I went from clear skin to having like 8 bad zits on the side of my head. It was a 15% tca peel and i barely peeled.

My question is i also ordered a 21% tca peel because I did like the results minus acne multiplying. Should I try it again when i have no active acne, or not do one ever again? I really want to do it, but im not sure if there causing my breakouts or not. My intial breakout was either caused by the Salsylic acid peel or nasonex (not sure which) but tca really multiplied the active acne, im still battling it! If i do it again when im clear will that prevent any issues?

Tue Sep 13, 2011 6:55 pm

Since no one else has mentioned anything I guess I'll make a post. The problem is I never did do any TCA peels. I am not sure why you would spend that kind of money on a peel, when you could have had a small series of Silk peels done instead.

I guess there is a valid reason why your derm chose this route, and maybe in your case it actually is the better, I'm just curious why.

free skin care · Tue Sep 13, 2011 9:30 pm

I did a 15% TCA peel a month ago, and since almost nothing happened, I am going to try a 21$ peel next.

I'm not clear about what/when you broke out, but I would not use a peel with active zits. You might risk infection or worse scarring.

If you think you are allergic to a particular peel, like salicylic acid, you might want to try testing it in a small area on your arm before using it on your face (when your skin is clear).

Wed Sep 14, 2011 5:28 am

Thank you for the reply!

I basically broke out a month ago. It was either from salicylic acid peel or nasonex (sinus medicine, lists acne as a side effect), so I am not clear which of the two broke me out, i think it was the nasonex since it was a year since i used it and that was my last bad breakout all year. Regardless I broke out with 3 large zits on each side of my forehead.

I wanted to then try a tca peel from muac, since I had time off I applied it with active zits, which normally would never happen because normally i am clear.

After the tca peel the acne on my forehead multiplied and seemed to multiply further around that same area on my head.

So I think your probably right and the tca peel probably further infected and trapped the acne. If anyone has any information on how this happens or works i would love to understand it.

Its definately not allergies, I use salicylic acid to wash my face every day. And the tca peel did not do anything but help the bottom part of my face. Its all on the side of my forehead area where the original acne was, which makes me think your infection theory is probably accurate and then the acne in this area got worse.

I was just curious if anyone else experienced this, and if i try a tca peel again with no active acne will i not break out?

I am a bit scarred, i loved the minor results i seen so i want to try the 21%, but this breakout is nasty, these are not nice zits and very hard to get rid of.

free skin care · Wed Sep 14, 2011 6:20 am

Personally I would let the zits clear up and try not to do anything to them, and I wouldnt do any more peels for now as it may just aggravate them.

I think my doctor gave me some free samples of Nasonex - I'm so glad I didnt use it! The slightest thing seems to upset me internally which has an almost instant impact on my skin...

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