What's New in Cosmetic Dermatology?

What’s new in cosmetic dermatology? Chemical peels are being rediscovered. I was first introduced into this area in the late 80’s when alpha hydroxys were discussed by Doctors Van Scott, Yu, and Dietre at our dermatology conferences. Glycolic and Salicylic acids helped sun damaged and acne prone skin without the significant downtime needed for the medium and deep peels. Lasers then pushed to the forefront but now chemical peels are coming back with exciting new combo variations which include some of our deep peel chemicals (phenol, trichlorectic) but in much lower strengths. While there is peeling that occurs after the peel, it is much more superficial (like a mild sunburn) and can be timed to coordinate with a person’s social schedule. The key here is to do a series of 4-6 treatments, 2-4 weeks apart and to be on a good home care program to maintain the improvement. I think the boomer generation is finally understanding that our years of fun in the sun took a toll on our skin. The chemical peel is our “resurfacing” tool and is much easier than redoing grandmother’s dresser. Check out Young Pharmaceutical’s Gloss peel and Melanage peel, Caleel’s VI peel, SkinCeuticals Pigment Balancing peel, Skin Medica’s Rejuvenize peel, Envy Medical’s SilkPeel and the new kid on the block, Ascend Pharma’s Apeele peel.

Dr. Ann