A month ago our patient visited the office and had a Voluma treatment with our aesthetic nurse specialist, Elizabeth Reed. Two weeks following her injection series, she made plans to return for her Juvederm treatment.
But that didn’t happen.
“I was expecting to get Juvederm, but Elizabeth was so honest with me by saying how I didn’t need it since the Voluma injections I received a couple weeks before to add volume to my cheek area had actually resolved my nasolabial folds,” Christina said. “As I was sitting there, Elizabeth asked when I’d be available to do a chemical peel because she thought I’d benefit from it.”
For Christina G., 50, a TCA peel (trichloroacetic acid) was going to be different than the type she had with Elizabeth months ago during a Break Time Peel. That one was a very light peel and Christina could immediately resume back to her day’s activities, and she didn’t experience any peeling. She didn’t know what to expect from a TCA peel.
“To be honest, I was a bit concerned about how I would look following a chemical peel. I had no idea how much and for how long I’d be peeling,” she said. “That little voice in my head wanted to put it off, but I hadn’t had any special events planned in the next few days so I had no reason to delay it. Besides, this was Elizabeth. She is specially trained as an aesthetic nurse, and I completely trusted her with my skin and cosmetic injections.”
Reed used a medium grade TCA peel. After she prepared Christina’s skin, she applied one layer at a time. Overhead, Reed had a handheld fan to keep Christina comfortable while assessing her skin.
“In typical Elizabeth fashion, her communication skills yet again exceeded my expectations. It was important to her that she knew what ‘tingle level’ I was at,” she said.
Once Reed determined it was time to neutralize the peel, she did so. Reed also instructed Christina to only use her SkinMedica Cleanser and SkinMedica TNS Ceramide Treatment Cream for the next five days. Following that time, she could then go back to her normal skin care routine which included her prescription Retin-A topical at night.
According to Christina, the chemical peel aftermath was completely doable and not at all what she thought it would be like.
“For the first two days, I didn’t have any peeling. On days three, four and five, I had flakiness around my whole face, particularly around my mouth. When the peeling was visible, I just applied my post-treatment cream and that lessened the appearance considerably,” she said.
Two weeks after her first chemical peel, Christina now raves about the results. Her skin is smoother, more even toned, and her brown spots have diminished considerably. And she agrees with Reed that completing a series would be optimal.
“It’s as if the chemical peel boosted my skin to a whole new level. It’s amazing,” Christina said.
