Consider this: The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays are responsible for 90% of the visible signs of aging in your skin. Here in California, where there’s ample sunshine year-round, this means that many of us have to go the extra distance to both protect ourselves and undo some of the damage done, especially after the summer months.
At our practice, board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Nicholas Nikolov offers surgical and nonsurgical procedures that help our clients achieve their aesthetic goals. Whether it’s reshaping your body or fighting back against the signs of aging, we have you covered from head to toe. One of the best tools in our arsenal is a chemical peel when it comes to combating sun damage.
Here’s a look at what we can accomplish with our chemical peels in restoring sun-damaged skin.
The Sun: Leaving Its Mark
The sun can damage your skin in some obvious and not-so-obvious ways. The UV rays can prematurely break down your skin cells and the connective fibers in your skin in a process known as photoaging. As a result, you may be left with wrinkles, fine lines, and sagging skin.
Exposure to the sun also causes your melanin to respond, which is the pigment in your cells designed to protect your skin. Over time, your melanin can cluster, leading to age, or sun spots. As well, the sun’s UV rays can also cause darker patches called melasma to develop.
Reversing The Damage Done
While the best way to protect your skin against the sun is to shield it, UV rays inevitably find their way into your skin, especially here in California, where the sun shines almost daily.
If this summer’s high and strong sun has caused damage in the form of wrinkles or hyperpigmentation areas, the good news is that a chemical peel offers the perfect solution.
At our practice, we offer many different chemical peel levels, and the first step is to sit down with Dr. Nikolov to review the damage and your goals.
Suppose Dr. Nikolov finds that hyperpigmentation is the primary issue. In that case, he likely recommends his own proprietary N Peel, which is an ingenious way to address discolorations in your skin without undergoing laser therapy or a full chemical peel.
If your sun damage goes beyond hyperpigmentation areas, Dr. Nikolov designs a chemical peel that addresses your unique issues. Our chemical peels rely on one, or a combination, of phenol, trichloroacetic acid, and alpha-hydroxy acids, and choosing the peel that’s right for you depends upon how deep we need to go.
For example, if your sun damage is mostly across your skin’s surface, Dr. Nikolov may decide to do a light peel. If you’ve developed deeper issues, we turn to a stronger combination that reaches below your skin’s outermost layer.
After Your Peel
Depending upon the depth of your chemical peel, you can expect anywhere from no downtime to several days or a week of downtime as your treated skin flakes away to reveal smoother, blemish-free skin below.
Rest assured, we send you home with complete aftercare instructions about taking care of your skin during this time to get the most out of your results.
If you’d like to peel away the summer damage in your skin, please contact our office in Beverly Hills to set up an appointment.
