Facial Peels, Laser, Dermabrasion

The entire spectrum of treatment for the aging face often includes surgery and some type of skin resurfacing to address fine wrinkling, sun damage and irregular pigmentation. Often younger women present with diffuse freckling, fine wrinkles and pigmentation irregularities as well, for which a lighter treatment often suffices.

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The treatment of facial skin using chemical peels has been used for many years in the field of dermatology and plastic surgery. In the 1990′s with the development of laser technology, many physicians discounted the art of chemical peels in favor of laser resurfacing. Dr. Buckingham has used these fully ablative lasers in the past, however the risks of scarring and permanent loss of pigmentation using these devices limits their usefulness.

Medium depth chemical peels and fractionated CO2 laser now are the work horses for patients with significant wrinkling or age spots who desire the best results possible and can tolerate the recovery time. Chemical peeling with a combination of agents produces tremendous results with minimal risk. The fractionated laser has also been a great improvement allowing a variety of treatment levels to be used to allow for varying degrees of improvement balanced with a patient’s tolerance for recovery time.

Because of this return to peeling, and the introduction of fractionated laser technology. Dr. Buckingham is achieving significant and more natural results with a faster recovery period than previously possible with fully ablative laser resurfacing. In addition, for some problems, such as acne scarring, Dr. Buckingham may combine the techniques of chemical peeling and dermabrasion or fractionated CO2 laser to obtain the optimal result. Chemical peeling is performed in the outpatient surgery center, takes about one hour and has a recovery period of about 10 to 14 days. Fractionated laser is performed in the office with topical anesthesia or mild sedation as indicated and can take from 5 days to 14 days for recovery depending on the depth and concentration of treatment.

Dr. Buckingham feels that successful facial plastic surgery results from the development and maintenance of good rapport between the patient, the surgeon, and his staff during the consultation and future appointments. The consultation will include a complete facial analysis to determine the best procedure to bring about the desired results and all questions relating to the patient’s specific concerns will be addressed.

Prospective patients are encouraged to call the office to schedule an appointment at their earliest convenience.

Find answers to Facial Peels questions in Dr. Buckingham’s Q&A.

Q – What is a chemical peel and who is a good candidate for a chemical peel?
Chemical peels come in many different varieties and can treat many different conditions. We offer a full range of chemical peels from PCA skin products to treat different skin concerns as well as a full strength physician’s peel which requires anesthesia. The PCA peels are performed in the office by our trained staff and usually have very limited recovery time. The physician’s peel is often performed with other surgical procedures and while it produces fabulous results for facial lines, pigmented spots and other age related changes, it also requires 14 days of recovery. Because of the variety of chemical peels we offer many patients can benefit.

Q – What is the difference between the kind of chemical peels that you perform and an aesthetician performs?
The chemical peels that an aesthetician performs are light in nature and are by law only allowed to affect the epidermis. While a series of these peels can be very beneficial to the skin’s tone and texture they cannot provide the degree of improvement that a peel performed by Dr. Buckingham can achieve. That is a peel that penetrates into the deeper layers of the skin. We do however offer a full range and depth of chemical peels at our office.

Q – Where is the chemical peel performed?
The lighter PCA chemical peels are performed in the office. The deeper, surgeon’s strength peels are usually performed in an accredited ambulatory surgery center, however on occasion peels limited to the mouth and lip region are performed in the office.

Q – What type of anesthesia is used for a chemical peel?
Only the deeper chemical peels require anesthesia. When anesthesia is utilized the procedure is performed in an ambulatory surgery center and intravenous anesthesia a.k.a monitored anesthesia care is utilized.

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