AHA (alpha hydroxy acid peel) skin peel is considered to be the mildest procedure in plastic surgery and is often called light peel. If a person does not have time for prolonged recovery (for instance after having phenol peels) and wants to get rid of a dry or covered, pigmentary skin, there will be better to use glycolic, lactic and fruit acids. The procedure is quite fast and plain. After only 15 minutes your skin will be revitalized and will gain fresh look.

Alike the TCA peel AHA peel requires a month preparation. For those who have blotchy skin or pigmentation Retin A or hydroquinone may be recommended. Usually it’s better no to shave the day before the procedure. There is no need in using anesthesia during the procedure, because there can be only the special sense of light pricking
with it.

AHA peel procedure

Of course preparation for the procedure should involve the consultations with the specialist. There is a possibility to ask everything which is considered to be useful and interesting, including the procedure, expectations, after effects. Also it will be advantageous to look at some photos of the patients before and after skin peel, to be sure about results.

AHA peel is useful procedure for all kinds of skin, and it can be applied to any area. Exception is the surface around the eyes. In any other area AHA peel is possible to be done with no serious negative effects.

The cosmetic procedure of AHA peel is simple and quick. It doesn’t matter where it may be done - either at plastic surgeons cabinet or as outpatient treatment - the results will justify hopes. Prepared and cleansed from any grease skin is put with AHA peel for 10-15 minutes. After some time it is removed. The final stage lies of the procedure in thorough rinsing face with the cold water.

During the AHA peel only outer layers are burned off. Being not a kind of deep procedure it is usually necessarily the after-treatment with the face wash or cream consisting of AHA. After some time one need even repeating of the procedure again. Weekly or monthly the procedure can be repeated if need. It depends on the skin condition and the peel concentration.

Some negative sequels of AHA

The AHA is quite appropriate for various skin types; however, as any chemical procedure it may cause some side effects. Normally the redness is possible, but rarely the sense of peeling or even flaking can appear. It may last up to 5 days and can be treated with special medicaments. Nevertheless the daily activities will be not disturbed by such effects.

Very important information for patients going to apply AHA peel is to know that there are some limitations during the after-period of AHA peel . First is to be aware of prohibition of anything to be applied to the skin at least 3 hours after the treatment. It’s necessarily to avoid and wear the sun screen with the necessary UVA and UVB protection. All the useful and essential points should be asked to the specialist.
After the procedure the skin becomes more beautiful, have the increased elasticity, wrinkles and minimized pores and smoother top. Discoloration, scars, oily skin, acne of the skin should be forgotten forever .The skin will never be problematic.

Concentrations

Peculiarity of topical compound, such as AHA, is penetration into the skin where living cells can be acted on. Possessing small molecular weight helps to determine compound’s ability to permeate the to the skin upper layer, what is considered to be important. In this regard, glycolic acid (the smallest AHA) is an absolute winner and this popular product may be used as well as in beauty industry and as medical preparations.

Low concentrations, 5 - 10% as is found in many legal medicaments, GA decreases cell adhesion in the top skin layer. Skin cells of the outermost layer are exfoliated due to this reason. GA with low concentration today is included in many treatments such as a monotherapy or a broader skin care management. It helps to cope with an acne, wrinkles, photo-damage and melasma. It’s essential to take care to avoid irritation because of possibility worsening of melasma or other pigmentary problems. Newer formulations mix GA with a various amino acids for instance, with arginine making a time-release method which causes diminishing of the irritation risk with no influence GA effectiveness. Using allantoin is also helpful, due to its action against irritation. People with very sensitive skin are not recommended to use GA, while at the concentrations below 10% it can de applied by almost everyone.

Higher concentrations means 10 and 50%, has more useful qualities, however there are some restrictions for people with temporary skin getting smoothed without much long lasting results. This is still a benefit concentration to use because it help with preparation of the skin for more effective GA concentrations (50 - 70%) as well as make the skin ready for deeper chemical peels such as TCA peel ( trichloroacetic acid ).

At higher concentrations, 50 - 70% applied for 3 to 8 minutes under the close supervision of a specialist, GA slits the cells and can be used in acne treating or in methods fighting with photo-damage (melasma, mottled dyspigmentation, or fine wrinkles). The advantages of such short contact application (chemical peels) lie in he influence of certain features. Depending on concentration level of GA it can be achieved different results, the more pH of the solution the more effect the results,) ,the length of application and previous type of skin conditioning such as prior use of basic vitamin A products. Although single using of 50 - 70% GA supply beneficial effects, it’s better to apply treatments every 2 to 4 weeks to achieve the best results. It is essential to be aware of availability in GA peels of chemical peels with same risks and negative sequels as other skin peels. There are some of the negative sides of AHA’s chemical peel such as facial herpes infections, continuing redness, scaring and hyper-pigmentation.

In general it’s safety to apply AHA’s to the skin as a by way of cosmetic products using the prescribed dosage. However redness, exfoliating and skin irritations are considered to be possible side-effects. The pH and the acid concentration take the first place in the determination of the severity.