Recent Feedback
I'm a brown skin African American woman. I'm very concerned about something I've JUST done. I applied an at home TCA Peel 15%. I prepped my face by putting rubbing alcohol via cotton swab and rubbed all over my face excluding my eye area. I then let that dry and applied the TCA solution. I stung a little bit but stopped. It was on my skin for 10 minutes. I thought I was suppose to see frosting. Didn't see it, so I applied another layer and let it sit for 5 minutes. I then washed off my face with soap and water. I then washed my face again with bacon soda and water solution. After that, I slathered on coconut oil. Now understand, this is day one. I've never done a TCA peel before. I've done 20% glyoci peels and never had an issue. But I'm also prone to hyperpigmentation. I know you're going to ask me why I did this. Well, I read a few reviews on Amazon.com that raved about this peel for African American skin. However, I didn't continue to read ALL of the reviews. Dummy, I know. However, this morning I went back to Amazon.com and continue to read all the reviews and I came upon some African American women complaining that they had hyper-pigmentation issues. So now, I'm scared $hitless. Is there anyway I can prevent hyperigmentation. Geesh, I just wanted to fix some acne scarring. Can I fix this? Should I know see a dermatologist? Has the damaged already been done? I'll stay out of the sun and I'll continue to slather my skin in coconut oil.
At home peels are usually buffered - meaning they are less strong than professional grade peels. Furthermore 15% TCA is a mild peel. I have used even 50% TCA on Asian skin (which is equally if not more prone to hyperpigmentation than African American skin) safely - however all of these patients were started on much lower concentrations to begin with. There are also leave on TCA peels which are left on for 4-6 hours. So 10-15 minutes, especially when there was no frosting, is not likely to have damaged your skin at all. Sure there may be some dryness and peeling of skin over the next week and some temporary darkening (this is the peeling skin, not pigmentation) but all of this should resolve over 7-10 days. The most important thing you can do to decrease the chance of any post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation is to use an SPF 50+ sunscreen every 3-4 hours on the face irrespective of whether you are going out or not. Stay out of the sun as much as possible for the next 2 weeks. If you start seeing any pigmentation in the 2nd week then apply DCL AHA LIghtening Gel on it - once at night for 2-4 weeks should be sufficient. It is available over the counter without a prescription.About the coconut oil - if you are not prone to acne anymore then you can continue using this, but if you are still getting acne lesions now and then I would not recommend it. In that case use a bland moisturizer like Cetaphil moisturizing cream or lotion as often as you like.Hope this helps, please feel free to ask if you have any queries.Please remember to only rate my answer when you are satisfied. If you have any queries, please respond via the REPLY button and I will be happy to continue further and do everything I can to provide you with the service you seek.
Experience: MBBS, MD (Dermatology, Venereology & Leprology)