Melasma Treatment: Superficial Chemical Peels

Superficial chemical peels like TCA peels are commonly recommended for Melasma treatment. Melasma is skin disorder that is found in men and women. It is essentially a state of hyper-pigmentation of the skin. The skin develops a slightly darker hue—often in patches that can resemble a mild rash in severe cases. Melasma usually progresses in symmetry on either sides of the cheeks, nose or forehead.

A preferred cosmetic solution to such darkening of skin is getting a facial peel or a chemical peel. Please note that chemical peels can appreciably lighten the darkened skin tone, but they may not be very effective in terms of stopping the progression of Melasma pigmentation.

Action of Chemical Peels in Melasma Treatment

Chemical peels work by slowly alleviating the melanin deposition within the Melasma-affected skin. Further, they unplug the skin, removing dead skin cells. This allows the skin to heal comprehensively, stimulating synthesis of newer skin cells. The newer skin cells are responsible for the lighter, rejuvenated appearance of chemically-peeled skin.

Facial chemical peels with chemicals like alpha-hydroxy acids and glycolic acid are used for this purpose. However, superficial TCA chemical peels or Trichloroacetic Acid peels are the most common choice for treating Melasma. Superficial TCA peel refers to peels containing less than 25% TCA concentration. This chemical peel is least likely to induce any adverse reaction when used on facial skin. Further, it ensures gradual improvement in skin tone and the overall texture.

Other chemical peels used in this niche include those prepared from lactic acid, but stronger chemical peels are generally not recommended for Melasma. This is because a highly potent peel can induce a severe bleaching-like effect on the non-Melasma skin. This renders the treated skin an unnatural appearance. Stronger, penetrative chemical peels also put forth more risks like skin-peeling and even scarring or severe skin discoloration.