TCA or glycolic acid peels; stop your hands giving away your true age!
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Introduction
We often point out that, when people think of signs of aging, they tend to focus on wrinkles and skin quality on the face and neck. In reality, there are many more signs of aging, and our hands and arms can often be an indicator of our true age. We encourage our community to take a multi-faceted approach to their anti-aging strategy and, with this in mind, today we are going to talk about an effective way to rejuvenate the hands and the arms.
We are basing this article on the video below from Platinum Skin Care, where they demonstrate both a TCA and glycolic acid peel on the hands and arms. You can have these treatments done in a salon but we will be focusing here on how you can do the treatment yourself at home. Chemical peels can be very expensive, when carried out in a salon, and they need to be repeated for best results so the total treatment costs could be quite high.
You do have to be very careful with acids, particularly high strength TCA, as it can cause scarring if the appropriate protocols are not followed. If you haven’t done a peel yourself before, starting with your hands and forearms could be a safer option because the skin on most of the body is thicker than on the face and neck, and it is less likely to scar or become damaged.
In this article, we will talk you through the benefits you can expect from a peel, how to carry out both a TCA and glycolic acid peel, what you need, where you can buy the products, and what the recovery time is like.
Hand & Body Peeling
Step by step instructions on how to do a TCA and a glycolic acid peel on your hands and forearms.
Why do a chemical peel?
Peels can help with pigmentation, skin tags, scarring and skin elasticity. According to a 2010 study, trichloroacetic acid (TCA) can be used for superficial (10–20%) peels and for medium-depth peels (35%). Peels are classified by the depth of skin penetration into superficial, medium and deep.
The depth affects the results that can be achieved, the healing time and the potential for complications. Superficial peels can be used for skin rejuvenation and are suitable for most skin types. Medium depth peels can improve pigmentation, scarring and skin texture. However, medium depth peels can cause hyperpigmentation, and those with darker skin types need to be cautious.
How to pre-treat skin before a chemical peel
Always pre-treat the skin before a body peel. Use a daily acid cleaner for at least two weeks before the treatment, such as Glycolic/Salicylic Acid Control Pads, to exfoliate the skin.
If you have pigmentation issues, such as melasma, or if you have dark skin, use a melanin inhibitor such as The INKEY List 2% Alpha Arbutin Serum, also for at least two weeks prior to the treatment. You should also use this product after the peel and during the recovery time.
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How to do the TCA Peel
In the video, they are using the 30% TCA solution but they recommend 20% strength for those with very dark skin. You always use gloves when doing a peel.
Wash your hands and arms. Take off jewelry. Use the acid cleaner to take any oil off the skin.
Put on your gloves. Saturate a gauze pad with the TCA solution and rub it in all over the back of the hands, fingers and forearms. Then wait five minutes.
After a few minutes, you may see frosting, which is a white haze you get when using TCA; but not everyone will experience this. You will feel some tingling in your skin so, if you are sensitive to pain, you can consider using a numbing product, which you would apply half an hour before the treatment.
After five minutes, rinse off the TCA solution with ice cold water.
How to do the glycolic acid peel
Follow the same procedure as for the TCA peel. Using a gauze pad, cover the back of your hands, fingers and forearms with the glycolic acid solution.
The difference between glycolic and TCA is that the glycolic acid has to be neutralised. You would do this after ten minutes or before that, if the skin becomes irritated. You can purchase a neutraliser or you can make your own from a half a cup of baking soda (or sodium bicarbonate) in two cups of water. This is a really important step to follow. You must neutralise the acid before removing it from your skin with water.
Another difference between the two acids is that the glycolic acid does not frost.
The final step is to remove the glycolic acid with ice cold water.
After the peel
At this point, apply the melanin inhibitor if you are prone to pigmentation issues. Then apply a high strength retinol cream to give a deep penetration of Vitamin A, and apply this every day until the skin starts to peel. You can also apply a healing oil such as Bio Oil.
The skin will generally begin to flake after 3 to 5 days, but could take as long as 10 days, and then continue flaking for 10 or more days. During this time your skin can look dry and wrinkled, and can become very itchy. Try to keep your skin as hydrated as possible during this time.
Sun protection needs to be used after a peel as the skin will be particularly sensitive to photodamage.
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Repeat the process
You are unlikely to get the results you want from one peel; it is recommended to do at least three in a row. These peels can be repeated every 4 to 7 weeks.
In the video, the demonstrator did one arm with TCA and one with glycolic acid. Her feedback was that there was very little flaking on the glycolic arm and she felt it wasn’t particularly effective. She said that she would use the TCA peel again on her arm but that, in the future, she would apply a second layer after five minutes to the full area, and a third layer to spot-treat problem areas, such as sun spots. This is because she would have liked to have had more flaking on the TCA arm.
However, she stresses that everyone should do their first peel as one layer only to see how their body reacts.
Conclusion
We are fans of chemical peels because they are very effective, but they do require great caution. Obviously, it would be best to have them done in a salon but not everyone can afford this and it is really nice to be able to do your own treatments on your schedule and budget.
A chemical peel is a controlled burn. You are creating damage in the layers of your skin that your body then has to heal. So we can’t stress enough that you should be very careful. If you are new to the process, start very gently with a low percentage solution, left on your skin for the minimum period, and preferably don’t start on your face. And remember that your skin can feel tight and itchy for up to two weeks after a peel.
We listed a lot of the products you need from Amazon but you may also find Alibaba.com a useful source for the acid solutions.
As a final word, chemical peels are a great tool to rejuvenate your skin and they can also improve things like melasma and acne scarring – but great care must be taken with them and you need to accept that the process from treatment to recovery can be uncomfortable.
What do you think about chemical peels? Have you tried them? Do you think they are worth the risk?