Depending on the strength of a chemical acid peel, it will work in different ways. A very mild one will only remove dead skin cells on the surface of the skin while stronger ones can penetrate the top layer of skin, removing even more dead skin.
Even a mild chemical peel can have several benefits. Dead skin cells cause the skin surface to look dry and dull. When this occurs, fine lines and wrinkles may look deeper than they actually are.
Mild acid peels remove the dead skin cells and immediately bring new ones to the surface. These new cells may be hidden for a while under the skin that has darkened and is peeling from the treatment, but they are there. When healing is complete, the mild peel may cause some people to think you have found a true anti-aging secret, as lines and wrinkles will be less prominent. In fact, the lines or wrinkles were just on the surface, they may have completely disappeared.
A chemical peel can also have a temporary skin lightening effect, especially if it is a stronger one, such as a tca chemical peel. As dead skin cells and even very thin skin layers are removed, hyper-pigmentation (which is what darkening of the skin is called) will at least appear to have been lessened. If some of the hyper-pigmentation was very near the top surface of the skin, a small amount of it may actually be cleared away with the treatment. However, a chemical peel cannot remove darkened areas, and, again, the skin lightening effect will be temporary.
Acne and acne scars are another matter. A chemical acid peel should not be attempted if there are open sores caused by acne, nor should it be done if pimples appear to be extremely pus-filled and look as though they could burst at any moment. It is better to wait until flare-ups have diminished, and then do the chemical peel or have it done.
Once a flare-up has subsided, however, a mild chemical peel can actually help dry up excess skin oils, as well as remove dead skin cells which can clog pores and cause breakouts. Further, acne scars, especially those that are right on the skin surface, can be diminished, or may even disappear all together if they have not penetrated the skin layer too deeply. It is true that a stronger treatment may help with deeper scars; however, with acne, it may not be feasible to use a stronger treatment.
The appearance of facial scars that were caused by something other than acne (another type of skin infection or even a minor injury, for example) can often be improved by a tca chemical peel or an even stronger one, especially if a peel is done as soon after the area has COMPLETELY healed as is possible. Because stronger peels penetrate more deeply than milder ones, if a treatment can be done quickly (but again, only after complete healing has occurred) it may be possible to achieve the effect of the scar’s having almost disappeared.
One way to diminish scars on the face, especially those caused by a minor injury, is to immediately clean the area and apply an antibiotic ointment to the wound. Also, if the wound is deep enough to require stitches, the sooner this is done, the better chance the doctor will have of suturing the wound in such a way as to leave the smallest scar possible.
It might be a good idea to use a topical skin preparation that is intended to help scars fade or become less noticeable, such as Maderma® or another similar product. After this type of product has produced the best results that it possibly can, then a chemical peel may be more successful in further erasing the signs of scarring.