Rosacea is a common condition which tends to trouble quite a few individuals. dry skin and redness add to their woes. chemical peels are sometimes a nightmare to the dermatologist. Is a peel safe or should it be left alone?
If we consider what's going on physically/biologically - both chemical peels and mechanical peels (dermabrasion) have the same goal, to remove the top layer(s) of the epidermis. If I understand things correctly, dermatologists have trouble controlling the depth of the peel. Too deep, and there's a lot of irritation and pain. From what I understand of Rosacea, the capillaries/ small blood vessels are closer to the surface of the skin, and the follicular walls are weakened. To me, these both sound like problems that would be worsened if the top layers of the epidermis were removed. If it were me, I would stay far away from peels.
In my experience light chemical peels (ie salicylic acid, 30%) are safe and beneficial if the rosacea is well treated and the inflammation under control. I have never experienced flares of rosacea if this is respected, but frequently have patients referred with flares following even lighter peels performed by beauticians where the inflammation has not been adressed.
Hope this helps,
Jakob E. Borch
I have used low concentration TCA at 2.5% and at most 5.0% in a cream base to successfully treat rosacea. I do the treatments with a product I get from Environ Skin Care called ACM 1 (=2.5%) and ACM 2 (=5.0%). I apply the product in a thin layer over the rosacea affected areas and leave in place for 10 minutes. This does not cause frosting, and barely affects the thickness of the stratum corneum as far as I can clinically observe. I believe this low level acid acts as an anti-inflammatory probably suppressing inflammazones and at the same time it inactivates whatever causes the acne-like spots. I have found that this cream is more effective against pathogens in the laboratory than any antibiotic. At most the patients may notice a little dry skin but this is very mild. I see the patient one week later and generally the skin looks much healthier. I repeat the treatment for another four weeks by which time the rosacea has settled and the skin is normal colour in over 80% of cases. I will add that every single one of my cases has used topical vitamin A products (again I use the Environ range vitamin A and very often their ACE Oil), and the return of normal healthy skin is almost guaranteed within a month. Only a few cases need to be treated for 6 weeks.
I would like to challenege any doctor with an alternative treatment and do 10 consecutive cases and take photographs before and then terminate the study at 6 weeks. please email me if you are interested.
