Transcription
Today I want to take a few minutes to answer a very common question that we get regarding mixing different treatments together.
Everyone wants INSTANT GRATIFICATION nowadays, and many professionals as well as you at-home are feeling compelled to start merging your treatments together into one – feeling this will give you a better end result.
We get a lot of calls and support emails asking if you can combine your peels with other treatments. Let’s use Collagen Induction Therapy – AKA “Needling” or “Dermarolling” as an example. It is very popular and everyone is wanting to do:
- Needling + peels.
- Microdermabrasions + needling
- IPL + needling ….. You get where I am coming from right? … I bet you have even thought of mixing a few things yourself.
What I want to clarify here is that yes… alternating treatments is an excellent idea. You can definitely do needling and IPL and peels and microdermabrasions and lasers and … whatever new modality comes around in the future. BUT…
You should NOT do them at the same time.
Encouraging excessive amounts of inflammation by being more aggressive - extends the wound healing process and actually, accelerates the aging process.
Microdermabrasion + peels
In a professional setting a very light dermaplaning or microdermabrasion prior to a superficial peel can potentially be safe. But know that any amount of exfoliation prior to applying an acid can result in an uneven acid penetration and possibly lead to PIH.
The deeper the peel penetrates – the bigger the potential for problems. For those of you at home, keep your exfoliation and peels at least 1 week apart.
Needling + Peels
Chemical peels should penetrate from the top down not from the inside out. Needling is fine to help topical products with larger molecules penetrate deeper – but a peel that already has the capability to penetrate many layers deep on its own … well, that just isn’t necessary and will only cause injury. Keep your Needling and peels at least 1-2 weeks apart instead.
IPL + Peels
Intense pulsed light uses heat to create wounds and stimulate tissue regeneration. Heat sources in any manner are not appropriate to use with chemical peels. Combining inflammatory treatments can lead to potential blisters, PIH or intense irritation in the skin. Keep these treatments at least 1-2 weeks apart.
When you are purposefully wounding the skin with any treatment to stimulate new collagen growth, you must not be too aggressive. Your skin needs the appropriate down-time to heal and regenerate properly.
Always allow at least 1-2 weeks *or preferably more* in between treatments that stress your skin or you will end up with very angry skin that is:
- red
- irritated
- rough and dry
- Possibly pigmented from the constant inflammation or even scarred.
Oftentimes less is more. Remember that as you move forward and space out your treatments so that you can get the very best results with the least amount of potential problems.
If you can wait 2, 3, or even 4 weeks in between aggressive treatments – that is even better.
Collagen III takes a good 2-3 weeks to generate, and you don’t want to do anything to hinder that progress if you are trying to improve fine lines or scarring.
Be patient and remember – Rome Wasn’t Built In a Day! It was built brick by brick.
Take care to follow our recommendations and you will get the very best results possible.
If you still have more questions – just reach out to us … we are here to help.
