Like most skin peels, glycolic acid peels are designed to make your skin be healthier and look younger. Glycolic acid peels are among the mildest peels, and are often called “lunch hour peels,” because they can be performed quickly and do not prohibit you from returning to work shortly after, typically less than two hours after the treatment begins.
Glycolic acid peels remove some of the outer layers of skin–the dead, dry skin–and cleanse the skin, opening up the pores to allow your glands to secrete protective and nutrifying skin oils.
Because the treatment is mild, patients benefit from getting multiple peels in succession, typically 6 spaced about one to two weeks apart. To get the maximum benefit from the peel, we also recommend a pretreatment of about two weeks using skin cleanser and a glycolic acid cream or lotion. This pretreatment has a double purpose of preparing the skin and letting us know if you are allergic to the fruit acids, thereby preventing any serious reactions with the more concentrated peel solution.