Complications from self-peel, beauty peeling at home

NDO - Believing in the advertisement of "mask to decompose melasma, lighten skin" at an unreliable cosmetic facility, many women have suffered serious skin complications.

Ms. HNK (45 years old) was advertised with a mask product that had the effect of "erasing dark spots, regenerating and rejuvenating the skin" so she bought it. According to the instructions, the first time she applied the cream, she left it on her skin for 1 night. Seeing that her skin peeled for a few days, then the dark spots faded, her skin became soft, smooth, and brighter as advertised, Ms. K. applied more in the following times, each time 1 week apart.

After 3 applications, her face had tiny red rashes, then a burning sensation and her entire face turned red. She used a face mask and ice packs to cool her face, but her face continued to swell, so she went to the Dermatology and Skin Aesthetics Unit, Tam Anh General Clinic, District 7, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City for examination.

Dr. Dang Thi Ngoc Bich, Head of the Department of Dermatology and Aesthetic Dermatology, diagnosed Ms. K. with skin burns due to excessive deep peeling and leaving the chemicals on the skin for too long (usually 1-5 minutes) and the frequency of peeling too quickly (the interval between 2 peels is 1 month so that the skin can regenerate and recover). Ms. K. had peeled her skin every week so her skin did not have time to recover from the previous peels. After applying a soothing medicine, the burning sensation was significantly reduced. After 5 days of using the medicine and anti-inflammatory drugs, her face was no longer swollen and her skin was almost back to normal.

Ms. HKL (22 years old) has acne, melasma, and uneven skin tone. After researching online, she went to a beauty salon in Ho Chi Minh City and was advised to undergo a skin peeling treatment to remove melasma, smooth skin, and even skin tone in 3 sessions, each session 1 week apart. The first 2 times, her face had red spots and was sore, but the beauty salon staff explained that "the more the skin peels, the more beautiful it is". After a few days, the damage and burning spread all over her face, her skin became pus-filled and peeled, so she went to Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City for examination.

The doctor diagnosed her with irritant dermatitis, infection, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation complications, risk of dark spots and pitted scars due to peeling too deeply with strong chemical peels and peeling too close together, not allowing enough time for the skin to recover and regenerate. Currently, Ms. L. is being treated with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs to control the infection. When the infection is stable, the patient needs further intervention to address post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation and pitted scars.

Dr. Dang Thi Ngoc Bich, Head of Dermatology and Cosmetic Dermatology Department, consults with customers.

These are two of dozens of cases that have come for treatment due to complications from self-peel skin, beauty peeling at home or at beauty salons.

Dr. Dang Thi Ngoc Bich said that recently, social networks have seen a number of images and advertisements for highly effective melasma treatments, such as “masks that decompose melasma and release sunlight to brighten the skin”. Many patients came to the hospital with severe skin complications.

The common point of patients is using products of unknown origin and ingredients. In fact, many products have very grandiose names such as "melasma regeneration mask", "melasma decomposition", "skin regeneration cream"... but in fact contain banned substances or substances with concentrations exceeding the permitted level for use in cosmetics such as mercury, corticosteroids, hydroquinone, high concentration acids.

These ingredients have strong skin bleaching properties, making dark spots disappear quickly, making skin white and even in a short time, but causing many dangerous side effects such as skin atrophy, thinning skin, dilated blood vessels, and skin being more sensitive to light (prone to sunburn).

According to Dr. Bich, applying a melasma-decomposing mask is actually a deep chemical peel that corrodes the skin. If done incorrectly, it can cause skin burns, increase the risk of infection, fungal infections, leave ugly scars, worsen hyperpigmentation, and even cause heart rhythm disturbances.

For hyperpigmentation such as melasma and freckles, skin peeling (chemical skin regeneration) is one of the popular treatment methods. Skin peeling is a method that uses chemicals, usually acids, to destroy the outermost cells of the skin and this layer is naturally regenerated. Active ingredients commonly used for skin peeling include salicylic acid (BHA), glycolic acid (AHA), trichloroacetic acid (TCA), retinol...

There are 3 levels of skin peeling: shallow, medium and deep. Depending on the treatment purpose and the patient's skin condition, the doctor will prescribe the appropriate type of chemical, concentration and time on the skin along with chemicals to neutralize and restore the skin after peeling.

Superficial and medium peels have short treatment times, quick recovery times, are painless, low cost, and help brighten the skin. However, not all skin types can be peeled.

"In the above case, it is possible that the patient had a deep skin peel, causing damage to the epidermis. Deep skin peeling involves using high concentrations of acid to create controlled wounds on the skin in the reticular dermis. The acid has the effect of solidifying and peeling off the horn, peeling off part of the basal layer of the skin," said Dr. Bich.

Therefore, Dr. Bich emphasized that the skin peeling method itself has a high risk of complications, when performed at home or at unprestigious beauty salons, this risk will increase many times. For example, using chemicals of unknown origin, active ingredients, concentrations, leaving chemicals on the skin for too long; not neutralizing acid in time... causes the acid to abrade the skin too much, causing deep damage, burning the skin, increasing the risk of infection, fungal infection, leaving ugly scars, increased pigmentation, and more severe destruction of subcutaneous tissue, and can even cause shock due to pain, chemical burns, and hemodynamic disorders. The rate of arrhythmia when peeling the skin with acid is about 6.6%.

In the treatment of melasma, skin peeling is not the only treatment method. There are also pico laser, meso injection (micro-injection), electrophoresis, RF micro-needle... which bring high treatment efficiency. Some cases need to combine many methods to completely remove melasma.

Dr. Bich recommends that people with skin problems should go to a medical facility to have their skin examined, diagnosed, and advised on appropriate treatment by a dermatologist or cosmetic dermatologist.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/bien-chung-do-tu-peel-da-lot-da-lam-dep-tai-nha-post843071.html