Skin Rejuvenation » Hetter Peels

What are Hetter Peels?

Hetter Peels have been used as a skin-peeling agent for over 80 years. They are able to deeply penetrate the skin causing a significant reduction of moderate to deep facial lines.

Who is a suitable candidate for Hetter Peels?

A person who has the following skin type and conditions will benefit from a Hetter Peel:

• Fair to medium skin colour
• Deep lines around the mouth, cheeks and/or eyes
• Moderate to severe sun damage

What does a Hetter Peel involve?

The process starts with six weeks of skin preparation involving a Retinoic acid (Vitamin A) used at night, and a glycolic acid or Vitamin C cream in the morning. This six-week preparation reduces the healing time and is very important. The procedure is performed at our government licenced Academy Day Hospital (on site at Academy Facial Plastics), so there is no need for a hospital stay. On the day of the procedure you will have some sedation and local anaesthetic so there is little discomfort during the peel. The Hetter solution is then applied to the skin in sections.

Initially there is significant swelling and the skin looks slightly grey. Then the skin will turn brown and dry and will then peel off over the next three to seven days. The new fresh skin underneath will be smoother, pink and a little shiny at first. The skin will be more sensitive to skin products and the sun initially.

Recovery

Recovery from a Hetter Peel involves one to two weeks of peeling skin, followed by four to ten weeks of pinkness to the skin. This pinkness can be disguised with makeup. We recommend two to three weeks off work in total. Your new skin will initially flush more easily i.e. after drinking, using makeup remover or exercising. This will settle with time.

Future Sun Exposure

People frequently believe that after a strong facial peel they can never go out in the sun again. That is not quite right. Certainly for the first few weeks your skin will be more sensitive to the sun and we want you to take more care. On the long term we would like you to care for your new skin as you have put a lot of time and effort (and money) into getting it looking good. So yes we would prefer you to wear sunscreen every day (in fact we would like you to wear sun screen every day even if you don't get a peel). Ongoing skincare products also may be useful. But you can still go to the beach or play outdoor sport after having a Hetter Peel.

Risks

With peeling of the skin there comes a risk or infection. Washing the face 4 times a day in the healing period reduces that. We provide you with antibiotics also. Cold sores (even if you don't think you have ever had one) can flare up if the peel is done near the mouth. We routinely use anti cold sore medication to help prevent this. Prolonged redness may be an issue with some people. Although a nuisance, it usually is accompanied by a better over all result as well. One of the components of the Hetter peel has been associated with abnormal heart rhythms during the peel. For that reason we always do Hetter peels in our licensed day hospital with full monitoring equipment on.