Cosmetic Surgery, March 1991 - Chemical Peel |
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Many transwomen have good results using thermolysis or blend to remove hair. I did not.
Proper equipment, sufficient training and experience are required to help minimize
regrowth and, more importantly, prevent skin damage. The "thermo" in thermolysis
refers to the heat it uses to roast the hair root and papilla, which can badly damage
the skin if done wrong. By the time I switched to multiple-needle galvanic my face
already had the appearance of a navel orange that had fallen off a farm truck.
My skin had large unsightly pores and tiny patches of scar tissue near the right
side of my mouth. So in March of 1991 I again raided my sex reassignment surgery fund and
called Dr. Lawrence Foster (who did my boobs) to schedule a phenol chemical peel.
Phenol is the most invasive chemical peel and takes the longest to heal.
Nothing could have prepared me for the recovery from the phenol peel. Within a few days my face was covered with a scabby crust. For over a week the skin oozed blood and sticky sebaceous fluid. Post-op instructions forbade me to go into the sun for six months without heavy sunscreen; those first few weeks I was to avoid any sunlight. As you can see I had plenty of reason not to leave my room for awhile. I took two weeks sick time from work, played Steve Vai's Flexable album over and over, worked on my sobriety and transition memoir, and slept sitting up for obvious reasons. I had to keep my face coated with Polysporin until all scabbing was gone (ten days), plus it was covered with surgical plastic wrap the first 48 hours after surgery. However the results were completely worth it! I easily lost ten years off my face. ___________________________________________________ |
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