Level III Peel Recovery
Your guide after a Level III TCA peel for aggressive pigmentation and melasma. Plan on 5 to 7 days of peeling, sometimes in sheets. Protecting your skin from sun and heat afterward is what makes this peel work.
The first few hours
Your skin will feel hot, tight, and may sting. It may look red or have a white or gray frost. That’s the peel at work, and the frost fades within hours.
Follow your provider’s cleansing instructions exactly. If they left anything on your skin, leave it on until the time they gave you.
What to expect, day by day
- Day 0
Hot, tight, frosted
Heat, stinging, and tightness. Your skin may look red with a white or gray frost that fades within hours. Mild swelling is normal.
- Cleanse gently tonight with cool to lukewarm water
- Apply the post-peel balm we gave you
- Sleep with your head slightly elevated
- Days 1–2
Tight, dark, leathery
Skin feels very tight and may look darker, brown, or leathery. Pigment and melasma often look worse before they look better. Swelling may peak around the eyes.
- Moisturize often so skin stays supple
- Stay out of sun and heat completely
- Days 3–5
Peeling, sometimes in sheets
Peeling begins around the mouth and nose and moves outward. It can come off in large sheets. Skin underneath is pink and tender.
- Keep the healing balm on
- Snip loose edges with clean scissors if needed. Never pull or peel.
- A cool compress helps if skin itches
- Days 5–7
New skin
Peeling finishes and reveals new, smoother, more even skin. It will be pink and sensitive for a week or two.
- Weeks 2–6
Protect the result
Your new skin is extra sensitive to sun and heat, and both can bring pigment and melasma back. Daily SPF, a hat, and staying out of heat protect your results.
Do & don’t
Do
- Keep skin moisturized with your balm until peeling ends
- Use only a gentle cleanser and lukewarm water
- Wear mineral SPF 30+ daily, reapply every 2 hours outside, and wear a wide-brim hat
- Keep cool. Heat can trigger melasma just like sun.
- Follow any home-care or pigment plan your provider gave you
Don’t
- Pick, pull, or peel any skin
- Use scrubs, retinol, acids, vitamin C, or brighteners for 10–14 days unless your provider says otherwise
- Work out, sweat, or get overheated for 1 week
- Use hot tubs, saunas, steam, or hot yoga for 2 weeks
- Wax, thread, or use hair removal cream for 2 weeks
- Tan or sit in direct sun for 4–6 weeks
When can I…
| Wear makeup | Once peeling ends (about day 7) |
| Work out or sweat | After 7 days |
| Sauna, hot tub, steam | After 2 weeks |
| Restart retinol, acids, brighteners | After 10–14 days, or when told |
| Wax or thread | After 2 weeks |
Call us if you notice
- Blisters, raw open areas, or crusting
- Pain, burning, or swelling that gets worse instead of better
- Yellow or honey-colored crusting, or pus
- Fever or chills
- A cold sore outbreak
- Itching with a rash or hives
- Dark or white patches after peeling is done
Protect your new skin and it will keep paying you back.
Bocaba Medical Spa · 8371 South State Street, Suite 102, Sandy, UT · Follow any specific instructions your provider gave you.