Shedding the Snake: Peeling to Remove Discoloration

What happens if you try to peel a birthmark? Anybody who had/wanna try?

I would like to see some links put up in this thread for both this kind of glycolic acid cream and for reasonably priced 20% of so solutions of salicylic acid (ie pure solution as in just water and the acid, not wart remover or anything like that). ANyone got any?

I found a more reasonably priced Salicylic Acid 25% solution here . It’s still expensive though.

Any ideas on the best way of applying this stuff though?

Hmm, starting to feel like I’m the only one around here heh.

Oh well, I got a question just in case anyone actually reading — has anyone tried any of the not-wart-remover Salicylic acid solutions that have been mentioned in this thread?

I ask because Hobby voiced many times in this thread that he felt something other than wart remover but of similar concentration would be much preferable to the wart remover.

I took away, basically, that Hobby felt wart remover was <I>not</I> the way to do this, that he’d only just used it to experiment with the whole acid peel idea.

Anyone here ever take his advice and use a more pure Salicylic acid solution (ie solution that doesn’t have all the coagulant gunk in it like wart remover does)

Alffie used some stronger pure stuff. His posts about it start on page 10.

A vitamin K cream applied daily will help discoloration. IPL aka photo facials work, because they make damaged blood vessels dilate. I had red scars from acne about two years ago. No matter how many peels I tried they wouldn’t go away. The discoloration is due to ruptured blood vessels. Do a little research on IPL to learn how it works. Vitamin K was recommended by my dermatologist. I used the cream for awhile and it help them vanish faster.

How did you guys get the original application off? I applied mine, it stung quite a bit then under the shower and everything was fine. Now it is kind of like a white frost over it, and it is not just coming off in the shower. I am hoping it will go off by itself. It doesnt sting, is this anything to worry about?

Does anyone else have trouble getting the acid to do anything at all?

I have used both wart remover and a 20% salicylic acid rollon product to really coat my skin as thickly as possible and yet when and if I get any frosting at all, it’s only sortof as a rash/very incomplete and uneven frosting. I can leave it on for hours and yet it rarely seems to penetrate at all. I guess I must have really thick skin.

Anyone else experience this?

I washed/rubbed/rolled mine off under cool running water in the shower. The underlying skin will retain a slight whitish/frosted look. It’s dead skin. Don’t try to pick it off. Just remove the wart remover coating.

I was confused about this at first too. The white tinge is the skin “frosting” mentioned in this thread. You want to burn enough to have some.

See this post, except ignore the part about baking soda. It isn’t necessary.

Your report is a first.

To others reading this, be sure to wait several days to gauge the actual depth of the burn. The full effects of a burn aren’t immediately apparent.

If your skin is really that tough, you have some options:

1) A few weeks of daily treatment with a fairly weak glycolic acid. I’ve read this is sometimes done prior to facial peels. It’s a “prep,” which helps break down the top layer of skin so the acid can penetrate better. Then try wart remover or your 20% stuff again.

2) Apply wart remover several days in a row. Be careful. You don’t want to overdo it.

3) Use something stronger or different. Again, be careful.

Let us know how it works out.

So far, I’ve discovered that the acid penetrates better while skin still damp after a shower. Previously, I’d assumed that shower (the washing with soap part really) good to minimize oil content of skin, but that it’d be best to wait until completely dry afterwards. Turns out, however, that as counter-intuitive as it may be, acid definitely penetrates much easier when skin still a little damp.

The process of “shedding” entire “snake” looks like it is going to be a very long process — I basically can only get one spot where wart remover really pooled up on and snake held in such a way that doesn’t run at all until it dries, for me to get the frosting. Weird huh?

I do have glycolic acid gel 35%. I tried leaving a “pool” of it on a spot for a really really long time once but it did nothing. Not even a tingle. However, I have read, as Hobby mentions, that it is often used as a prep aid, so maybe I’ll try to just use it daily for a week or something and see if there are any effects on the penetration of salicylic problem.

Since it is such a pain and doing one little spot at a time is going to take so long, I’m thinking if glycolic acid combined with perfect dampness doesn’t do trick on being able to frost large sections, then I’ll next experiment with doing some kind of micro dermabrasion or something for additional prep.

Hey guys, I have heard of a product that fades tattoo called Wrecking Balm. Not sure if it would work for discoloration, but maybe it is worth a shot. Here is a website, but I think more research should be involved. It takes a couple of months to get rid of a tattoo, but it it can rid discoloration from PE, this would give one the opportunity to keep a certain amount of darkness or get rid of it completely.

wreckingbalm.com is for sale | HugeDomains

From the Website

Might want to think twice about genital application.

Maybe so! but Compound W and Corn remover can be very harsh and painful and not recommended for genital either. If there are those out there willing to be the guinea pig, I won’t stop them.

It strikes me as a marketing gimmick. Dermabrasion plus a mild chemical peel. Rinse and repeat.

Would you feel better paying a premium for Hobby’s Snake Cleaner if it were wart remover with a fancy label?