Chemical peel procedures use a chemical solution to remove damaged outer layers of skin and reveal the smoother clearer skin beneath fine lines uneven pigmentation blemishes and other problems can make us look older than we are trichloroacetic acid peels produce a medium depth peel they are more effective at removing fine lines pigmentary changes and acne scarring they will cause swelling and a crust or scab forms on the treated area recovery from a tca peel typically takes a week to