LED lights accutane retin A
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free skin care · Tue Dec 23, 2008 3:09 pm

My son has acne and I had a custom LED light made by V. All is going well but now the derm has started him on Retin gel every second day for the rednees and now my son has decided not to use the light.
What are your thoughts on retin a and LED's?

free skin care · Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:22 pm

I myself use Retin-A and the LED lights for anti-ageing. But trying to get a teen-age guy to use something for his face might be like leading the horse to the trough....

The LED actually helps relieve the irritation the Retin-A causes for me. I use the Retin-A after the LED treatment, not before, of course.

If he is also on Accutane, I'm not sure about the LED use, though. What did the derm think?

free skin care · Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:56 pm

Thanks for the reply Fawnie. Well the derm had never heard of LED's Rolling Eyes

so he looked quite incredulous when I asked.
He actually stopped using the retin a. It just made his face too red.
The lights are working well to reduce the redness but he not that 'committed' to using them.

free skin care · Sun Jan 04, 2009 1:02 pm

Ah that's such a shame about Retin-A - the redness. I was always having that problem too and giving up on it til I backed way down to Retin-A Micro 0.04% strength and started using it every other day along with various oils (squalane currently keeps the flakies away) afterward.

Did the derm want to try a lower strength to see if that would help the redness? Another good moisturizer for oily skin that is dehydrated is La Roche-Posay Effaclar. It doesn't aggravate acne at all. HTH!

free skin care · Sun Jan 04, 2009 1:10 pm

katebargold wrote:

My son has acne and I had a custom LED light made by V. All is going well but now the derm has started him on Retin gel every second day for the rednees and now my son has decided not to use the light.
What are your thoughts on retin a and LED's?

If he decided to do both, use the LED anytime prior to the 'nightly' application of RA.

Artificial light and UV rays de-activate Retin-A..

Renova might be a better option for your son, which is gentler, and lessens irritation.

free skin care · Sun Jan 04, 2009 1:24 pm

katebargold
I'm surprised your derm didn't prescribed Retin A Micro. It has a timed release mechanism and is less irritating than the other retinoids. It is also for acne, where the Renova is for wrinkles. Renova is too emolliant for acnetic skin and would not help there.

The Micro version of Retin A has a higher pH which also lends itself to less irritation, along w/ the timed release. Ask for that Rx for your son (and save the reg Retin A for yourself!!)

BTW - your derm should have given your son some samples of all this B4 prescribing it. I recently switched to the Micro (for acne/anti-aging) and my derm gave me a good months worth of both the .10 and the .04. The Micro also may not need the 20 minutes wait time after cleansing since it's pH is higher. The wait time is needed for the other retinoids to lessen irritation and teenage boys are not going to follow those directions.

free skin care · Sun Jan 04, 2009 1:41 pm

Thanks Fawnie and Kassy A. It was actually the Retin Micro he was on. He is not supposed to be on it but my husband is MD and had some patient that had used it while on Roaccutane so my son pleaded with him to give him some as he was wanting to get results quikcer. Our Derm agreed but in the end it was too drying.
He is finally responding to the Roaccutane and is using the lights.
The main problem now is the deep fissures and cracks in his lips. He is using a stick of Blisterex for men daily but it still is very unsightly and painful. He refuses to use EA 8 hour cream at night which I think is brilliant.
Compliance is the hardest thing thought for a boy this age.

free skin care · Sun Jan 04, 2009 1:50 pm

katebargold wrote:

The main problem now is the deep fissures and cracks in his lips. .

I used Aquaphor for my dry lips when I was on Accutane. It's wonderful and I always have some on hand now (even tho I use L2K). It's quite good at attacking the dry lip thing. You can find small tubes of it that are pocket size at the pharmacies or your derm might have samples (mine always did - buckets of them in the waiting room)

Quote:

Compliance is the hardest thing though for a boy this age.

So true, so true!!

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