Retin a causing problems
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Wed Dec 19, 2012 10:49 pm

Hi. I am new to this site. I have just started using Retin a.I am 28 and need to start a more intense anti aging regimine.I have just applied it twice in the past week (at night,on its own)and it seems that it has made my skin looking rather horrendous looking. It has made my skin super red even though I use a broad spectrum spf 30 sun block containg zinc and titanium oxide as I always do regardless even though I have barely been in daylight in the past week as I have avoided it like the plague because I have started using this stuff.
I cleanse my face with an organic oil cleanser and mosturise with coconut oil cream by dr organic. I also use a vitamin c serum under my sunblock during the day.
I have combination skin but as well as the redness, i have broken out on all my tzone and am super dry on the rest of my face plus alot of flaky bits. Is this normal?

Thu Dec 20, 2012 12:37 am

The flakiness and redness is meant to lessen with continued use.
I've tried retin A a few times over the years and my skin has never gotten used to it.

I use Differin (adalpene) cream instead now. It works in a similar way to retin A. I can use it every night without the harsh side effects and my skin is great.

free skin care · Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:35 am

Tretinoin is harsh but can provide great results. It often makes your skin look worse before it gets better. But with that said not everyone can tolerate it either. You maybe consider buffering it by applying a moisturizer first.

Its common to get some purging but not usually after only 2 uses.

Are you using the gel or the cream and what%? Are you normally acne prone?

Sat Dec 22, 2012 7:07 pm

Is retinol in Tretinoin? I've been using Tretinoin under my eyes and I woke up this morning with worsening huge wrinkles, puffiness and redness. I dabbed Clindamycin on it and it immediatley felt like it caught on fire, the burning was so intense I screamed. I had to apply ice and now I don't know what I'm going to do. Do you recommend Bengay muscle cream to reduce the swelling?? Prescription Motrin? What should I have my Dr. call into the pharmacy for me? What can I do immediatley for the best results in the shortest amt of time?

free skin care · Sun Dec 23, 2012 6:29 am

Please don't put Ben Gay under your eyes. That's insanity! Ask your doctor what to use - he'll probably tell you Neosporin or something like that.

The area under your eyes is very thin and tender. I'm not sure if you should have even used a strong active there.

free skin care · Sun Dec 23, 2012 4:39 pm

nore wrote:

Hi. I am new to this site. I have just started using Retin a.I am 28 and need to start a more intense anti aging regimine.I have just applied it twice in the past week (at night,on its own)and it seems that it has made my skin looking rather horrendous looking. It has made my skin super red even though I use a broad spectrum spf 30 sun block containg zinc and titanium oxide as I always do regardless even though I have barely been in daylight in the past week as I have avoided it like the plague because I have started using this stuff.
I cleanse my face with an organic oil cleanser and mosturise with coconut oil cream by dr organic. I also use a vitamin c serum under my sunblock during the day.
I have combination skin but as well as the redness, i have broken out on all my tzone and am super dry on the rest of my face plus alot of flaky bits. Is this normal?

Hi Nore and welcome!
As GirlieGirl has asked it is important to know the % and i would ask, did you apply it two nights one after the other, with a few days in between, or how??? More details would be important.
All I can say from personal experience is that with 0'25 mg (0'025%) I could use it on dry clean skin all night with a tiny bit of drying and peeling, used three nights a week. Breaking out some spots to begin with is quite normal, it is kind of bringing up the stuff that is accumulated there on a quicker way. As far as I know tretinoin was actually used to begin with for acne and spots, and that is how it was discovered that it acted over wrinkles and skin photo-aging,... the effect is to accelerate the new skin that comes up to the surface, so if there is a spot lurking it will appear sooner, it clears the skin from the inside so the baddies come up and then the active tretionoin maintains the skin clear, more or less put in my simple way of expressing the effects as I understand them ... Smile

The drying and peeling was slight and just used a normal moisturizer plus sunscreen during day, doing fine with that actually, skin was looking good, the peeling was kind of at the beginning of use and then just a kind of nice smooth skin feel,... but ... I switched to 0'5 mg (0'05%) for no real reason, just about three months ago, just to try, wanting something kind of stronger to see the effects, and left it on all one night thinking my skin was used to it, and as the next day I felt all right I left it on another night,..soooo... I spent about three to four days with scaly, dry, crinkly, old looking skin... I had applied it also near eye area like I had done with the less strong tretinoin -my derm had said it was okay at least for the less strong cream... and my eye area looked as if I was one hundred years old, TERRIBLE!!!! I really freaked out and thought I had absolutely ruined my skin ... After asking my derm and checking here and there, the solution was not to apply any product that would sting or even have any supposedly moisturizing stuff but just moist my skin, like after washing with water and in any case mild soap and apply over the moist skin a layer of vaseline, and follow this regimen for a few days until the condition resolved. It worked.
So then, after my skin has recovered I'm using the Tretinoin 0'05% this way: Apply for about one hour, I apply when I get home at night, then wash and apply other products you use, not recommended to use any other acids the same day, better good oils or moisturizers. In the eye area I often use vaseline now. Using it this way I'm personally doing well, but I do think that in the case of tretinoin it is always a bit personal and judging according to the strenght -%- of the cream.
Anyhow, this is just my experience, sorry for the long response, sure there are others with their experience that can help.
Take care, A.

free skin care · Sun Dec 23, 2012 4:56 pm

s.forbes wrote:

Is retinol in Tretinoin? I've been using Tretinoin under my eyes and I woke up this morning with worsening huge wrinkles, puffiness and redness. I dabbed Clindamycin on it and it immediatley felt like it caught on fire, the burning was so intense I screamed. I had to apply ice and now I don't know what I'm going to do. Do you recommend Bengay muscle cream to reduce the swelling?? Prescription Motrin? What should I have my Dr. call into the pharmacy for me? What can I do immediatley for the best results in the shortest amt of time?

Hi s.forbes,... Sorry to hear how the skin around your eyes is, ouch!
I can't understand applying Clindamycin as it is an antibiotic and I doubt you have an infection... I haven't a clue of what Bengay muscle cream is or Motrin...

I went through dry, wrinkly inflamed eye skin area and had recommended vaseline over moist skin to lock it in (the moist),... and if there is inflammation a cortisone based cream, just mild should do the trick for a couple of days. The cortisone cream also works better if applied over moist skin (my derms recommendation).
Don't worry, it is quite stressing, at least it was for me, but in a couple of days you'll see that the skin round your eyes is recovering, not quite as fragile as it seems!! Smile

About your initial question is Retinol in Tretinoin... there is a difference, very well explained here or in any search of the web you may do:
http://www.smartskincare.com/smartchoices/myths/myth_retinol_retina.html

Please tell us how you recover from the eye skin!!

free skin care · Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:12 am

I was on owndoc website today and noticed that she sells RA .01%. Looking at the product she claims that the .01% is too high for facial skin. Has anyone else ever heard this? I do know that that percentage can irritate some skins and there is some research saying that you might get the same benefits from using a lower percentage but that a far cry from saying it is too high of a percentage to use on your face.

Of course she also says that Vit. A is fat soluble (this is true) and can be applied together with other creams. This is only true if you want to buffer the RA. Otherwise you are "watering down" the effect of the cream. I like the owndoc site and have ordered some of their rollers but I am questioning some of their information. (I do know that their rolling schedule is different then what is recommend by Dr. F and Dr. S also)

A-Ret cream 0.1%, 30 g / 1 oz. (Retinoic acid, Tretinoin)
This percentage is too high for facial skin, only use on the rest of the body.

Keep the skin moisturized. Vit. A is fat-soluble and can be applied together with other creams.

http://shop.owndoc.com/product-info.php?a-ret-pid201.html

free skin care · Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:31 am

CookieD wrote:

I like the owndoc site and have ordered some of their rollers but I am questioning some of their information.

Ditto. She is a nutritionist, not a medical doctor. Much of her advice contradicts the results of clinical studies by experts, and it doesn't always seem like she has done all of her research or kept up with more recent learnings.

Basically, I have purchased rollers there and will continue to do so. But I look to the experts for more detailed guidance.

free skin care · Sat Dec 29, 2012 11:48 am

CookieD wrote:

A-Ret cream 0.1%, 30 g / 1 oz. (Retinoic acid, Tretinoin)
This percentage is too high for facial skin, only use on the rest of the body.

Nearly every dermatologist I have read tries to get their patients on the highest percentage tretinoin possible, which is 0.1%, for facial skin for anti-aging purposes. Read on the ZO blog that Dr. Obagi even STARTS his patients with 0.1% but prescribes a lower dose or buffers in the beginning until the skin adapts.

In my case it took about a year to adapt to daily 0.1% tretinoin. But I started with 0.5% then 1% retinol for a year before moving to .05% tretinoin. With each increase in strength, I used it weekly, then every other day then finally daily. There is still a fine line between rejuvenating skin and causing peeling and dryness when I use tretinoin. I've had every side effect possible as I am usually too aggressive!

I don't advise to apply tretinoin on the eye area if you have not started slowly with retinol or don't initially buffer with a moisturizer first. After a few months you can apply it to bare skin once your skin had adapted.

Mon Jan 07, 2013 1:19 pm

I am using .5% tretinoin cream on my face. I am thinking maybe I took a huge first step and should have started on the.025 first. I started using it every second night at first but since writing my last post my skin has somewhat become more used to the cream. After week 1 the side effects that I stated started to diminish so I upped my doasge to every night with no problems, however after the 3rd consecutive night the effects reappeared so took a 3 night break. After being off the cream for 3 nights, my skin actually looked super. But then once I resume the treatment the side effects come back after 3 nights of usage. Do these eventually subside or is this what I have to put up with if i continue to use retin a?

Mon Jan 07, 2013 3:16 pm

I was prescribed it but after a few days of use my skin was extremely red and flakey, so I went back and they advised me to discontinue for a while. Now I only use it to spot treatment my breakouts (dries them right up) and when im on my period I get really oily t-zone so I put it there. Maybe you should try spot treatments or staggering your use (every 3rd or 4th day) so your skin won't be so shocked. As someone mentioned your skin will slowly get used to it, but if you're sensitive like me you'll likely always have problems putting it all over your face. It's pretty strong stuff.

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