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jdmeg6
New Member
 
Joined: 03 Sep 2011
Posts: 3
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Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:29 am  |
I'm 7 weeks into treatment with tretinoin , first 4 weeks i was using .1% cream, 5th and 6th week i switched to .01% gel. Now 7th week i am on .1% gel
I switched because the cream was making me more oily and greasy, went to the doc asked for the gel, he prescribed be .1% gel tretinoin but pharmacy didn't have that. They only had .01%. the gel was deffinetly better for my acne prone face.
I used the gel for tweeks weeks saw little approvement with the .01% , my face did felt better not greasy or oily. since i tolerated the .1% cream with little side affects, i thought i got ahead an order .1% gel tretinoin from ADC.
I just received the .1% gel and started using it for few nights. im not breaking out but i am seeing a lot of previous acne scars.
Is this suppose to happen? does tretinoin uncover old acne scars? i never seen these scars when i was on the .1% cream for 4 weeks. How long untill these scars will subside, what can i do to help fade these old scars or better what can i do to stop the uncovering of these old acne scars? |
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Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:46 am |
First I would like to say that you shouldn't be expecting results after 2 weeks. It takes several weeks of nightly use to start to see improvement. You can best evaluate at 12 weeks if its helping or not.
Could you describe a little more as to what you are seeing? Are you seeing red marks or indentations?
I would not use any other active products to try to treat what you are seeing. The gel because it is an alcohol base is a little stronger then the cream. The alcohol increases the penetration. You may tolerate it fine at first and then sometimes out of the blue you will have lots of irritation.
Are you using a sunscreen daily? |
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Mon Sep 05, 2011 10:00 am |
| Indeed, results with Retin-A can take up to a year to see any real differences, so you might want to be a bit more patient with it. |
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jdmeg6
New Member
Joined: 03 Sep 2011
Posts: 3
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Mon Sep 05, 2011 10:51 am |
I am seeing light red marks where previous acne scars were and supposely healed. no indents, no pitted scars. just red brownish marks. Im using tretinoin for acne.
i havent been using any sunscreen for the whole 7 weeks i've been on treatment with tretinoin. I dont spend much time out in the sun unless im driving to and from work. I did just ordered Elta MD suncreen tho.
Would sunscreen help clear the red marks.
Im 27 y/o male i dont know a whole lot about facial skin care, and my sister isnt a big help at all. I came here from acne.org to try and find better advice . |
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Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:06 pm |
| jdmeg6 wrote: |
I am seeing light red marks where previous acne scars were and supposely healed. no indents, no pitted scars. just red brownish marks. Im using tretinoin for acne.
i havent been using any sunscreen for the whole 7 weeks i've been on treatment with tretinoin. I dont spend much time out in the sun unless im driving to and from work. I did just ordered Elta MD suncreen tho.
Would sunscreen help clear the red marks.
Im 27 y/o male i dont know a whole lot about facial skin care, and my sister isnt a big help at all. I came here from acne.org to try and find better advice . |
When using tretinoin, sunscreen is an absolutely MUST. Tretinoin initially thins the top layer of your skin so this may be why you're noticing the redness and scarring a bit more. However, it's also working in the deeper layers of your skin to help repair and rebuild. Like others have indicated, it's not a quick fix. It can take 6-12 months of continued use to really see the effects. |
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50 Is definitely NOT nifty!! |
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Mon Sep 05, 2011 6:04 pm |
Good luck jdmeg6 - it will be worth it! You definitely go thru a phase of thinking things are worse. I think from what you are seeing it's because you are using the gel and as mentioned it is in an alcohol base and alcohol is very drying.
Personally, I cant recall ever having old scars come thru but then I never used the gel all over my face. I prefer the cream and just use the gel for spot treatment - literally, I will just use it on spots/zits otherwise my face would be shredding off in sheets as I find the gel over-exfoliates my skin.
Definitely always use a sunscreen because as I mentioned to someone else, UV is all around us, not just when we are in the sun. It is in low dose being emitted from lights at home, work, shops, computer monitors - like I said it's low dose but it's constant. |
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