Towards the end of my accutane treatment I started to develop facial redness, which kind of looked like sunburn. At the time I thought nothing of it and figured it would pass.
I am now over 3 years post tane and the redness has not gone away.
The redness is in the areas you would expect with rosacea (cheeks near nose, nose, chin, bottom of my forehead near eyebrows). However, I don't have flushing, it is just a constant redness. Does this mean it is not rosacea?
Anyone know much about accutane induced redness? Is there any chance of this going away/being treated or is it just something I'm going to have to live with?
Towards the end of my accutane treatment I started to develop facial redness, which kind of looked like sunburn. At the time I thought nothing of it and figured it would pass.
I am now over 3 years post tane and the redness has not gone away.
The redness is in the areas you would expect with rosacea (cheeks near nose, nose, chin, bottom of my forehead near eyebrows). However, I don't have flushing, it is just a constant redness. Does this mean it is not rosacea?
Anyone know much about accutane induced redness? Is there any chance of this going away/being treated or is it just something I'm going to have to live with?
Advise see your Dermatologist as soon as poss.... they may have an idea how to decrease redness. Unfortunetly long-term redness seems to be a side-effect for many people during and after Accutane. Having done a ton of research, Isotretinoin appears to affects blood vessels and can cause skin hypersensitivity, fragility, thinning etc. Accutane is also known to cause Rosacea.
Towards the end of my accutane treatment I started to develop facial redness, which kind of looked like sunburn. At the time I thought nothing of it and figured it would pass.
I am now over 3 years post tane and the redness has not gone away.
The redness is in the areas you would expect with rosacea (cheeks near nose, nose, chin, bottom of my forehead near eyebrows). However, I don't have flushing, it is just a constant redness. Does this mean it is not rosacea?
Anyone know much about accutane induced redness? Is there any chance of this going away/being treated or is it just something I'm going to have to live with?
Advise see your Dermatologist as soon as poss.... they may have an idea how to decrease redness. Unfortunetly long-term redness seems to be a side-effect for many people during and after Accutane. Having done a ton of research, Isotretinoin appears to affects blood vessels and can cause skin hypersensitivity, fragility, thinning etc. Accutane is also known to cause Rosacea.
Thanks for the reply.
Sorry it's taken me so long to see it, I tend to come around here for a few days then disappear again.
I used an NHS dermatologist, the waiting list is around 3 months long and I'm already 3 years post tane so I've kind of missed any opportunity of dealing with it in a timely manner.
I'm reluctant to even bother seeing a derm about it, it is my understanding that facial redness and rosacea are extremely hard to treat and I doubt they will be able to do anything to help.
I feel so helpless and angry just thinking about it. 
Towards the end of my accutane treatment I started to develop facial redness, which kind of looked like sunburn. At the time I thought nothing of it and figured it would pass.
I am now over 3 years post tane and the redness has not gone away.
The redness is in the areas you would expect with rosacea (cheeks near nose, nose, chin, bottom of my forehead near eyebrows). However, I don't have flushing, it is just a constant redness. Does this mean it is not rosacea?
Anyone know much about accutane induced redness? Is there any chance of this going away/being treated or is it just something I'm going to have to live with?
Advise see your Dermatologist as soon as poss.... they may have an idea how to decrease redness. Unfortunetly long-term redness seems to be a side-effect for many people during and after Accutane. Having done a ton of research, Isotretinoin appears to affects blood vessels and can cause skin hypersensitivity, fragility, thinning etc. Accutane is also known to cause Rosacea.
Thanks for the reply.
Sorry it's taken me so long to see it, I tend to come around here for a few days then disappear again.
I used an NHS dermatologist, the waiting list is around 3 months long and I'm already 3 years post tane so I've kind of missed any opportunity of dealing with it in a timely manner.
I'm reluctant to even bother seeing a derm about it, it is my understanding that facial redness and rosacea are extremely hard to treat and I doubt they will be able to do anything to help.
I feel so helpless and angry just thinking about it.
Hi there
Don't give up on all Derms, there are heaps of good ones but sometimes it takes a while before you find them. According to the 'Rosacea and Facial Redness' Post-Accutane/Minocycline' thread on this site, and Rosaceagroup.org, a highly reputable UK Derm with experience in post-Accutane problems and also Rosacea is Dr Anthony (Tony) Chu from London. Based on high recommendations that i've read about him, I would advise you to search for his contact details online and make an appointment with him. He would probably be the most helpful and understanding based on his experience, even if there is probably a long wait to see him. I really hope this info helps,
Best, Shantelle
Hey! You've described my symptoms exactly (sadly). I've been wondering the same thing myself: Do I have rosacea if I have the blood vessels symptom but not the flushing? I was also on Accutane about 2 years ago.
I know for sure it is erythema (which is, once again, a major symptom of rosacea). I've been looking up possible treatments for weeks now and the only for sure treatment seems to be some sort of laser or another.
I'm trying Olay Total Effects because of the vitamins within. Apparently, it can help rosacea sufferers.
I've tried Oxymetazoline but you should NOT try this. It is a vasoconstrictor (constrictor of blood vessels) and it worked incredibly well, but I had a rebound effect and my face was even more red than previously. Having a rebound effect seems to be the general side effect for users.
I'm looking into Vitamin K as a possible treatment.
I'm also looking into Claritin as a vasoconstrictor because of it being an antihistamine.
I hope you get this reply,
I'm pissed at Accutane, and you're pissed at Accutane. Well, at least we're in this together.
It's sad and funny everyone here assumes any sort of facial redness is Rosacea. ITS NOT ROSACEA. There end of story. The redness from accutane is caused by a damaged Lipid Barrier. The lipid barrier is responsible for retaining moisture in your skin and keeping it balanced especially when you come in contact with water. When you're lipid barrier is damaged your skin is dry, thin, and irratated which has a pinkish/red tinge to it. Right now there is no perfect treatment for it. You can try taking omega 3 fish oils daily for 3 months and see how that helps you. Also IPL could help but won't solve the fact your lipid barier is mesed up. Don't even bother seeing a derm because they will probably misdiagnose you with rosacea.
There are treatments arround the corner for solving this problem but not yet available such as PPAR stimulators.
i know this is a bit old BUT http://www.lipotec.com/ficha.php?producto=27 can this help post accutane redness? i dont understand it..
It's sad and funny everyone here assumes any sort of facial redness is Rosacea. ITS NOT ROSACEA. There end of story. The redness from accutane is caused by a damaged Lipid Barrier. The lipid barrier is responsible for retaining moisture in your skin and keeping it balanced especially when you come in contact with water. When you're lipid barrier is damaged your skin is dry, thin, and irratated which has a pinkish/red tinge to it. Right now there is no perfect treatment for it. You can try taking omega 3 fish oils daily for 3 months and see how that helps you. Also IPL could help but won't solve the fact your lipid barier is mesed up. Don't even bother seeing a derm because they will probably misdiagnose you with rosacea.
There are treatments arround the corner for solving this problem but not yet available such as PPAR stimulators.
this is correct. I have the same type of redness as described in the OP but mine's not from Accutane, it's just from using lots of harsh topicals which irritate and strip away the Lipid Barrier. Although what you say about there not being a treatment for this is incorrect. It's actually very basic biology.
If the Lipid Barrier is depleted, then your skin is incredibly sensitive to water and topicals. Therefore any regimen designed around washing the face and applying topicals simply cannot work, as it will just prolong the problem, no matter how gentle or natural those products might be. I was using aloe vera and emu oil (two of the best healing remedies for skin) on my face for the last 7 months, and while they definitely succeeded at erasing my surface acne marks and moisturizing my surface skin, the underlying sensitivity and subsequent redness of my face was unchanged. My skin may look a hell of a lot better than it did 7 months ago because I don't have any big red acne marks any more, but my underlying sensitivity and redness is really no better than it was 7 months ago, as everyday I've been continually stripping it and smothering it in topicals that it doesn't need.
Therefore, the simple, biological fix is to stop washing, period. If you stop washing your face and stop putting anything on it, it will finally be able to restore itself to it's baseline biological state, and rebuild it's barriers. The way this happens is through the formation of dead skin and sebum. When you stop interfering with your face and stop artificially reducing your sebum production, the PH and sebum levels can go back to normal, creating a dead skin mask on your face. The dead skin mask will essentially protect your sensitive skin while it heals itself.
Obviously it's not as easy as it sounds. The process can take a very long time. I myself just started this 7 days ago, and my face looks the same as it did last week except now I've started building up some dead skin. It's important to aid the healing process by being as healthy as possible. Unhealthiness of any sort (poor diet, high stress levels, lack of exercise, lack of sleep, etc) leads to inflammation and toxin overload in the blood stream. When the blood is overloaded with toxins, the blood cells cannot properly oxidize, which is what leads to healing. This is why unhealthy people are more prone to health problems, skin problems, and have slower healing. Leading a healthy balanced lifestyle will encourage healing. It's important to stimulate blood flow to the face. Doing headstands everyday is the most direct way to do this. And, as you said, taking a (good quality) fish oil supplement will help. Biotin is another important supplement, as it encourages sebum production.
I've been trying to heal my skin for a year now, I've tried pretty much every product possible, but I never understood what was really going on until now. I really wish I had known all of this a year ago, but I'm confident my skin can recover from this, however long it may take. I'm in for the long haul, and I accept that. I just want other people to know this, because it pains me to see people suffering with the same skin ailments as me but not knowing what to do about them.
It's sad and funny everyone here assumes any sort of facial redness is Rosacea. ITS NOT ROSACEA. There end of story. The redness from accutane is caused by a damaged Lipid Barrier. The lipid barrier is responsible for retaining moisture in your skin and keeping it balanced especially when you come in contact with water. When you're lipid barrier is damaged your skin is dry, thin, and irratated which has a pinkish/red tinge to it. Right now there is no perfect treatment for it. You can try taking omega 3 fish oils daily for 3 months and see how that helps you. Also IPL could help but won't solve the fact your lipid barier is mesed up. Don't even bother seeing a derm because they will probably misdiagnose you with rosacea.
There are treatments arround the corner for solving this problem but not yet available such as PPAR stimulators.
Do you have a source for this?
Hi everyone. I too suffered from post accutane facial redness. It was only on my cheeks and it was very noticeable. It stayed for about a year or so and I was very depressed and consulted a derm. She used the VBeam laser, I believe 5 treatments and it completely got rid of my facial redness. Consult a derm and see if this is an option for you.