Hi guys,
I've been struggling with PIH for a few months now, but it seems that there has been minimal improvement in these PIH that i'm having. I've read that they take up to 6 months or more to fade away, but some of these PIH have been around for about 6 months, and are nowhere close to fading away.
I've recently visited a derm and she prescribed me a tretinoin cream. (0.025%) I've been using it for 2 weeks, but have seen little improvement in my PIH.
Does anyone have any experience with tretinoin creams and care to share about its effectiveness? How long should i use it to see results?
Also, i'm also wondering if PIH gets darker before fading away, or do they just gradually become less red?
Hi guys,
I've been struggling with PIH for a few months now, but it seems that there has been minimal improvement in these PIH that i'm having. I've read that they take up to 6 months or more to fade away, but some of these PIH have been around for about 6 months, and are nowhere close to fading away.
I've recently visited a derm and she prescribed me a tretinoin cream. (0.025%) I've been using it for 2 weeks, but have seen little improvement in my PIH.
Does anyone have any experience with tretinoin creams and care to share about its effectiveness? How long should i use it to see results?
Also, i'm also wondering if PIH gets darker before fading away, or do they just gradually become less red?
Retinoids take about 6 months to really work.
4% hydroquinone is more effective than 0.025% tretinoin for PIH.
Have you asked your dermatologist about using glycolic acid, kojic acid, or Vitamin C? Sometimes, they're used for fading PIH. But they're not as effective as hydroquinone.
Hey Michelle,
Thanks for your reply. I asked my dermatologist what could be used to fade the PIH that i have, and she only recommended tretinoin cream. Maybe i'll ask for hydroquinone on my next visit if i do not see any improvements.
Would hydroquinone be available over the counter?
Hey Michelle,
Thanks for your reply. I asked my dermatologist what could be used to fade the PIH that i have, and she only recommended tretinoin cream. Maybe i'll ask for hydroquinone on my next visit if i do not see any improvements.
Would hydroquinone be available over the counter?
2% hydroquinone is legally available OTC. Any percentage above that is illegal.
Are you talking about red marks or actual excessive melanin (PIH)?
Mainly stubborn red/brown spots due to previous acne breakouts. Some of them lighter than the others but the more recent ones are darker in colour.
Red ones are inflammation, which you can remember as post-inflammatory erythema (PIE). --> a rare term in dermatological literature/not officially recognized in the lexicon
PIH = brown spots.
For PIE, tretinoin could fade them somewhat, as well as glycolic acid, salicylic acid, or azelaic acid.
I don't think hydroquinone would work for PIE.
Because you're using tretinoin, you have to be careful which topicals you introduce. I would talk to the dermatologist if I were you first to get a green light on which OTC products you can use w/ it. You can't always introduce topicals after starting tretinoin right away.
