Topical Retinoid
Acne.org’s Real World Take
This topical retinoid medication provides partial relief at higher prescription dosages, but don’t look for complete clearing. Relatively affordable and comes with less side effects than tretinoin, the other affordable topical retinoid. As a bonus, it improves the look of skin and reduces fine lines and wrinkles a bit too.
Topical Retinoid
How to Get It
Adapalene is available in strengths up to 0.3% by prescription. Have a dermatologist? Make an appointment to get this medication. Don't have a dermatologist? See The American Academy of Dermatology Physician Database to find one. Adapalene is also available over-the-counter in 0.1% strength. Here are some places you can find it online.
Used Adapalene? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
November 9, 2008
Cons:
For the first few days acne will get worse. Thats what happened with me. Use this if you have a lot of patience.
It might work for mild acne sufferers but defenetely not for moderate or severe sufferers.
November 7, 2008
Pros:
none
Cons:
.3% made it worse and wierd patches to form on my skin, and extreme dryness
use only at night
November 6, 2008
Pros:
very soft skin, no more oily skin
Cons:
can dry skin out, and very pricy, and takes forever to work!
if your like me, and have no hope left, this shoulnt be used as a last resort, its no more special, than an over the counter product
dont buy, because your "out of options"
November 1, 2008
Pros:
Was reasonably priced although I expected my insurance to cover more of the price.
Cons:
Made my skin extremely dry and irritated my sensitive skin
I'm not sure if my dermatologist took a note of my sensitive skin. After I started using this product my skin became very dry, I thought it was natural because most acne medications cause drying and peeling. However, my skin would peel deeply, the acne areas would peel revealing the flesh below. It left worse scars than I had before and the open wounds were extremely painful. I wouldn't recommend this product to anyone with sensitive skin like mine.
October 23, 2008
Pros:
it doesnt smell
Cons:
increases breakouts like cyistic acne
i have had acne for 8 yrs.. ive tried almost everything. u name it. accutane worked the best on my skin for 3 months, i had severe depression, and horrible nosebleeds i dont reccomend it. plus nw i have acne AGAIN. im trying differin but it got worse! and it isnt getting better... honestly, birth control pills work marvels compared to all these "miracle" creams. and some work for some. skins are all different.
October 22, 2008
Pros:
Brought all my acne down flat and stopped new acne from coming up, but only for a little bit.
Cons:
made my skin disgusting for 2 weeks, i assumed it was bringing all my acne in the future up. Then only after my skin being nice for about a week, my skin got terrible again. My skin must have become immune like it does with all other acne treatments.
After 2 weeks of making my skin 100x worse, my skin was nice for a week only to return to completely covered in acne, but i continued to use it for another week. I'm sure it must work for some people long turn... but my skin became immune:[
October 14, 2008
Pros:
no smell
Cons:
works only for light.. my skill still the same after use.. but it will work if its light pimples..
use only over night
October 13, 2008
Pros:
I never had a bad acne in the past up until a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was just an allergy because I have a very sensitive skin and gets easily irritated.. It's been a week already and its getting worse. I finally have it checked by a derm..
Cons:
Derm advice me to apply Adapalene (Differin) 0.1% cream at night and AHA soap 3 times a day. So far it dries up my skin, a little itchy but adviced to put ice on it.. i can't use any power and i can't find any suitable moisturizer.
I really don't know if its already working, im using it for 3 days already... i know i can't expect immediate improvement on my case yet but hopefully it works in 2 weeks. I will try to stick to it and see how it works in 2 weeks.. The cream is quite expensive but I still can't say how effective it is since I have been just using it for 3 days.
September 25, 2008
Pros:
Goes on lightly, and you can't really tell if it's there. No smell.
Cons:
Very expensive, and no early improvements.
Bottom line, I am so far VERY displeased with this product. My acne is worse than it's ever been. I have very sensitive skin, and with the constant breakout acne, I have a feeling I will be scarred for a while. My chin area is horribly irritated. My derm said it'd push everything out of my skin-- why would she recommend a product that would make me break out more when my skin is so infection-prone? I really dislike this product, but I will give it another 2 months in hopes of some improvement. Nothing else has worked thusfar, so I'm praying for a miricle. For the price alone, I would not recommend it. My insurance IS covering it, and it's still costing me about $75 a month.
September 23, 2008
Pros:
not really any... um... you use it just at night?
Cons:
expensive (my insurance didn't cover it), doesn't work, makes skin oily/shiny and smelly.
i started doing prescription topical meds when i was about 14. after years of none of them working i stopped. when i was 21 and still getting moderately bad acne, my doctor suggested that even though they might not have worked when i was 14, i could give them another try. there was really just no improvement at all. i've started some otc washes and creams and take zinc and fish oil and my skin is looking decent.
Pros:
i couldn't find one.