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Side Effects
Tretinoin is a vitamin A derivative called a topical retinoid. It helps clear acne by promoting skin cell turnover.
Tretinoin is usually applied once a day around bedtime.
Used Tretinoin? Rate It:
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November 24, 2010
Cons:
Made skin sensitive
Made skin very flaky
Dried out skin
My dermatologist prescribed me Retin-A Micro (grey tube) then once they saw it was hardly working they gave me the purple tube; slightly stronger. Well, after a month of use it finally worked. Almost 6 months later and I'm starting to get used to waking up most mornings with no acne! More importantly, I've stopped using it for two months already and I can count the number of zits I get every month on one hand; for me that is a big difference from getting 5-6 new zits every week. Before it would take almost a week for my acne to disappear and a month for the scars to, now it only takes a few days for the acne and a week for the scars depending on how well I take care of it. I think the medicine plays a large role in the reduction of my skin problems but I believe the larger reasons are due to my increase in hygiene. I used to only wash my face once a day, now I do it twice. I change my pillow cases at least once a week. I wear a cap at night to keep the oil from my hair to come in contact with my skin and I drink lots of water, hardly any vitamins are included. Oh, and I don't use soap on my face, just water. Find what works you.
btw: am I they only one that paid
November 14, 2010
Pros:
No more cysts!
No more red pimples
Kind of glowy skin
Smooth skin
The bottle lasts long
No IB
Cons:
Can't tan anymore
Sensitive skin
Dryness
Scared that if I stop using it it's gonna come back
I have been using it for about 9 weeks and I am really starting to see the results. At first, it hurts and your skin is crazy dry and when you rub your comforter on your face it's painful. After like 2 weeks it stops hurting but is still dry and at around 6 weeks you wash your makeup off, look in the mirror and just say wow! I had around 10 small pimples and one cyst everyday on my face, especially around my nose and on my forehead before and my dermatologist told me that if I didnt start to do something, it would become adult acne. I am 19 and started having acne in the last 2 years. I only had IB for the first 2 weeks. I was miserable for a few days and i was lucky enough for it to stop on the 3rd week. The only downside that is kind of huge for me is that i cant tan anymore. Its written on the box and my dermatologist told me its would burn like crazy and cancel the effects. I was a huge tan addict before that and feel pretty bad about being so white. Since i have olive skin, when i dont tan i look slighly green and sick. I tried self-tanner but it makes spots when you apply the gel over it since it increases skin peeling. But i guess it's better to be cancer-free, acne-free and white so I am going to keep using the products until my dermatologist tells me to stop and i love the results! ps- dont use a face wash with salicylic acid cause its going to burn pps- exfoliate!! like 3-4 times a week Good luck
December 22, 2009
Pros:
It's great for acne scars. I have been using this product for about 6 months and it has worked better than everything else over the counter that I have used. My pores are smaller, my skin is more even. My skin hasn't looked this good in a while. I used the highest strengh .1%. It's better if you gradually increase. Start with .05%.
Cons:
The initial dryness, burning, itching, redness and peeling. Takes awhile to work. The first month my skin looked really bad and the redness was horrible. Couldn't wear makeup looked like a horrible mess. This may sound crazy but my eyelids would start burning for the first week or so. and the product was nowhere near my eyes. But for the burning I used a little neosporin once in a while
This is a really good product especially for acne scars. It definetly increases collagen production. I hanged in through the first month and I'm so glad I did!!! I suggest that if you are going to use it use it away from the creases around nose. After the first 5 months the product seems to work even better. I'd definettly recommen this product and the initial purging is berable if started on a lower %.
July 24, 2011
Pros:
Cleared up 100% of my moderately severe noncystic acne.
Cleared 100% of my keratosis
No side effects when used properly
Finally, perfect skin
Cons:
Peeling if used improperly.
Sun burn if not using sun screen.
Higher doses work no better than low doses but will burn skin.
Cysts take longer time to drain and will flare up if not fully healed before quitting.
28 yr old guy andstill had acne. I never understood why. I rarely got cysts but always had blackheads, whiteheads, and pimples size of peas on chest, back, and face. My problem areas were never localized, always moving. I barely kept control with over counter products caked on at night and washing throughout the day. Plus everything herbal. When in the army at 19, I got .1% tretinoin. It worked but burned my face no matter how sparingly I used it. But it also was the only thing that worked. If I stopped, my burnt raw skin would flare up cause it was open to the environment and bacteria. I went off it after a year and my skin stayed calm enough to use over counter crap to barely stay somewhat clear. (Meaning it was still bad skin but good enough for me) After hitting 28 and noticing my skin getting steadily worse, not better, with age, I decided it was time to suck it up and burn my skin for another year. I had a civilian doctor (who was much better than the army docs that refused to send me to derm because they wanted to handle it) that gave me .025% tretinoin. The difference was night and day. The lower dose worked better, with no peeling if used every other day, and lite application. There is no need to cake it on (my old 19 yr old habit) cause it will only cause burning and peeling and not work faster. Less is more. Less is more. Less is more. I can't stress that enough. In one day my skin calmed, and the clogged pours surfaced. The flare up many get is because the acne in the deeper skin is coming out. It's healing. Second day, gross as it sounds, everything was loose enough to drain. My skin looked "clear" for the frst time in many years. Third day I applied my second dose (every other day) and my blackheads and whiteheads were surfacing and washing off (peeling but not really). The red spots were smaller. After that, my skin slowed down and took about two weeks t
December 12, 2010
Pros:
-clears cysts fast!
-reduces the amout of pimples
-takes some scars and hyperpigmentation away
Cons:
-Makes skin flakey in places
-caused me to be more oily
-dosen't compleatly take care of the pimples
I was using the Retin-A pump micro 0.04%
I love this product because it was able to get painfull cysts off my face quickly. Though it would have been nice if the product keept them from occuring in the first place.
I also love the fact that it helped some of my scaring and hyperpigmentation :)
On the other hand, the oil on my skin was rediculous. I would get out of the shower, go to school, and by the time I had finished one class my face was saturated with oil. But to be honest, it was not that big of a deal compared to the large painfull cysts I was getting.
I would definatly recomment this product to anyone who has cystic acne.
September 13, 2010
Pros:
It works! Yes it does! I can vouch for that
Skin looks brighter and more vibrant.
Acne is a thing of the past.
Scars are fading
Hyperpigmentation fading
Cons:
Takes time to work (not really a con)
Dries the skin out
Bottom line is that retin-a cream is a breakthrough in skincare. The stuff has helped me so much. I got prescribed it by my derm as a means to helping with my moderate acne scarring since I am a person of indian decent and basically lasers and peels are a no no for me. After 3 years on Accutane, the stuff also now controls my acne too. My shallow scars and sever hyperpigmentation has also imporved drastically since I started using it 7 months ago so keep at it people! You will see results!
August 27, 2010
Pros:
Cleared up face alot, really worth it in the end
Cons:
takes along time to work, IB is terrible
When I first started using retin A gel .025%, I was horrified by all the reviews on this sight of the terrible initial breakout. As expected, for the first like 6 weeks I used it my acne got worse and worse. Then suddenly, over the coarse of maybe 2 days, my acne almost vanished. The best thing I can reccoment to you is to KEEP WITH IT!! I was so close to quitting it because I couldnt see how something that made me break out so bad could work but then out of the blue my face became almost completely clear. i strongly reccomend this product to anyone with a little patience, don't just use it till your face is at its worst and then give up.
April 3, 2010
Pros:
smoother skin after a few weeks, if u pop a pimple it starts to heal in like 3 seconds and is gone. Scars start to looks better and skin is a bit more even cuz of the peeling.
Cons:
Dry skin, tight uncomfortable feeling, flaking, initial breakout
I have horrible cystic and comedonal acne everywhere on my face, especially in the cheeks chin area and its impossible to cover up. My mom finally got me a derm.appt. who put me on the oral antibiotic of bactrim, the morning bp of clindamycin and at night 0.1% trentinoin. After a week my skin felt softer, I still have red pimples spread throughout my cheeks. My skin is tough from all the horrible products I have used on it in the past, to burn the crap out of my acne in frustration. I have faith that this will work, if i do it CORRECTLY like everyone else should be doing. I'm trusting my dermatologist.
My best advice is don't give a crap about what people say on the internet, I listened for years and all it had me end up doing was goin on crazy fruit diets and trying all this weak natural crap. If your acne is pretty bad, then LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR!!!!!!!!
March 25, 2010
Pros:
Clearer skin
Easy to use
A tube lasts a long way (1-2 months)
Cheap where I live
Pimples go away alot faster
Cons:
Dry skin in the first 3 weeks
Peeling in the first 3 weeks
Redness in the first 2 weeks
Initial breakout in the first 1 month
This product is the best, Please guys dont listen to those f*ck heads who say claim this product doesn't work, they try it for 2 weeks then give up because they cant handle it. Guys if you have had acne for so long logically theres nothing that would clear you up instantly.. Just like if you've had bad back pain for 2 years do you think you'll be cured in 2 weeks? Obviously not.. I have been using this for about 2 months now and everyday my scars are fading and my pimples arent coming up (even if they do its normal because im still in my initial breakout phase and they go away really fast anyways). Please give it a try and be patient.. Patience is the virtue. Good luck guys. By the way lol about the price, yeah where I live medicine is extremely cheap P.S. try not to think about your acne so much its normal it happens to nearly everyone :)
March 28, 2011
Pros:
-Exfoliates skin well
-Helps with acne
-Works great to fade old marks
-Is also anti-aging
Cons:
-Can be drying if you have sensative skin or too high a dose
Retinol is amazing. I first went on it a few years ago in combination with a few other things to help my acne and it really helped. It works by exfoliating the skin and getting deep down into pores so they dont get clogeged up. Also, I was going to get lazer skin resurfacing for my acne scars that I had all over my cheeks, but I don't have them anymore!! When my skin is going good and my acne is gone, my skin is beautiful with no scars and I owe it all to retinol. I started with the lowest dose and went up to the middle one, in the cream form, which is actually moisturizing for me. To get rid of acne you might have to go to the highest dose, but after you are just maintaning, stick with a lower dose and you won't get dry, irritated skin. I had a skin scan done, where they look at the under layers of your skin, and the dermatologist told me my skin is in the best condition she had ever seen. Other than the pimples, my skin glows, and I owe it to retinol and sunscreen. I'm not sure how well retinol alone works on acne (I used mine in combination with an antibiotic), but it sure helps a lot, and works wonders on those post acne red marks. Ive had bad acne all my life but you'd never know it after retinol. No scarring.
Pros:
Got rid of acne
Got rid of most scars
Prevented immediate breakouts