Tretinoin
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Tretinoin is a vitamin A derivative called a topical retinoid. It helps clear acne by promoting skin cell turnover.

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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.

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July 11, 2012

Pros:

Seems to work.
Cheap.
Easy to get via the internet.
Should do other good things for your skin besides reducing acne.

Cons:

Takes a little while to work.
May cause side effects (hair loss, being tired etc.)
May cause lot of peeling and redness in the first weeks.

I bought this as I heard it did a lot of good things for your skin besides fighting acne. It was supposed to make your skin more even look younger etc. I did not experience that. As I worked towards the 0.1% retin a I did notice less new acne was forming but still some remained. Scars didn't seem to disappear as there is a lot of alcohol in it. After about two months of using the 0.1% I started using the acne.org system again during the day (retin a should not be used with benzyolperoxide but can be used after using it or before). My acne disappeared completely and I stopped using the retin a. I am now using the acne.org system as before, - during the day and night and my skin looks a lot better then when on the retin a. It is expensive as I have to pay a lot of shipping cost and taxes but it's worth it. Hope Dan will start selling in Europe one day. P.S. Do not buy the cream version! It made my acne much, much worse. The retin a gel is what you need when having acne. P.P.S. Also do not use peelings when on retin a. I did and wasn't able to go outside for at least a week.
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July 7, 2012

Pros:

Leaves skin smoother and brighter
Doesn't take too long to work
Free on prescription in the uk
Fades scars
Controls excess oil

Cons:

Dries out skin, can make it flakey
Skin will feel burny while putting this on, or even when putting on makeup
may leave pinkish tint to your skin

I have had acne for the last 7 years and have tried countless pills, creams, gels, face washes, moisturisers etc to keep it under control but nothing worked. About 6 months ago I had servers cysts and spots all over my face particularly cheeks, neck and chin. I also had pink, bright scars everywhere. I started this 4 and a half months ago on the lowest strength everyday for about a month and noticed my scars fading so asked for 0.05 strength as I noticed lower strength seems to stop being as effective after a while. In this time i never really got the "initial breakout". Skin can be flakey if not moisturised and although the packet says don't exfoliate I reccomend doing it once a week to stop dead skin cells from the skin peeling off overnight staying on the face clogging it up for whatever you're putting on your skin. I used 0.05 for 2 months and skin really continued to improve then it ran out and I went on holiday so there was about 3 weeks I didn't take it, in this time the pinkish tint this leaves your skin (I am EXTREMELY pale) left too. I have been on 0.1 strength this month and still getting good results, skin sometimes burns when putting it on but I am very happy with the progress. Use simple face washes/moisturisers without chemicals and perfumes. I also barely wore makeup during this time which I think has helped as sometimes when you put it in your skin looks flakey and dry then you need to moisturise even more. I have also just started taking dianette to keep new spots under control/as a contraceptive but I don't get spots as frequently as I used to anyway - about 4 in the last month, 3 are from the last 2 weeks as Ive been very stressed. Don't hesitate to try this, it has faded my scars so much so quickly and my skin looks so much better, smoother and healthier. If you think it's drying out your skin too much just don't take it for a day and moisturise during that day, highly reccomended, only thing that has worked for me!
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June 29, 2012

Pros:

I have not had any

Cons:

Red skin
Peeling skin
dry yet super oily skin
Made my skin worse by ALOT

okay so im only 14 and as many of you guys have probably experienced the whole derm process, i started with epiduo, and differen. To control my mild to moderate acne. Then i went to the derm to try something else they gave me retin-A micro .04,i was very hope full that this would help alot with my acne. I read many reviews on this website, and when i read there is an initial breakout they were right mine started the second week, and it is now 2 months and 2 weeks into it and my acne is worse then ever, add 5 new pimples every 3 days then all of the marks from the past ones. My acne went from mild to severe. i just got prescribed accutane and i hope it helps me. So i would not recommend this for people that get really emotional about their acne, becasue it is seriously a horrible thing to thorugh becoming distant from all of my friends beacause i am embaressed of my face. This product may work well for some, but i just wouldnt take the risk of it completely purging your face to the point where make up cant cover. also my face is super oily now. i kept telling myself it is going to get better and maybe it will since im going to wait a month before accutane. well goodluck i know this is not anything you would want to read, but im honestly posting this to warn people who are sensitive to embaressment due to acne, because i wouldnt want anyone to go through what i am and have to do accutane to fix my face. ill repost if in a month retin-a all of the suddon helps my acne, but with the way things look i dont think so.
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June 24, 2012

Pros:

-Makes blackheads and whiteheads less severe
-Makes skin easier to exfoliate
-Brightens skin tone

Cons:

-Did not prevent my inflamed acne
-Did not completely purge my pores
-Does not affect sebum production
-Will cause redness and irritation if used to frequently or in too high of a concentration

I can't say that this is the best option for those with persistent inflamed acne, but if you have large pores and severe comedonal acne like I do, this is a good thing to try. I use a .25 solution before bed on my t-zone only and have noticed that my blackheads are easier to wash away and I'm not getting bad whiteheads on the sides of my nose anymore. I also like that it has positive effects on aging skin.
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June 22, 2012

Pros:

Gives your skin great skin texture.
Heals acne fast
Exfoliates
Helps reduce acne
Heals hyper pigmentation
Heals indented scars somewhat

Cons:

Does not completely get rid of acne
Makes you peel like crazy in the beginning
Very red skin
Gets way worse before it gets better
Took me 2-3 months to see results

Alright, let me be realistic about Retin-A. Retin -A is an amazing product. It made me skin texture amazing and completely got rid of my blackheads on my forehead and nose. Here's the thing though: I did a rave review on this site many months ago talking about how great Retin-A is and how much is helped my acne. I used to get 5 new pimples a day. Retin-A reduced my pimples to about 1 every 3 or 4 days. However I would still suffer with a small breakout around my period. Although it was healing my hyper pigmentation faster than normal and reduced my acne, I decided enough was enough. Retin A wasn't doing enough to completely clear my skin. I still felt like I had to wear full coverage foundation when I went somewhere. So I decided to drop the Retin-A and start Dan Kern's Regimen. I was terrified to stop using Retin-A since it took me from moderate acne to light acne and made my skin texture so amazing. But right now I've been now two weeks without Retin-A and on the regimen and it was the best decision I made. My skin has just began to clear in only two weeks. Yes, when I stopped Retin-A my face blew up and was getting 5 new zits a day again. But now after two weeks I am now getting no new breakouts and that's much better than two to three months of waiting for results while your face is freaking out. However I am going to wait about 2-3 weeks for my face to be completely clear on the regimen and I am going to pick up retin-a again, only in the smallest concentration, and only for the purpose of keeping up that great texture I got from it and getting rid of hyperpigmentation. The texture of my skin is not bad now, but when I touch is I feel the dryness. With Retin-A my face was baby smooth (Exfoliating all that peeling ofcourse). So, yes, I do recommend Retin-A and I think it's worth it, however I wish I did Dan Kern's regimen first and then incorporated a small concentration of Retin-A later to avoid that nasty period of purging.
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June 17, 2012

Pros:

Clears up acne and will make your skin look brighter and healthier.
I have been using this for a few weeks now and have noticed a really nice difference.

Cons:

You have to really use it properly or the side effects can be very bad.

It IS possible to use this product without having your face get all red & peeling!! A few things: 1.) Do not use any other products with benzoyl peroxide or with any type of acid-- salicylic acid, glycolic acid, alpha hydroxy acid, etc. Take a look the ingredient lists on all your washes, moisturizers, pimple creams. GET RID of any product that contains these things. Your skin will freak out if you use the retin-a with one of these acid-containing products. You will break out, get red, start peeling. Just use a very gentle cleanser morning and night. I use Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser. 2.) Moisturize like crazy. I know those of us with oily, pimply skin are sometimes hesitant to use a lot of moisturizer, but it is a MUST. I use a good amount (maybe 4-5 pumps) of Clinique Definitely Different moisturizing gel at night & Aveeno Smart Essentials with SPF 30 in the AM. 3.) Use the retin-a once per day before bed. Use just a pea-size amount. Put a 1/4 of that amount on each cheek, 1/4 on your forehead, 1/4 on your chin and then spread it around. This way you will be able to more easily spread the pea-sized amount over your whole face. More is not better!! It will just make your face burn & peel. 4.) The concentration matters! The weakest concentration is 0.01%, then 0.025%, and the strongest is 0.05%-- which is way too strong for anyone starting out. Ask you doctor for the weakest concentration first and work your way up only if you need to. If you start with the 0.05% you are asking for a red, burning, peeling face with reactionary breakouts. Stronger is not necessarily better!!! 5.) Protect yourself from the sun. Seriously. You will get a sunburn if you don't. I use an SPF 30 daily, and reapply if I'm spending longer than 20-30 minutes outside, plus I wear a big sunhat. Good luck!! This stuff can work miracles but you have to be careful and use it properly. I hope this helps.
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June 6, 2012

Pros:

clears acne

Cons:

very dry skin the first couple weeks
must wear sunscreen
face will look red for a while

this cleared my acne 95%. i still get a few pimples before my period. i went from severe acne to very light. the tube lasts about 6 months and my derm gave me a couple prescription renewals so i don't have to go in every six months. i use to go on this site all the time until my acne cleared so i thought i would at least leave a review for the product that worked for me.
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June 6, 2012

Pros:

None, really.

Cons:

Did not clear up whiteheads, blackheads, or pustules.Also made my skin very sensitive and red.

I have been using Retin-A (0.1%) for a little over a year now, and have seen little to no improvement; however, I recently stopped (about 3 weeks ago) and my skin has cleared up tremendously.
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June 5, 2012

Pros:

-clears up acne
-oil control
-made skin smoother

Cons:

-burns like heck the first 2 weeks of using (your skin will get used to the medicine after that)
-flaky, peely face
-takes a while to see results
-it's kind of like CRACK! it only works for me with constant use. As soon as I stop using it I get breakouts within 2 months
-pretty expensive

This is a review for Retin-A MICRO .1% Only the brand name version of this prescription worked for me. The generic did not. Since its brand name it was pretty expensive, $77 with insurance and a coupon. I didnt start seeing results until around month 1 or 2. If your face starts peeling, IT'S WORKING! retin a micro is designed to help promote skin cell turnover, that it why it makes your face peel. My face peeled pretty bad around my chin. So bad to the point where I would carry a travel sized Vaseline with me so I could hide the peeling throughout the day. Your face will become very sensitive. The ONLY lotion that didn't cause my face to burn was CerVe in the blue bottle. But this is the ONLY medicine that helped clear up my stubborn acne. My only major con is the fact that this medicine only works with continuous use. Even when your face is cleared up and you think you don't need it anymore, KEEP USING IT! I had to learn the hard way. It has a few side effects and it's kind of expensive but it's definitely worth the clean, smooth, brightened skin I was left with!
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June 3, 2012

Pros:

smooths skin, heals existing acne,helps with discolorations, SLOWLY helps with shallow scarring

Cons:

makes your skin much more susceptible to the sun, can't really go out in public with it because it makes your skin oily

This product works very well for clearing acne and smoothing the skin. I just wished I would have used this product years ago so I wouldn't have any scars. I use Retin a micro pump at .04%. I had my acne pretty much under control before I started using this product but my skin was still in bad shape. I had small bumps, scarring, discolorations, and the occasional big red bump. I have used this for a month now and I only very very small whiteheads, usually after a night of partying too late. This is helping with the discolorations and GREATLY helped in evening out texture. I originally wanted to use this product for shallow scarring but it hasn't done much in that department but the progress so far has given me hope. By the way, I didn't experience any initial break out. Overall this product is amazing and I highly recommend it.
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Finding a Doctor

The right dermatologist can make a big difference to your patient experience and the success of your acne treatment plan. Here are the steps to find a dermatologist who is a good fit:

  1. Use the search feature on the American Academy of Dermatology website to look for board-certified dermatologists in your area, and filter the search results for doctors with a special interest in treating acne.
  2. Read online patient reviews of any dermatologists you are considering and ask people you know whether they have any experience with these dermatologists.
  3. Do your research and go to your first appointment with questions prepared.
  4. Listen to what your gut feeling tells you once you see a dermatologist in person. If you are not completely comfortable, try a different dermatologist.
Find a Doctor Using The American Acacemy of Dermatology Website

Finding a Doctor

Only a select few plastic surgeons specialize in acne scar revision surgery. Be certain to find a provider who specializes in acne scar repair and who is passionate and experienced in this area.

Be sure to:

  • Look at before and after photos, the more the better, especially patients with similar scarring to your own.
  • Be realistic about results. Look for improvement, not a cure.

Questions to ask a potential scar revision specialist:

  • Are you board certified? Be certain that they are board certified.
  • How long have you been performing these procedures? Normally, the more experience the better, however, some younger surgeons may be more on top of the latest procedures.
  • Can I speak to some of your other patients? Ask for references for several patients who had similar scarring and speak to them about the process and their satisfaction with results.

Red flags:

  • Their story changes: As you discuss different treatment options, if they tend to change their mind easily, or agree with whatever you say, consider this a red flag. A confident, experienced surgeon will possess strong, unwavering opinions.
  • Your gut tells you "no": Trust your gut. If you just don't feel that the doctor is the right fit, trust that and move on. On the other hand, if you feel they are the perfect specialist for you, trust that feeling.
Find a Doctor Using the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Website