Topical Retinoid
Acne.org’s Real World Take
Works about the same as the other two topical retinoids, tazarotene and adapalene, and lands in the middle of those two when it comes to side effects. Should provide partial clearing, but comes with sensitivity when you first start using it. It probably won’t be a total game changer but it should help reduce acne.
Topical Retinoid
How to Get It
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.
Used Tretinoin? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
September 16, 2012
Cons:
The WORST" initial" breakout
Makes face peel
Sensitive to sun
I have been on tretinoin .5% retina a for about two months now. I have used it almost every day and also some oral medicine that my dermatologist prescribed me. As of now I hate it. I started out with pretty bad acne. Now I have extremely terrible severe acne. It really screws up your self esteem . The only reason I'm staying on the medicine is because of what others say online and say to wait for results. Absolutely in so many ways terrible as of now.
August 30, 2012
Pros:
After about 3 months, it did clear up my skin
Skin was softer
Less wrinkles
Cons:
Horrible dryness and peeling
Breakouts come back and are terrible!
Skin gets easily used to product
Very sensitive to any light
This product was great for the first couple of months and then my skin got used to it and stopped working. When the acne came back, it came back like HELL! My back acne literally made my cry every night after my shower when I looked it; it was so bad.
Idk why my derm still keeps me on this because he thinks its a miracle product, yet it stopped working for me.
August 8, 2012
Product used: Atralin (Tretinoin (.05%) Gel)
Pros:
Can help smooth skins texture
Easy to use
Cons:
Extreme Dryness
Purging period lasts and lasts an lasts
The wait time from cleansing to applying Atralin to moisturizing is a pain
While this may work for others, after four months of continued use, it never worked for me. I just kept on breaking out and it never stopped. I would clear up in one area and breakout in another area. There was a point in week 10 when i had 1 pimple and thought 'yes, its finally working!' but Alas, it was an illusion. At the end of the day i was left with: uneven skin tone
multiple acne lesions
excessive dryness and flaking The only positives i can say about this medication is that my skin texture on non-acne area was smooth.
July 27, 2012
Pros:
None
Cons:
Skin got worse
For the last two months my skin was breaking out a lot. I would wake up every couple of days with a new spot. I had a prescription of retin a micro gel which I filled. I used it once - the next day I woke up with three new pimples. They were huge and painful. It has been three weeks and I am still dealing with the scarring from that one use. I'm assuming this was an initial breakout but it was so bad that I never used it again. It is not worth for me to make my skin go from bad to terrible before it gets better.
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.
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.
May 22, 2012
Pros:
Initially cleared up acne.
Didn't have drying effect on skin as expected.
Cons:
Broke out badly 4-5 weeks in to treatment.
I have mild acne mainly around my jaw line, but am susceptible to cysts in that area as well as on my chin. Tretinoin cream helped clear up my skin and keep it clear for a few weeks. I didn't break out at all when I started using the cream (as some people seem to experience) nor did my skin become very dry. I thought - finally - I had found a product that worked. However, about 4 weeks in to using the cream I started getting smallish pimples - especially in areas I didn't normally get them (on my neck and on my cheeks). It just seemed to get worse and worse until I stopped using the cream. I haven't used the cream for a few days now and my skin is beginning to look much better. I used tretinoin every evening for exactly 6 weeks. Some people report that tretinoin didn't start working for them for some time. What confuses me is that it worked for me for the first few weeks - and then stopped. Perhaps I should have persisted for longer, but I just couldn't face weeks more of bad acne.
January 30, 2012
Product used: Atralin (Tretinoin (.05%) Gel)
Pros:
did not irritate skin
Cons:
made skin extremely oily, hair loss along temples/hairline
The consistency and appearance of Atralin is exactly the same as RAM, even though it's supposedly a gel vs. cream. It absorbed more easily and was less irritating than RAM though it's a bit stronger.
I used it for seven months. About three months in, I had noticeable hair loss along my hairline and temples. I was not ingesting or applying any other medication at the time. This is unlikely to happen to most people, but if you are sensitive to hair loss issues, be aware of this possibility. (For instance, I can't take BC or Spiro because of this sensitivity).
It also made my face ridiculously oily (blotting every half hour) and never cleared. It was so uncomfortable. Given the insane price and ineffectiveness, I can't recommend it. I went back to the .025 gel, which never worked much before but at least it made me less oily, with dietary changes and am waiting for my hairline to recover. Good luck.
January 11, 2012
Pros:
It helped a lot with acne in a short amount of time.
Cons:
It REALLY dried out my skin. I got to the point where my acne was getting so bad right underneath my nose and down to my upper lip, that I put a ton of this stuff on every night. The acne went away days ago, but my skin is terribly chapped. It appears dry, it looks disgusting, and it burns extremely bad. It hurts to move my mouth anymore. This alone makes the medicine not worth it. I would rather have acne than have this.
It's not worth it because of how dry it makes your skin. It is especially not worth the money.
December 9, 2011
Pros:
i didn't have any with this product unfortunately
Cons:
I have very dry skin to begin with and this only made it worse didn't exfoliate what so ever when my dermatologist put me on this my skin was pretty clear except for a butt load for red marks and some scars and after using this for 8 month my skin is back to how it was before i got rid of my acne only worse
not a good experience. pretty depressing actually still looking for the right product if nothing works soon im gonna have to try accutane cause this is just bloody ridiculous.
Pros:
I haven't been on it long enough to find any pros.