Tretinoin---help

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jpetro

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June 1st I consulted a doctor about my complexion, I wanted to reduce the greasiness and amount of blackheaRAB. He recommended tretinoin, and I started using it. Prior to this escapade I had a whole lot of greasiness and a couple of blackheaRAB on average.

3 weeks into it and I had severe black/whiteheaRAB all over my face and some discoloration on the skin next to my eyes. It almost looked like someone punched me, kind-of like bruising. I stopped using tretinoin on June 27th... Since then, my complexion has been horrible and if I go swimming or use any kind of exfoliation the redness/bruising below my eyes returns. I looked up side effects on tretinoin and these are listed, I guess my skin is extremely sensitive, I would rather live with greasiness and a couple of zits than this whole mess. My question is this, is there anything I can do to expediate this transition process of my skin recooperating from this stuff and has anyone ran into this problem???

Thanks!
 
first you should not be doing any additional exfoliation while you are using tretinoin because that is already exfoliating your skin enough. also you shouldn't be using it around your eye area because the skin there is much more delicate. are you using a sunscreen every day? tretinoin makes your skin very sensitive to sunlight so it is so important wear sunscreen every single day. it does take time for the skin to get used to the medication. i was on tretinoin for a few months but my skin continued to be red and peel and i just couldn't take it anymore so i stopped. but i never got the breakouts like you so not sure about that. but a lot of people have luck with it if you can just get past the red/peeling stage. hope this helps!
 
Have you asked your dermatologist for Retin A Micro? This is a great product if your skin is highly sensitive to Tretinion (Retin A is a name brand for Tretinion). I've used both and Retin A Micro did not cause the irritation to my skin that tretinion did. Retin A Micro does contain tretinion, but it's contained in little capsules in the cream called microspheres. The microspheres allow the skin to absorb small amounts of the medicine over time (making it less irritating).

Also on another note... if you are using regular tretinion, you need to wait 30 minutes after washing your face before applying it (according to my doctor). If you apply earlier, this can be a major factor in skin redness/irritation.
 
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