How to Use Retinoids for Skin Care
These include tretinoin (Renova, Retin-A, Retinova and Avita). retinol and retinyl palmitate. Vitamin A creams have been shown to have a truly amazing effect on the skin. Topical application speeds up cell activity and unclogs pores, allowing sebum to flow freely up towards the skin’s surface.
Tretinoins are used primarily to treat oily, acne-prone skin: however, some patients treated with topical tretinoin have also shown improvement in skin texture, wrinkling, pigmentation and sallowness. This is because vitamin A improves the skin’s structure and increases collagen production. Recent data suggests that tretinoin may even prevent damage to skin’s collagen and elastin fillers that occurs during sun exposure. Topical tretinoin also appears to reverse the chronological ageing process at the cellular level by altering protein production and growth kinetics. If you have sun damage and fine wrinkles, tretinoin is a highly effective treatment, but needs to be prescribed by a dermatologist and visible results can take up to six months. Retinol cream is weaker than tretinoin cream and is available without prescription. It can also reduce fine lines and skin discoloration, but to a lesser extent.
There are a few side effects. Most people experience a stinging sensation on applying retinoid creams, but this should only last a few seconds. Skin may appear flaky and dry for the first few weeks of use but this too should subside. When using retinoids, skin may become photosensitive, so the creams are best used at night and sunscreen is necessary during the day. Because vitamin A impairs the skin’s wound-healing process, no one using tretinoins or isotretinoins should undertake any kind of body waxing, dermabrasion or laser resurfacing.
