Tretinoin Cream

How to use

Tretinoin cream or gel is easy to use! Gently wash the area to treat and completely dry it. This is very important since using tretinoin on wet skin can irritate your skin more than usual. You can wait 10 or 20 minutes before applying Tretinoin cream to make sure your skin is dry. With clean hands, apply the cream or gel, rubbing it gently. Use only a small amount of gel or cream (the size of a pea for your entire face). It should be absorbed right away. It’s best to use tretinoin at night because it is light sensitive and won’t work as well if you use it in the AM.

Do NOT use tretinoin and Benzoyl Peroxide or salicylic acid or other acid at the EXACT same time because the acid/peroxide kills the action of the tretinoin.

Pandia Health’s expert doctors recommend allowing 12 weeks to see improvements on the skin. The treated area may look worse before it gets “pretty”.

Dosage

Tretinoin cream comes in: 0.025%, 0.05%, 0.1% strengths. Tretinoin GEL comes in: 0.01%, 0.025%, 0.04%, 0.05%, 0.1%

Side Effects

The risks are very low, but some women have experienced unwanted side effects when using Tretinoin cream. Minor ones include e skin dryness, itching, redness, mild burning, or worsening of acne. Those effects will decrease with continued use of the medication.

If you experience eye redness and watering (conjunctivitis) or skin discoloration, STOP the medication and tell your doctor.

The chances of serious side effects are extremely unlikely, but STOP the medication and seek immediate medical attention (call 911 or go to the ER) if you experience any of the following symptoms: blistering, severe burning/swelling of the skin, itching/swelling, eyelid swelling (though you should NOT be using this medication on your eyelid or around your eyes).