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Getting redness, peeling, and breakouts from Differin after 5 weeks.

By agirlwithacne on 23 Sep 2012

Getting redness, peeling, and breakouts from Differin after 5 weeks.

Hello, people!   I'm suffering from acne since i was 12 years old, and actually never had any big problems. (i don't really care if i have one tiny pimple ) But since i became 15 years old, i started to get more redness and breakouts, and asked the doctor for help. He gave me Differin Gel 1mg/g and i started using it, the first few days my face burned very painfull and i wanted to quit, (but i wanted my pimples gone so badly.. and i continued.)   Now i have used Differin gel for like, 5weeks and my face is still very red (with breakouts) and i really don't like the peeling!! Yesterday i stopped using differin, cause i thought: maybe my skin is getting to irritating of the gel..but i guess tonight i will use the differin gel again. maybe it's a good idea using Differin not every day.. right?   kind regards, a girl with acne. (there's a picture from me with acne, it looks worse and i feel very ugly. ughh >-<!! )    

Comments (2)

Missbaker 9 Nov 2012
With the Differin, you can't begin without slowly building tolerance-redness and peeling will make more breakouts as your skin jumps into oil production overdrive. Pause with the Differin and go into skin babying mode (just gentle washing, with non medicated soaps, lots of moisturizing with an oil free, aloe based moisturizer). You have burned yourself a bit, and just have to heal. Once it feels comfortable, start again, making sure you give a break of a day or two in between differin to heal. Some other things to adjust are making sure your face is bone dry before you apply at night, and stopping any use of sulfur, benzoyl peroxide, or salycilic acid. If you are absolutely set on using Differin daily, wash and moisturize first, dry completely (I use a blow dryer) then apply before bed. Lastly, call the derm for a short-term antibiotic to help you through this initial phase, (sometimes 12 weeks) while skin becomes accustomed and slowly begins to regenerate. Good luck, I've been there, just listen to your skin. Pain is never a sign of progress. Skin is an organ too!
Megan P (Community Manager) 24 Sep 2012

Sorry to hear you are struggling with acne. :-/ I can definitely sympathize.

I have submitted a question to our Q&A section on your behalf. The Q&A section is where the board certified doctors who volunteer on RealSelf share their opinions with us. You can click on the link below to check for answers. They usually start to post in 24-48 hours.

What Are the Usual Directions for Applying Differin for Acne?

Please keep us posted on how you are doing with the medication.

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