Is Post Accutane Flushing Permanent?

I recently finished accutane around mid-February with amazing results, but the only downfall of it was the flushing. Everytime I flush my entire face turns red, hot and maybe a bit of sweating. I only flush when I'm nervous, bending over, eating spicy food or doing exercise. Most of the time my complexion is normal. Is the flushing ever going to go away? or it's the beginning of rosacea?

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flushing redness rosacea exercise food nervous permanent results sweat

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3 Doctor Answers | Asked by chungreb in Thornhill, ON

Doctor Answers (3)
Community Comments (1)

Post-accutane flushing is quite temporary

The vast majority of post-accutane flushing is simply residual redness from the acne which has been treated or dryness associated with accutance treatment. This generally resolves pretty quickly in most patients within one to two months post-accutane. However, if flushing continues it may be due to the onset of another very common condition such as rosacea.

Flushing after Accutane

It takes 2-3 months after finishing Accutane for the redness to calm down. If your face is normally not red and the flushing is of new onset, you need an evaluation to determine if this is rosacea or another cause of flushing. Please consult a board certified dermatologist.

Flushing after Accutane

There are many causes to flushing with some being benign, but flushing can be a sign of a more serious internal problem. The residual redness following Accutane usually improves with time. It is important to follow up with a board certified dermatologist post-Accutane to ensure that the skin is progressing appropriately and to evaluate the etiology of the flushing.

Comments (1)

accutane induced flusher 21 Jul 2012

My accutane-induced flushing is permanent. This has been proven by my supposedly-befuddled dermatologists and endocrinologists, who are either (in my experience) oblivious or in denial of accutane's permanent side effects; this doesn't make sense to me since accutane has also had permanent good effects, like clearing my skin.

My flushing, personally, stretches far beyond my face and is splotchy, targeting areas that used to have bad acne, so when I get flushed it looks like a rash. This is a side effect that started towards the end of treatment and is still getting worse three years after the end of treatment.

It is a chemotherapy drug that keeps your cells from reproducing, as you might expect an anti-cancer agent to do. So don't expect your skin cells to ever reproduce on your permanently-thinner skin. To be fair, my acne is also permanently cured - it's nearly impossible for me to even form a pimple.

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