Tretinoin for Shrinking Facial Pores?

There are a number of agents which can shrink pores temporarily. These would include alcohol, and a number of products which are not healthy for the skin; which merely irritate the skin. They may do this by swelling or by causing a tugging of the arectores pili muscle> Some lasers will temporarily shrink pore size. However, your pores are your pores the same way your natural hair color is your hair color. You can darken it or bleach it, but this will only temporarily affect its... more

Unfortunately, there is no way to permanently shrink pores, but there are many ways to diminish their appearance for periods of time. Both tretinoin and tazarotene prevent the build up of dead skin cells in the pores that make pores look bigger. Glycolic and TCA peels and SilkPeel also make an impact. IPL can give improvement and Fraxel Restore and even fractional CO2 improve pore size for months. Accutane would be too drastic, but it, too, improves pore size for several months. I'd... more

Retin A does not shrink pores. Retin A was originally developed and released solely to treat acne. It works great for comedonal acne (whitehead an blackheads), but was later discovered to significantly improve fine lines and wrinkles. Retin A is both an excellent treatment for Acne as well as reducing the signs of photoaging (aging of the skin due to the effects of the sun).