Why am I breaking out after microdermabrasion?

Question

I had microderm done a week ago. I was on retin a and had used it the night before. I mentioned this to the esthetician and she said my skin could tolerate it. She went over active acne and said she extracted them and it did seem like it at first but a couple days later my acne got worse. The pimples she said she extracted got a lot bigger and others starter popping up! Still breaking out a week after, is this normal?

Ramandeep Sidhu, MD · Answer

Hello, It is not uncommon to break out or "purge" after having a facial treatment. This is because some products or treatments can exfoliate the surface layers of the skin, increasing your cellular turnover rate. In your case you had been using retinol which increases your cellular turnover rate and you had a microdermabrasion treatment that also exfoliated your skin. In our office we do not do microdermabrasion if the client has used retinol in the last 5 days, since it can make you more sensitive to the treatment. As for the active acne that got worse, I am not sure what type of acne your previous provider went over but you do not want to treat over cystic or nodular acne, because it can irritate it more causing it to become more inflamed.

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