POSTED UNDER Retin-A Reviews
Retin-A for Rosacea
ORIGINAL POST
Retin a for Rosacea
I started Retin a and committed to it about year ago. You have to start slowly and on a lose dosage, I started on 0.5. This wasn’t prescribed, I brought it on holiday in Thailand where it is OTC. I applied to my entire face but avoided my areas prone to rosacea. At first it made those areas rosey but eventually I found my colouring evening out, my breakout diminish to nothing and visible capillaries disappear. I was previously using skinoren to manage redness and pustules but Retin a has worked miracles. It takes patience but results are worth it. Don’t rush the process by applying too often or at too high a dose. Take your time. It works better than laser did for me.
Hi! Thanks for telling your experience. Can you tell me your age and gender? Can you tell me which brand you're using specifically? For the past few years I have been dealing with very mild rosacea that easily flares up from causes if I'm not careful. I was using OTC retinol on and off since 2017 and I believe I may have used too much as I would get irritation and redness and thought it was "normal" and "adjusting" as people would say. However I also deal with dilated capillaries that have unfortunately gotten worse with time. I always had mild but visible capillaries around both nostrils since I can remember in my early 20s, (I'm almost 32 now and a man). I've always had usually very good and clear skin with the occasional 1-2 pimple acne breakout but overall clear skin and no rosacea. In 2014 I traveled in Europe and Middle East for over a year and unfortunately didn't know about importance of sunscreen for the face and never put it on. Looking at those pictures I can see definite tanning and some rosacea flaring especially on the nose with pimples followed by a clearing up to normal levels again. However after that trip the damage could definitely have made my mild rosacea more sensitive/reactive. I started applying sunscreen almost daily in 2015 at least once a day. Most days I didn't reapply which is bad however I still did other things in combination like wear UV face masks, wide hats, scarves, balaclava in winter, sunglasses etc...
Unfortunately whatever that I was born with either genetics and individual makeup and aging, including past sun damage, I have noticed a slight increase in very small capillaries over the years mainly on my nose especially the upper bridge. I don't know if the mineral sunscreen could be an irritant as zinc oxide is drying which irritates the skin and could make rosacea/capillaries worse? Even though I apply moisturizer first before applying sunscreen, the nature of sunscreen and also winter half the year tends to dry the face at times. Could sunscreen and cleansing be causing worsening capillaries? Probably. If I didn't wear sunscreen it would probably be worse so it's a trade off.
How bad were your capillaries? You didn't find Retin a to make them worse? How much did the capillaries improve for you?
However I worry if too much OTC retinol worsened my capillaries too which wouldn't' be surprising. Capillaries are crazy person specific. I know someone in their mid 40s who smokes, tans with no protection, and drinks in the summer all at same time and has almost no capillaries on her face to speak of.
Either way, recently I started taking Tretinoin .025% for the past 2 months and at first I applied a small amount once a week and checked for irritation and there was virtually none to speak of. So I upped it to 3 times a week for the past month, and just last week I woke up one morning with with a couple pimples on one cheek, but also a new spot of redness and what may be under it also small capillaries on the bridge of my nose that wasn't there before. I have been wearing sunscreen everyday for all this year and I'm worried if the higher Tretinoin dose made my rosacea more photosensitive and caused the damage?
Anyone else have had issues with sensitive capillaries on the face? It seems like an innate skin sensitivity that some of us will always be prone to.
By the way I'm in great health and weight and I even have a lower blood pressure on average.
HELLO, PLEASE DISREGARD THE BEGINNING OF MY COMMENT ABOVE! That was an accidental copy and paste of an entire file instead of just what I wanted to post! I'm very sorry and apologize for the confusion and for you having to read that unnecessary beginning section.