Does Retin-A (tretinoin) help reverse skin aging? Yes. Retin-A, whose active ingredient is tretinoin, has been shown to have positive effects on both the deeper collagen layers of your skin as well as the upper most layer that is comprised of skin cells.
As a result of its effects on your skin's cellular turnover speed, tretinoin reduces the appearance of wrinkles, evens out your skin's pigmentation and also treats skin issues such as acne. The end result is smoother, younger looking skin that's much less affected by fine lines, wrinkles or other common signs of aging.
Retin-A does double duty in helping to boost collagen. According to research at Michigan, it has the potential to stop photoaging before it starts. “The retinoids prevent the rise of collagenase after UV exposure,” Dr. Voorhees said.
For aging skin, dermatologists like to prescribe tretinoin and retinoic acid (Retin-A, Renova, Refissa) that is "100 times" as potent as the retinol-containing products sold without prescription, Jacob says. "Tretinoin works better because it has a stronger capability of preventing the breakdown of collagen," she says.
“This will make your skin look older and accentuate wrinkles” — which is probably not what you're going for when you start using the stuff. And there's no question that retinol makes your skin more sensitive to the sun.
First, the answer is yes, retinol can make wrinkles worse, especially when you first start using it. What is happening is a drying effect, and one can get epidermal sliding from separation from the dermis.
On the whole, it's best to think of botox as a treatment for wrinkles that are apparent with moving facial muscles (smiling, furrowing your brow, frowning) while tretinoin can help treat the fine lines and sun spots resulting from UV exposure.
If you stop using the medication or are inconsistent with your treatment, any improvements you see may disappear over time. Always use the product as prescribed by your healthcare provider (Rodan, 2016).
If you use tretinoin daily as directed, a single 20g tube of tretinoin cream should last for between two and three months, resulting in an approximate cost of about $15 to $25 per month.
Do not use this medicine in or around the eyes or lips, or inside of the nose. Spread the medicine away from these areas when applying. If it accidentally gets on these areas, wash with water at once. Before applying tretinoin, wash the skin with a mild soap or cleanser and warm water by using the tips of your fingers.
Retin-A achieves a very important goal in anti-aging treatments: it helps boost collagen levels in the skin. Collagen provides skin with firmness and elasticity, but as you age, your cells produce less collagen, allowing wrinkling and sagging to occur.
Retin-A improves the cosmetic appearance of the skin, but it also helps treat some functional problems of the skin such as acne and precancerous conditions, such as actinic keratoses.
Retinol and retinoids
There is data indicating that topical retinol combined with vitamin C is effective at replenishing skin elasticity. Prescription retinoids boost collagen production in the skin. They include tretinoin and retin-A.
A report in the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology concluded that retinoids are “suitable as long-term medications, with no risk of inducing bacterial resistance.” Another study tested the safety of tretinoin cream over 52 weeks and found no problems.
Tretinoin minimizes pore appearance by increasing cell turnover and boosting exfoliation, which clears debris in the pores and allows pores to shrink back to their normal size.
Tretinoin is a medication used to treat acne and sun-damaged skin. It can't erase deep wrinkles, but it can help improve the appearance of surface wrinkles, fine lines, and darks spots.
If your skin care involves nothing but using vitamin C in the morning followed by nightly applications of Retin-A, you'll have glowing, more youthful skin. (Sunscreen, of course, should also be applied daily.)
Retin A and Retinols – Prescription Retin A typically comes with an expiration date, which should be recognized for best results. Retinols lose some of their potency after 6-9 months, and those contained in an airless pump can be good for 1 year or more.
Tretinoin gel, cream, or lotion requires a prescription because it's more powerful than retinol. Doctors prescribe tretinoin to treat skin conditions like: Acne. Psoriasis.
Tretinoin is an anti-cancer ("antineoplastic" or "cytotoxic") chemotherapy drug. Tretinoin is classified as a "retinoid." (For more detail, see "How Tretinoin Works" section below).
Retinoids help mitigate those issues in a variety of ways. They thicken the epidermis through increased cell proliferation at the top level. They increase the production of natural chemicals (such as hyaluronic acid) in your skin that keep it plump and moist.
Tretinoin Does Not “Bleach” Your Skin
Contrary to popular belief, tretinoin is not a “bleaching agent” or medicine designed specifically to lighten your skin tone. While tretinoin can even out patches of hyperpigmentation and cause a mild change in your skin tone, it doesn't affect melanin synthesis.
The 0.1% tazarotene cream produced significantly higher treatment success rates than the 0.05% tretinoin cream at weeks 12 and 20. Between the 0.05% formulations, tazarotene and tretinoin were comparable in treatment success rates, although in OIA, tretinoin tended to provide higher improvement rates.
Tazarotene 0.1% gel (once daily) is more effective than tretinoin 0.025% gel (once daily) in reducing the numbers of papules and open comedones, and achieves a more rapid reduction in pustules in mild to moderate facial acne. Alternate-day tazarotene 0.1% gel is as effective as once-daily adapalene 0.1% gel.
How does tretinoin work? Tretinoin will increase the number of new cells in the skin, increase blood supply, decrease the dark color of sun spots, and increase collagen production. The creams only work where applied and the active ingredient cannot be detected inside the body when applied to the face and hands.