Use of Retinoids and Tretinoin
Thoughts by Geoffrey Nase on the use of Retinoids and Tretinoin for the treatment of rosacea.
There is considerable controversy over the use of retinoids and tretinoin. In my eight years as a rosacea sufferer and one who haslistened carefully to thousands of rosacea sufferers and clinically seen many rosacea sufferers at IU Medical School withDermatologists, it is my opinion that retinoids and tretinoin haveNO place in rosacea treatment of any subtype. Acclimation of the skin, blood vessels and nerves rarely occurs and then you are stuckwith a bright red flushed, burning face. This is where the articles fall short. Their response to these patients who are now in physical pain is, "Well, we dont know what to do -- you should gosee a neurologist".
Then you are classified as having idiopathic flushing syndromes and idiopahtic neural burning syndromes(idiopathic means of no known origin), when in fact it is just rosacea in a ticked off state. These rosacea sufferers then fall through the cracks for years.
There are many documented articles from the Mayo Clinic, from the Rosacea Experts such as Dr. Wilkin, etc. about these cases of angry face syndrome, burning face syndrome, sun burn like responses, etc. to those physicians whounwisely treat patients with retinoids.Rosacea sufferers at all stages still need to be very wary of rosacea medical advice because physicians are still "experimenting"with us and if you are on the bottom of the learning curve, aphysician's treatment can turn a cosmetic disorder into a totally different beast.
When you hear retinol and tretinoin and benzoyl peroxide, perk your ears up, take a step back and approach withcaution. We have several hundred if not over a thousand members onthis one board who have fought through the retinol and tretinoin-induced irritation because of the sun damage theory (an unproven theory where sun supposedly caused damage to blood vessels and collagen and this can be reversed by these products). If this was truly the case, then deep chemical peels or deep CO2 laser peels to remove all the decades of sun damage would cure rosacea.......to my knowledge not one single case has ever improved with these deep sun damage treatments; to the contrary, these are the rosacea sufferers living a painful existence. As you will find out, avoiding rosacea irritants is just as important as actively treating the disorder. I literally shutter for rosacea sufferers at the hundreds of OTC retinol products that are causing cumulative damage to their skin for temporary changes in wrinkles and skin smoothness.
Rosacea is a genetic disorder that is broughtto the top via cumulative insults. This is known. Rosacea is also much more prevalent then it was several decades ago -- is this from skin care products designed for wrinkles, smaller pores and acne?
There is considerable controversy over the use of retinoids and tretinoin. In my eight years as a rosacea sufferer and one who haslistened carefully to thousands of rosacea sufferers and clinically seen many rosacea sufferers at IU Medical School withDermatologists, it is my opinion that retinoids and tretinoin haveNO place in rosacea treatment of any subtype. Acclimation of the skin, blood vessels and nerves rarely occurs and then you are stuckwith a bright red flushed, burning face. This is where the articles fall short. Their response to these patients who are now in physical pain is, "Well, we dont know what to do -- you should gosee a neurologist".
Then you are classified as having idiopathic flushing syndromes and idiopahtic neural burning syndromes(idiopathic means of no known origin), when in fact it is just rosacea in a ticked off state. These rosacea sufferers then fall through the cracks for years.
There are many documented articles from the Mayo Clinic, from the Rosacea Experts such as Dr. Wilkin, etc. about these cases of angry face syndrome, burning face syndrome, sun burn like responses, etc. to those physicians whounwisely treat patients with retinoids.Rosacea sufferers at all stages still need to be very wary of rosacea medical advice because physicians are still "experimenting"with us and if you are on the bottom of the learning curve, aphysician's treatment can turn a cosmetic disorder into a totally different beast.
When you hear retinol and tretinoin and benzoyl peroxide, perk your ears up, take a step back and approach withcaution. We have several hundred if not over a thousand members onthis one board who have fought through the retinol and tretinoin-induced irritation because of the sun damage theory (an unproven theory where sun supposedly caused damage to blood vessels and collagen and this can be reversed by these products). If this was truly the case, then deep chemical peels or deep CO2 laser peels to remove all the decades of sun damage would cure rosacea.......to my knowledge not one single case has ever improved with these deep sun damage treatments; to the contrary, these are the rosacea sufferers living a painful existence. As you will find out, avoiding rosacea irritants is just as important as actively treating the disorder. I literally shutter for rosacea sufferers at the hundreds of OTC retinol products that are causing cumulative damage to their skin for temporary changes in wrinkles and skin smoothness.
Rosacea is a genetic disorder that is broughtto the top via cumulative insults. This is known. Rosacea is also much more prevalent then it was several decades ago -- is this from skin care products designed for wrinkles, smaller pores and acne?
posted by Madison at 7:03 AM
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