Retinoids for Acne [Acne Treatment]

So we've suggested that you take a class of medications called the retinoids or the Vitamin A medications. Now there's a number of different ones of these, one is over-the-counter and hopefully more will be in the future, and then the rest are prescription medications. But regardless, all of them have the same uses, and the same side effects. And all of them need a little bit of delicate and thoughtful application, so that you don't get unnecessary side-effects from using them. All you get is the results that you want. So one of these medications is over-the-counter, and it used to be hundreds of dollars. But the FDA decided it was safe enough to put over-the-counter. Some of the medications are prescriptions and you have to go get those from a provider. And we're gonna be making those recommendations for whether you need the over-the-counter version, or whether you need something that is prescription. So it's really important to use this medication properly, just like you wouldn't take five times the daily dose of an oral antibiotic that you were prescribed, you're not gonna do five times the amount of cream that's prescribed. So please pay attention to this, because more is not better. If you do more than the prescribed amount you're just going to get unnecessary side effects. Your acne is not going to get better any quicker. So the amount of fluid that is the size of a pea will cover your entire face. So what we usually recommend is that you put the fluid the size of a pea of one of these medications on your face, and you just dab a little bit of it around, and then you gently work it in. Don't try to make this size of pea spread from here all the way to here. It's not going to work. Just do little dabs and then work its way in. Now please keep this medication away from the corners of the eyes, the corners of the nose, and the corners of the mouth. Because the medication will concentrate in those areas, and then you're going to get side-effects in those areas because the amount of medication is too high. Now, you're only going to be putting this medication across your entire face if you get acne across your entire face. So most people get a lot of acne on the forehead and the nose. Sometimes in the area where men grow a beard, so you can usually put that on daily. A lot of people don't really get much acne right here on the cheek bones, so you don't really need to be applying this medication to the cheek bones, and moreover, most of the time cheek bones tend to be fairly dry areas, and these medications dry you out. Remember, these medications not only treat but they also prevent, and if all you're doing is treating, you're missing out on some of the major benefits of prevention. And remember, prevention is worth way more than treatment, when something is actually there. So we've talked about this a little bit, and now we're gonna talk about what to do with the side effects. Because if we ask you to put this medication on every day and you are, and you're starting to get unwanted side effects. What do you do? Do you just keep going, and have those side effects of being dry and irritable and red get worse and worse? Or do you tailor it a little bit to meet your individual condition? If you're putting it on nightly to your forehead, and your forehead is not getting dry or irritated, then keep doing it nightly. But, let's say that you're putting on nightly to the forehead and this area of the cheeks, and the cheeks are starting to get dry and irritated. Then what you do is you keep doing it nightly up here where there's no side-effects, and down here maybe you go to every other night or every third night. Now I will also say, that if your acne is getting better and better and better, which it should, and you're starting to notice that you really need to use these medications every day, but you are getting a little dry? Then we're also gonna be recommending certain moisturizers that you can use in the dry areas. Moisturizers do not need to go on areas that are oily. If you put moisturizers on an oily area, all you're gonna do is increase your acne. So please don't do that. Now some general precautions. Obviously if you're allergic to any of the ingredients and anything that is recommended to you, you need to not use it. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, then please do not use it until you talk to your local healthcare provider. If you are using these medications, you are gonna be a little bit more sensitive to the sun. So please be careful when you're out and about in the sun, and please use a sunscreen that does not cause acne, and it'll say either non-comedogenic or non-acne causing on the sunscreen. Now all sunscreens cause acne a little bit, but you can get ones that are specifically formulated to minimize your risk of getting acne from using a sunscreen. Sometimes people are very sensitive, and their skin is very sensitive, so you might want to stop one of these medications one week prior to getting a wax or a facial or a chemical peel. Now if you start noticing any sort of unusual side effects, it's either getting too red, or too irritated, or something else is happening that isn't within the norm? Then you need to stop using the medication, whether it's over-the-counter or prescription, and you do need to talk to your individual healthcare provider to see what the next steps are for you. Now all acne treatments need to be followed, and they need to be followed as they were prescribed or suggested for six weeks, before we can tell if it's going to work or not. So please, do not think that just because an acne treatment hasn't worked within two weeks, that it's not going to work. We need six weeks of treatment before we know if we need to change course. So please follow your course strictly. Follow it in the morning and at night. Use a device to track when you're supposed to do these things, and let us know how compliant you were, so that we can tell if the treatment didn't work because you just didn't use the treatment, or if the treatment didn't work because you did everything properly, and you need something else to help take control. Give us six weeks of compliant use. Track it. Ask your friends to help you stay on track, because your goal of clear skin is our goal of clear skin. And if we work together in this, we will get you there one way or another. Now, all of these medications that we spoke about today, whether they are over-the-counter, or whether they're prescription, they all have product inserts, or prescription inserts that will tell you all the risks, all the side effects, and what they're indicated for. We do recommend that you read those before you use any of the products that are suggested, and you can find these by simply doing a search on Google. You can type in the name of the product, and type in product insert or package insert, and it will pop up for you. Please read these things. Please understand them before you use them. If you have any questions, please ask your local healthcare provider about these medications or the potential side-effects. If you can't find it online, these package inserts come with the medications that you're gonna use. So all you have to do is look at them when you get the medication. I, oftentimes like to look at stuff before I get it, so that's where the online version comes in. As always, we thank you for allowing us to help you become comfortable in your skin.