Effective and safe use of retinoids for acne treatment

For many years, acne has been one of the most common dermatological problems. There are a huge number of methods and medicines for the treatment of this disease, however, in order to obtain a pronounced effect, a rather complex and lengthy process is almost always required. Currently, retinoids are widely used to treat acne.

Dermato-cosmetologist Irina Iosifovna Dasyuk told more about the effective and safe use of retinoids for the treatment of acne, especially for readers of estet-portal.com.

For what purposes are retinoids used in aesthetic medicine?

I love retinoids very much and they are used in aesthetic medicine, are recognized and are already favorite drugs for many doctors, especially for acne treatment. That is, they have prospects in the treatment of other aesthetic problems, but, first of all, they are used to treat severe forms of acne.

Isotretinoin – this is the remedy that will lead to a complete cure, and, most likely, there will be a complete cure of the elements of acne.

What medications can I combine retinoids with to treat acne?

They don't need other drugs. This is a monotherapy that is absolutely self-sufficient, and there is no need to invent anything here. The only   Systemic retinoid therapy has some side effects that just need to be addressed. And every dermatologist can do this by moisturizing the skin, applying hygienic lipsticks, because such patients have cheilitis, dry lips, and so on, they should not be in the sun and it is imperative to warn girls not to become pregnant, because retinoids have a teratogenic effect.

In what cases can the use of retinoids harm the patient?

Alert Patient – armed patient. All our patients sign an informed consent. They know that, while using retinoids, they cannot be in the sun because they will have burns, they cannot become pregnant because the drug has a teratogenic effect on the fetus, and there may be congenital malformations of the fetus, they will have dryness and a red face . But these are the seven circles of hell that the patient must go through in order to get a brilliant result.

What determines the effectiveness of the use of retinoids?

From the correct dose, from the use of retinoids by the patient, for example, from nutrition - the drug is taken with food, because it is lipophilic, and if not taken with food, its effectiveness is immediately reduced by half. Adequate doses of the drug must be taken. There are special guidelines, special protocols to follow.

Doctors are sometimes afraid to prescribe a normal and adequate dose that will cure the patient, and give very small doses because they are afraid of side effects.

They should not be afraid. These are excellent drugs and they are already approved in the dosages they are. The patient will be treated, there will either be no side effects at all, or there will be such reactions that the doctor can control and warn the patient about this. If the patient knows that he must have an exacerbation in the third week, he is happy to wait for him and understand. If he was warned about the aggravation, and that there would be a cure and clear skin, then he waits for one and the second, and calmly endures it.

Is the use of retinoids effective for the treatment of post-acne?

Retinoids do not work on post-acne, post-acne needs to be dealt with by other methods. We have to even out the skin, because post-acne – this is a scar, which is minus tissue, and we must turn this notch to an even state, that is, align everything, and isotretinoin will not be effective in this situation. This is not a universal drug, it has its own indications, which it has affected, and then other methods of treatment come into play.