{"id":92,"date":"2013-04-24T00:46:19","date_gmt":"2013-04-24T00:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/surgerytoday.com\/education\/?p=92"},"modified":"2013-04-28T17:26:43","modified_gmt":"2013-04-28T17:26:43","slug":"bits-of-info-about-retin-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/surgerytoday.com\/education\/bits-of-info-about-retin-a\/","title":{"rendered":"Bits of info about Retin-A (Tretinoin)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.holland-derm.com\/images\/obagi_blue.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tretinoin<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Just reading for myself to review some information for myself about Retin-A (Tretinoin). \u00a0I was curious to see what info is out there and here&#8217;s some info that I gleaned from an article in the NY times, supplemented a bit with my own knowledge. \u00a0I&#8217;m always bombarded with questions and patients with different brands at our Modesto, CA office location. \u00a0Retin-A is a brand name for the chemical name: \u00a0Tretinoin or Retinoic Acid. \u00a0Derived from Vitamin A.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Other brand name Tretinoin\u00a0formulations:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 14px;\">Retin-A<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Retin-A Micro<\/li>\n<li>Renova<\/li>\n<li>Avage<\/li>\n<li>Tazorac<\/li>\n<li>Aberela<\/li>\n<li>Airol<\/li>\n<li>Atralin<\/li>\n<li>Avita<\/li>\n<li>Retacnyl<\/li>\n<li>Refissa<\/li>\n<li>ReTrieva<\/li>\n<li>Stieva-A<\/li>\n<li>Vesanoid<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Retinol and Retin-A (tretinoin) are not the same thing. \u00a0Retinol is a much less potent cousin.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 14px;\">Retin-A requires a prescription, Retinol does not.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The New York times talks about &#8220;crystal-clear demonstration&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/11\/30\/fashion\/30skin.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0\">http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2006\/11\/30\/fashion\/30skin.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cTo my knowledge, this is the only drug for which there has been crystal-clear demonstration that it works on the molecular level,\u201d said Dr. John J. Voorhees, the chairman of the dermatology department at the medical school of University of Michigan&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>Retin-A (Tretinoin) is used for:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 14px;\">Diminish Acne<\/span><\/li>\n<li>improve skin texture<\/li>\n<li>diminish wrinkles<\/li>\n<li>fade brown spots<\/li>\n<li>fade freckles<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThere is so much historical evidence that this ingredient works better than anything else,\u201d said Dr. Joel L. Cohen, clinical assistant professor of dermatology at the\u00a0<a title=\"More articles about University of Colorado\" href=\"http:\/\/topics.nytimes.com\/top\/reference\/timestopics\/organizations\/u\/university_of_colorado\/index.html?inline=nyt-org\">University of Colorado<\/a>\u00a0and a consultant for OrthoNeutrogena, the maker of Retin-A Micro. And the effects are more than superficial. \u201cIt actually works to remodel skin on a cellular level,\u201d Dr. Cohen said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">Helping to normalize cells:<\/h3>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Skin cells contain retinoid receptors that help regulate how the cell functions. As people age, their cells behave more erratically. \u201cBut consistent use of Retin-A helps normalize the cells,\u201d said Dr. Min-Wei Christine Lee, a dermatologist in Walnut Creek, Calif.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>Collagen:<\/h3>\n<blockquote><p>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. \u201cThe retinoids prevent the rise of collagenase after UV exposure,\u201d Dr. Voorhees said. Collagenase is what breaks down collagen.<\/p>\n<p>But regular use of a retinoid product also increases the amount of new collagen formed, research has found, and that new collagen will last for years.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">Not just cosmetic &#8211; it treats pre-cancerous lesions too<\/h3>\n<blockquote><p>The results are not just cosmetic. Dr. Voorhees said that retinoids have been used to treat precancerous skin cells. Studies show that after two years of use, those abnormal cells returned to normal.<\/p>\n<p>So if Retin-A is so effective and so well studied, why isn\u2019t everyone using it? Many dermatologists blame a lack of patient education. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the most misunderstood drugs,\u201d said Dr. Kenneth Beer, a dermatologist in Palm Beach, Fla., and a clinical investigator for Allergan, the maker of prescription Avage and Tazorac. He is also an Allergan shareholder. People use Retin-A too much, use it too often, experience negative side effects and then give up on it too soon, doctors say.<\/p>\n<p>The problem with Retin-A is that it may actually make skin look worse \u2014 with redness, flakiness and peeling \u2014 for up to eight weeks. \u201cBut by 24 weeks, patients will see dramatic, marked improvements,\u201d Dr. Lee said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>We found this same thing. \u00a0Most of our patients will have dry skin, some redness, and mild peeling for about 2-3 months first before seeing the full benefits.<\/p>\n<p>25 years old &#8211; but still the best:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI can\u2019t say there\u2019s anything on the horizon that will rival Retin-A,\u201d Dr. Cohen said. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to see all the research going into this area, but kind of funny that the thing we\u2019re still recommending most is something that\u2019s 25 years old.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\">We carry several formulations of Retinoic Acid \/ Tretinoin in our office:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.714285714; font-size: 1rem;\">Mainly Obagi 0.025%, 0.05%, and 0.1% strengths<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Our <a href=\"https:\/\/surgerytoday.com\">Modesto Plastic Surgery<\/a> office is Surgical Artistry, 2336 Sylvan Ave. Suite C, Modesto, CA 95355. \u00a0Tel 209-551-1888.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just reading for myself to review some information for myself about Retin-A (Tretinoin). \u00a0I was curious to see what info is out there and here&#8217;s some info that I gleaned from an article in the NY times, supplemented a bit with my own knowledge. \u00a0I&#8217;m always bombarded with questions and patients with different brands at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,12],"tags":[377,37,36,38,35],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cosmetic-surgery","category-skin-care","tag-modesto","tag-obagi","tag-retin-a","tag-skin-care-2","tag-tretinoin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/surgerytoday.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/surgerytoday.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/surgerytoday.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surgerytoday.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surgerytoday.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/surgerytoday.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167,"href":"https:\/\/surgerytoday.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions\/167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/surgerytoday.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surgerytoday.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surgerytoday.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}