When going through any major life change, from loss to a big move, there’s a helpful saying that remains tried and true: it gets worse before it gets better. It can anchor in a sense of hope when you’re feeling down, knowing that going through the worst of it is how you eventually get to the healing. This saying can also be applied to the purging of skin care regimes like accutane, retinol and tretinoin.
What Is Tretinoin?
Tretinoin is a prescription medication used to treat acne, signs of aging and dark spots. It’s one of the many forms of retinoid, a class of molecules that derive from vitamin A.
While Retin-A was the first FDA-approved version of tretinoin, it’s also available as a generic medication, which is why it more commonly goes by the tretinoin name.
This prescription strength retinoid does miracles for the skin, transforming a face plagued by acne, scars and wrinkles into a clear and plumped slate with its anti-aging and acne-clearing properties. Dealing with adult acne can demolish anyone’s self-esteem, and tretinoin is your long awaited secret weapon— but not without a cost.
The Tretinoin Purge
While tretinoin is incredibly effective at combating acne and plumping out wrinkles and fine lines, the first few weeks (known as the tretinoin purge) can be physically and mentally challenging. It typically begins immediately after your first application, though the timing varies by factors related to skin type, severity of skin condition and the strength of tretinoin you’re using.
During the purge, your skin is adjusting to a more rapid cell turnover than usual. All the oil, dirt, dead skin cells and bacteria that were clogging your pores get pushed to the surface layer of your skin all at once, manifesting as inflammation and breakouts. You may experience irritation, dryness or redness in your problem areas, as well as more whiteheads and bumps than usual. While it may trigger you into thinking you’ve made a mistake, this is all a normal reaction and only asks patience of you.
The tretinoin purge can last anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months, but it’s important to remember that there is light at the end of the tunnel so long as you keep going. If you don’t see any improvement after 3 months, that’s when you should check in with your clinician.
How To Handle the Tretinoin Purge
Your mental health should always be your main priority, so it’s important to keep yourself grounded and sane whilst going through the tretinoin purge. The state of our face directly impacts the way that we feel ourselves, so its valid to feel emotionally distraught when seeing your skin worsen. Keeping your mental health may mean speaking to a mental health professional, finding others that have been through the journey as well, or opening up to friends and family.
While the purge is unavoidable, you can dodge the severity of it by going low and slow, starting with low strength or every-other-day treatment and gradually working your way up. It’s also important not to pick at any of the new acne bumps in order to avoid making scarring worse, which would only prolong your healing time.
If the purge truly gets bothersome, niacinamide can work really well alongside tretinoin, helping to reduce inflammation and brighten the skin. Similarly, you’ll want to avoid exfoliating serums and toners, instead opting for gentle cleansers that won’t trigger any more irritation.
Trust the Process
Going through the tretinoin purge means that the medication is working and on the other side awaiting you is healthy, youthful and vibrant skin. The process is even more of a mental hurdle than a physical one, but with patience and self compassion, the journey will be nothing but worth it.