During the first 3 weeks you are using tretinoin, your skin may become irritated. Always your acne may seem to get worse before it gets better. It may take longer than 12 weeks before you notice full improvement of your acne, even if you use the drug every day. Check with your health care professional at any time skin irritation becomes severe or if your acne does not improve within 8 to 12 weeks.
You must avoid washing the skin treated with tretinoin for at least 1 hour after applying it.
Avoid using any topical drug on the same area within 1 hour before or after using tretinoin . Otherwise, tretinoin may not work properly or skin irritation might occur.
Unless your family doctor tells you otherwise, it is especially important to avoid using the following skin products on the same area as tretinoin:
Using these products along with tretinoin may cause mild to severe irritation of the skin. Although skin irritation can occur, some family doctors sometimes allow benzoyl peroxide to be using with tretinoin to treat acne. Usually tretinoin is applied at night so that it does not cause a problem with any other topical products that you might use during the day. Check with your family doctor before using topical medication with tretinoin.
During the first 6 months of use, avoid overexposing the treated areas to sunlight, wind, or cold weather . The skin will be more prone to sunburn, dryness, or irritation, especially during the first 2 or 3 weeks. However, you must not stop using this drug unless the skin irritation becomes too severe Do not use a sunlamp .
To help tretinoin work properly, regularly use sunscreen or sunblocking lotions with a sun protection factor - SPF of at least 15. Always wear protective clothing and hats and apply creams, lotions, or moisturizers often.
Check with your family doctor at any time your skin becomes too dry and irritated. Your health care professional can help you choose the right skin products for you to reduce skin dryness and irritation and may include the following: