There is one old proverb, saying that an apple a day may keep a doctor away. However, we got used to treat proverbs mostly as the shortest literary masterpieces, forgetting about their real value as the source of practical information for our everyday life.
The problem of acne and the type of medications, commonly used nowadays to treat this condition, is another evidence for the above said statement. It is known that apples, as well as many other fruits and vegetables, supply human body with vitamins, necessary for healthy living. But it is not so widely known that the medication tretinoin, commonly used against acne, is a derivative from vitamin, namely Vitamin A, which can be found in carrots or spinach.
There are several medications (Retin-A, Retin-A Micro, Renova and Avita) with tretinoin as the main working agent, but Retin-A is, probably, the most popular, being prescribed to patients with acne vulgaris since 1971. So, let us investigate how Retin-A keeps acne away.
It may look surprisingly, but according to the official product information scientists and even the producers of Retin-A do not know how exactly this medication works, explaining the mechanism of action in words, absolutely familiar for doctors and quite a strange for ordinary people: Tretinoin decreases cohesiveness of follicular epithelial cells with decreased microcomedo formation. Additionally, tretinoin stimulates mitotic activity and increased turnover of follicular epithelial cells causing extrusion of the comedones.
To make this official explanation more comfortable for the tongue to read and easier for the brains to understand, let us look first at the factors, leading to acne development.
Skin renews itself constantly by growing new cells and peeling off the old cells of the outer layer. The problem of acne appears when the old cells, which have not been shed completely for some reason, become mixed with sebum and clog oil glands in the skin.
Retin-A does not allow old cells to stay long on the skin surface and clog the pores. It accelerates the process of forming the new cells and peeling off the old ones. In general, Retin-A increases the turnover of skin cells: the new skin cells replace the older skin layers (those affected with acne), thus making skin more healthy and pimples free.
Since Retin-A causes rapid shedding of the skin outer layer, pimples, which have been deep inside, come out on the skin surface. That is why, at the beginning of the treatment course one may notice the worsening of acne symptoms. However, it is only a temporary condition, and in 8-12 weeks the skin improvement is said to become visible.
Finally, it is important to underline that though Retin-A attacks acne pimples very effectively, its influence on skin can hardly be called gentle. Among the side effects of this medication are local inflammation, redness, itching and stinging sensations due to the irritation of the skin by Retin-A. To reduce the unpleasant symptoms, Retin-A is available in three forms (cream, gel and topical solution) and in different concentrations.
After all, tretinoin is still among the best options to treat acne and the paraphrased proverb A drop of Retin-A a day takes your acne away is of current importance nowadays.
Nick
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