All You Need To Know About Reducing Wrinkles With Tretinoin

If you don't like the wrinkles you see in the mirror, there's a way for you to get rid of them for good. Tretinoin, or Retin-A, is a powerful tool to smooth out wrinkles and even remove red patches of skin. Whether you have under-eye wrinkles or wrinkles elsewhere, tretinoin could be the answer. Here's what you need to know about how to use tretinoin cream for wrinkles.

What Does Retin-A Do for Your Skin?

To understand how Retin-A impacts your skin's health, it's important to first understand how your skin becomes damaged in the first place. Aging of the skin is caused by two main factors. The first is intrinsic. Your body naturally turns over its skin cells as part of its biological processes.

While there isn't too much you can do to fight natural aging, something can be done to help with the second factor that causes aging skin. When exposed to the sun for long periods of time, your skin can age prematurely. This is because UV radiation causes skin cell turnover to occur rapidly. Because the sun is damaging your skin, the body has to work harder to repair it. As a result, those areas exposed to the sun are among the first to wrinkle.

Yet it is possible to reduce those lines with tretinoin. Also called Retin-A, tretinoin was first discovered during World War II, when soldiers were being treated for a lack of vitamin A. One of the benefits they noticed was that the increase in vitamin A helped improve their complexion.

Retin-A would later be used as a treatment for acne. Yet besides it helping to fight acne, doctors noticed that it also improved the skin and helped to even out the skin tone.

Since then, researchers have studied tretinoin closely to determine how else it can be used to help improve the health of the skin.

Does Retin-A Help With Wrinkles?

Tretinoin for wrinkles can be a powerful tool to stop photoaging. It helps smooth wrinkles in a few different ways. The first is that it encourages the production of new collagen.

This is important because wrinkles and skin patches are caused by damaged collagen. When tretinoin pushes collagen production, brand-new skin cells are produced in key areas where Retin-A has been  applied. This new skin will look fresh, bright and vibrant. Retin-A can remove red patches or dark patches and fill the space with your natural skin color instead.

The second way in which Retin-A reduces wrinkles and improves photoaging is by encouraging the production of new blood vessels. Your face is full of tiny blood vessels that rest just under the skin. Part of the reason you might have red patches is because of broken blood vessels or because the blood vessels are inflamed.

To even out your skin color, Retin-A encourages the production of new blood vessels, which restores the natural color and shading of your skin.

There are a few other benefits you may experience as a result of taking Retin-A. If you have a few age spots, then tretinoin will slowly remove those as well. It can even soften areas of your skin that were roughened. This is all due to the presence of newly formed collagen.

How To Use Tretinoin Cream for Wrinkles

To experience the full effect of Retin-A, you need to make sure that you're applying the cream correctly. One of the first things you should consider is the instructions given to you by your doctor. It may feel like the more cream you put on, the better the results, but this isn't the case.

Retin-A takes some time to truly start working. It also has to damage your skin first in order for new collagen to be produced. As a result, you might experience light sensitivity when exposed to the sun. It's always a good idea to wear sunscreen when using tretinoin cream.

As for the actual application, you'll want to put the prescribed amount on your fingers and lightly rub it into the trouble areas. You should continue to rub until the cream has been completely absorbed by your skin.

To start off, you should only use a small amount. You'll likely be directed to only apply it every other day. Once your skin starts to become used to the cream, you may be able to rub it on nightly.

You may notice some skin irritation and dryness. This is a natural side effect of Retin-A. Continue to moisturize your skin and wear sunblock to keep it protected from UV damage.

How Long Does It Take for Retin A To Work on Wrinkles?

Understandably, you may be checking the mirror every day after first using Retin-A cream. However, while early improvement may be noticed after 2-3 weeks, the best results are achieved after several months of Tretinoin use.

Because you have to continue to encourage collagen production, you may also notice that your wrinkles return after you stop using Retin-A. Continued application is essential to keeping your skin looking healthy and young.

You may also wonder, how long does tretinoin take to work if you use it only sparingly? If you don't follow your doctor’s instructions, then you likely won't see much improvement in your skin at all. Tretinoin works best when it is applied frequently and according to your doctor's directions.

The moment that you stop using a Retin-A cream or you use it infrequently, your skin will return to its former state. Without tretinoin encouraging collagen production, the body is reliant on its own natural processes.

What Wrinkles Can Tretinoin Help?

Because Retin-A targets skin cells and blood vessels, it can be used for practically any kind of wrinkles. You may be concerned about using it for under-eye wrinkles because of their close proximity to your eyes. Try to avoid direct contact with your eyes. If you do make contact, you can wash your eye out at your sink.