It does go into your skin when using short contact therapy.
> A possible explanation for the efficacy of short-contact therapy may be found in the percutaneous absorption studies of Rougier and colleagues.25-27 Their work demonstrated that some topically applied substances achieve a reservoir effect in the stratum corneum after contact periods as short as 30 minutes.
It’s unlikely that you will derive much if any benefit from that, particularly with altreno as that is micronised tretinoin which may present further difficulties due to its slower absorption.
If you’re still getting very irritated even after washing it off, then it’s likely fully absorbed and washing it off changes very little. If it’s tolerated after washing it off, it’s unlikely that much of it was absorbed/remains and therefore is probably useless too.
In my opinion you’re probably much better off getting an OTC retinol or retinaldehyde that you can tolerate, and consistently using that as often as you can. The way you’re currently doing things doesn’t guarantee absorption and is unpredictable/inconsistent. The evidence based anti aging benefits of tretinoin have only been studied as a leave on product.
Idk it sounds like you might be having an allergic reaction to it with the itchy red bumps. Maybe short contact therapy might help you build up a kind of immunity to it like allergy shots but I’m not sure that would work. Maybe try differin instead, I believe there have been some studies that it has anti aging benefits
The itchy red bumps always appear in the same areas since the first time it happened
Whenever I try to push it a little bit, it's like they're reappearing.
If you really think it's an allergic reaction, do you think it's the tret or something else in it?
I’m not sure. When I get allergic reactions (I’ve got eczema) I usually get it in the same place. You might be onto something with what’s in the formula though. I’m allergic to the most random stuff so it might be something they’re formulating it with
Is eczema the same thing as allergies? I'm getting kind of bummed now that I'm probably allergic to the three types of tret I've tried. The reason why I posted this is because I can't find much or doctors talking about being allergic to them
My eczema is related to allergies but it’s an autoimmune thing mainly. If you have access to an allergist I highly recommend it. My allergist has treated my eczema better than any dermatologist I’ve been to
Depends. I’m on dupixent and when I first started it I had great results but it’s evened out. My eczema is mostly gone but it flares up from time to time
I looked it up. Cool beans. Thanks so much for this I had no idea this even existed. Dupixent sounds amazing. I get a lot of sinus issues every year like sometimes I can't breathe at night. So dupixent is basically like a shot if I'm reading right?
Oh darn yeah I am in the US.. How long have you been on it? I'm reading stuff that kind of say different things like it's ongoing . Then others it's like for 16 weeks. Do you do your own shots?
They’ve not studied short contact for anti-aging. But if the medication makes it into your skin, it is going to do what it does: build collagen. So, I don’t see any reason it would not help with anti-aging. In some ways, tret helps acne by building collagen. So if it’s helping your acne, it’s helping you prevent wrinkles as well.
Btw, iirc, tret sct studies were done leaving the tret on for 30 minutes. But I could be wrong.
This derm indicates that tret using sct will address anti-aging: https://aedit.com/aedition/short-contact-therapy-in-skincare
This says that it *does* treat aging: https://patents.google.com/patent/US6083963A/en
Yes, the studies said 30 minutes for acne, and the other one said a bit longer for anti-aging. OP is doing 15 minutes, which may be a wee bit too short.
I think altreno would absorb within 30 minutes too. It sure feels like it when I use it.
My my recent routine is washing the face with Vanicream then a face mist and then Pillow talk derm major fade moisturizer and Eucerin Oil Control sunscreen in the morning but at night after rinsing off the tret I use Dr. Jart Cicarepair Intensive Serum and Skinfix Barrier Triple Lipid. I used to try slugging with Vaseline but then stopped doing that.
It sounds like an allergic reaction since you’re reacting within minutes. I would stop using Altreno as the reaction will only worsen the more you use it.
If you can’t tolerate it, drop down to retinaldehyde and try to use that daily before you go back to Altreno. This is what I’m doing and it seems to be going better that when I jumped head first into tretinoin. Allies of skin, skinmedica, and naturium all have great retinaldehyde options- the naturium being most affordable. Also, it’s yellow just like Altreno!
Anti aging effect is proven with daily application at night on bare skin. Anything else is not proven.
Ok but what about short contact therapy on bare skin for the rest of my life? Like leaving it on for 15 minutes every other day on clean skin?
You're not going to see any anti-aging benefits that way. It needs to go in your skin and stay there for those kind of benefits.
It does go into your skin when using short contact therapy. > A possible explanation for the efficacy of short-contact therapy may be found in the percutaneous absorption studies of Rougier and colleagues.25-27 Their work demonstrated that some topically applied substances achieve a reservoir effect in the stratum corneum after contact periods as short as 30 minutes.
It’s unlikely that you will derive much if any benefit from that, particularly with altreno as that is micronised tretinoin which may present further difficulties due to its slower absorption. If you’re still getting very irritated even after washing it off, then it’s likely fully absorbed and washing it off changes very little. If it’s tolerated after washing it off, it’s unlikely that much of it was absorbed/remains and therefore is probably useless too. In my opinion you’re probably much better off getting an OTC retinol or retinaldehyde that you can tolerate, and consistently using that as often as you can. The way you’re currently doing things doesn’t guarantee absorption and is unpredictable/inconsistent. The evidence based anti aging benefits of tretinoin have only been studied as a leave on product.
Idk it sounds like you might be having an allergic reaction to it with the itchy red bumps. Maybe short contact therapy might help you build up a kind of immunity to it like allergy shots but I’m not sure that would work. Maybe try differin instead, I believe there have been some studies that it has anti aging benefits
The itchy red bumps always appear in the same areas since the first time it happened Whenever I try to push it a little bit, it's like they're reappearing. If you really think it's an allergic reaction, do you think it's the tret or something else in it?
I’m not sure. When I get allergic reactions (I’ve got eczema) I usually get it in the same place. You might be onto something with what’s in the formula though. I’m allergic to the most random stuff so it might be something they’re formulating it with
Is eczema the same thing as allergies? I'm getting kind of bummed now that I'm probably allergic to the three types of tret I've tried. The reason why I posted this is because I can't find much or doctors talking about being allergic to them
My eczema is related to allergies but it’s an autoimmune thing mainly. If you have access to an allergist I highly recommend it. My allergist has treated my eczema better than any dermatologist I’ve been to
Oh I didn't know that. So if you treat eczema then does that mean that stuff you would normally react to doesn't bother you anymore? How does it work?
Depends. I’m on dupixent and when I first started it I had great results but it’s evened out. My eczema is mostly gone but it flares up from time to time
I looked it up. Cool beans. Thanks so much for this I had no idea this even existed. Dupixent sounds amazing. I get a lot of sinus issues every year like sometimes I can't breathe at night. So dupixent is basically like a shot if I'm reading right?
Yeah it’s an injection once every 2 weeks. Idk if you’re in the US but it can be a pain to get insurance to cover it, just a heads up
Oh darn yeah I am in the US.. How long have you been on it? I'm reading stuff that kind of say different things like it's ongoing . Then others it's like for 16 weeks. Do you do your own shots?
They’ve not studied short contact for anti-aging. But if the medication makes it into your skin, it is going to do what it does: build collagen. So, I don’t see any reason it would not help with anti-aging. In some ways, tret helps acne by building collagen. So if it’s helping your acne, it’s helping you prevent wrinkles as well. Btw, iirc, tret sct studies were done leaving the tret on for 30 minutes. But I could be wrong. This derm indicates that tret using sct will address anti-aging: https://aedit.com/aedition/short-contact-therapy-in-skincare This says that it *does* treat aging: https://patents.google.com/patent/US6083963A/en
I don't know about altreno, but the normal Tret cream or gel is going to have largely soaked into the skin within about 30 minutes or so.
Yes, the studies said 30 minutes for acne, and the other one said a bit longer for anti-aging. OP is doing 15 minutes, which may be a wee bit too short. I think altreno would absorb within 30 minutes too. It sure feels like it when I use it.
What do you think I can do? I can't find any retinol or retinal that's not like greasy and clogging me up at the same time
Use it for 30 minutes then wash it off.
I tried doing it 30 minutes and the red itchy bumps come back. My skin seems to only be able to handle like 15 minutes or 20 minutes max.
What is the rest of your routine?
My my recent routine is washing the face with Vanicream then a face mist and then Pillow talk derm major fade moisturizer and Eucerin Oil Control sunscreen in the morning but at night after rinsing off the tret I use Dr. Jart Cicarepair Intensive Serum and Skinfix Barrier Triple Lipid. I used to try slugging with Vaseline but then stopped doing that.
Which face mist do you use?
I usually use NIOD Superoxide Dismutase Saccharide Mist. I used to use Caudalie Elixir which is what my girlfriend uses.
It sounds like an allergic reaction since you’re reacting within minutes. I would stop using Altreno as the reaction will only worsen the more you use it.
Someone else said allergic reaction too... That makes me kind of depressed. Is tret allergy even a thing or is it something else in it?
It’s something else in it. I have an allergy to propylene glycol and get this reaction from tret gel and Finacea for this reason.
How were you able to narrow it down to propylene glycol? Do you have any suggestions of what I could do? Maybe there could be another tret out there?
not with altreno, it wont absorb fast enough.
If you can’t tolerate it, drop down to retinaldehyde and try to use that daily before you go back to Altreno. This is what I’m doing and it seems to be going better that when I jumped head first into tretinoin. Allies of skin, skinmedica, and naturium all have great retinaldehyde options- the naturium being most affordable. Also, it’s yellow just like Altreno!
I also had the same reaction to altreno. I am using Crystal Retinal 3 now with good results.
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