Tretinoin purging please help.

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I’ve been use to tretinoin 0.1% for years. I tolerate it. But i always use cream version. I ordered the gel version as the cream was sold out and i have very dry skin, it is soo flaky and very tight. Its been years i haven’t got this side effect and i dont know what to do.

i use la roche posay cicaplast balm after i put my tret gel but it doesnt help.

should i stop using it for sometime? Or persistent on it.

or is there anything that i can use??

Obviously cos you've got the gel this time and not the cream its not as moisturising. Gel is known to be harsher, more suited to very oily skin. You could put moisturiser on before the tret gel which will act as a buffer, or use sandwhich method which is moisturiser before and after or try using it more sparingly and perhaps every other night. A few choices there for you to experiment with. If it was me i would use the moisturiser buffer method and do it every night or sandwhich method. Going by what you've said you should probably be fine like that. Its better for your goals to keep to every night if you can. Dont stop because when you start again it will be harder to get your skin acclimatised again to it. Obviously if you start to get very bad reactions you'll have to back off from daily use. For anyone who has been badly burnt or very sore from retinol or tret definately stop using it. You can apply hydrocortisone cream to a bad burn or sore but then seek advice from a professional. Back to the op. You seem to be just seem to be having a bit oa problem because the gel doesnt have the moisturising benifits so you need to add them yourself. One more way is to mix the tret with your moisturiser then apply to your clean skin. Hope this helps

Sorry about typo and repeating myself near the end i was rushing.

One last thought. Perhaps back off for a couple of nights and really moisturise and baby your skin for a while. When its improved go try one of the methods and take it from there. This is common with the gels being harsher because they lack the moisturiser.

Are you using it for acne? Could you discuss another treatment with your Dr?