A Look at the Retin-A Micro Prescription Acne Medication

Individuals with acne have a plethora of choices available to them as far as treatment options go. They can either purchase treatment systems at retail stores or pharmacies, or can obtain prescriptions for medicated options that are more powerful than the over-the-counter treatments. Retin-A Micro is one example of a medicated treatment option provided by a dermatologist. In this article, the properties and capabilities of Retin-A Micro will be reviewed and discussed.

Retin-A Micro is produced by Ortho Dermatologics, a company that also makes Renova tretinonin cream. Ortho Dermatologics does not have a file with the Better Business Bureau.

Retin-A Micro is a gel designed to unclog pores, soften or remove scarring, fortify the skin against future breakouts, and heal and repair damage caused by moderate to severe acne on the face. The active ingredient in this product is called tretinonin, which is the acidic form of vitamin A. This ingredient is available in either .04% or .1% concentrations, and is meant to be applied by hand to the face. The user should first clean the face with a cleanser before application. The properties of the active ingredient, combined with "microscopic sponge-like beads", help to make the skin look healthy.

As a prescription medication, Retin-A Micro is only available via a doctors prescription. Therefore, a visit with a dermatologist is necessary. The cost of this medication depends on whether or not one has insurance; without insurance, the cost can be as much as $100 (although Ortho Dermatologics offers a $50 rebate).

As with most prescribed acne treatment options, Retin-A Micro is quite capable against most - if not all - forms of acne. The downside, though, is with the side effects: dryness, itching or red skin, stinging, burning, or peeling. Not all users experience these, though, and most report that Retin-A Micro does eventually give good results (although the wait can be several weeks if not months). If continuously applied, and used as directed by a trained and qualified dermatologist, Retin-A Micro can be effective. One thing must be said, though: Many of those who use Retin-A and reviewed it used it in conjunction with other products, so the positive results may not have been entirely from Retin-A. Still, Retin-A does appear to be worth a try for those with moderate to severe acne.

5 Most Common Ingredients in Acne Fighting Products

While different acne products work in different ways and are therefore based on considerably different substances, going through the listed ingredients of a majority of them reveals a number of common occurrences: ingredients which are bound to be present in some form in almost every acne fighting product.

Perhaps the most common ingredient in acne products - occurring even in the so-called 'natural' acne products is alcohol. The role of alcohol in the fight against acne seems to be one of removing oils (and other elements of dirt) that ordinary soaps are unable to remove, seeing that it is accumulation of such oils and other elements of dirt that is responsible for most cases of acne that get worse. Alcohol is the element which is responsible for that stinging effect that most acne products tend to induce. Talking of alcohol as an ingredient in acne fighting products, it is important, however, to note that use of acne products containing it might be discouraged for the more advanced cases of acne.

Another rather common ingredient in acne products is benzoyl peroxide. What benzoyl peroxide does in the fight against acne is to rid the skin of the bacteria that tend to be resident on it, out of the appreciation of the fact that it is such bacteria that are responsible for deterioration of acne in most cases - from being a 'just a disfiguring condition' into being actually a potentially painful condition.

Further down the list of common ingredients in Acne fighting product is Isotrenion - which seeks to fight acne right at is core, seeing that it is the over-production of skin oil (sebum) which is regarded as the main correlative factor for acne; so that people whose skins produce a lot of sebum are almost always bound to find themselves struggling with acne at some point. So what Isotrenion does is to reduce the production of this excessive sebum. While at it, Isotrenion also goes further to reduce the inflammation caused by acne, making it an indispensable ingredient in most synthetic Acne fighting product.

Sulfur and Salicyclic acid are the other quite common ingredients in Acne fighting product.

Like Isotrenion, what sulfur does in the fight against acne is to check the production of excess sebum by the skin (knowing the correlation between such excessive sebum production and acne); while also helping in ridding the skin of dead skin cells, which ordinary cleaning with soap might not be very efficient at removing. It is noteworthy, though, that no acne products is made up of sulfur alone, but that it is more commonly added as a supplement to other Acne fighting product.

Salycyclic acid, on the other hand, is the ingredient in most acne products that is responsible for removing the whiteheads that are characteristic of almost all acne cases - and which are in fact masses of dead cells resident right in the midst of hair follicles on the skin. So what Salycyclic acid does is get rid of these dead skin cells which ordinary soap cleaning might never get rid of. Like Alcohol, Salicyclic acid has a 'stinging effect.'