| OUCH! Retin A does do a number on your skin. But it makes your skin extremely sun-sensitive, so if you can't avoid the exposure, you have to block it somehow. I agree with plasticgarden, double-check the rest of your cleansing routine to make sure it is not further irritating your skin. You may have to adjust your routine while you are getting the treatment. After all, you wouldn't use a scratchy face scrub on a sunburn... it's the same concept. Use gentle cleansing products, plenty of moisturizer, and nothing else exfoliating (scrubs, masks, washcloths, etc)- the retin-A is already doing that for you. As for sunblock suggestions:
Try formulas designed for exceptionally sensitive skin. Baby sunblocks can work pretty well, so can blocks from sensitive skin lines like Clinique or Almay. Try to find one with little or no fragrance or alcohol which can be irritating to normal skin, let alone skin that's had the retin A sandblasting. Also look at the list of active (sunblocking) ingredients. Try to find ones with low concentrations of the active ingredient(s). Sometimes low doses of many blocking agents are less irritating than high doses of one or two agents. And if you see something on the list that you already know irritates you, skip it and keep on looking. If you're really getting frustrated going back and forth to the drugstore, try hitting up one of the cosmetic counters in the department stores. If they don't have a take-home sample, they should at least have testers there so you can try out the formula to see if it works for you. Try doing your test spot somewhere out of sight, like on your neck, so if it gets really red and irritated you won't have blotchy cheeks all day. Only use a little bit, then leave it alone for a while to see if you can handle it being on you all day. Make sure you have some kind of soothing moisturizing cream handy in case you get a flare up. Aloe-based gels tend to work well for a lot of people. And as the other poster mentioned, if you can't seem to find anything over the counter that works, tell your dermatologist!! They will want you to use some serious sunblock, so they should have recommendations for their patients whose skin has gone super sensitive after their treatments. I know Clinique has a line of super-sensitive products designed for post-surgery & skin treatments, Clinique CX. It's only available in high end dept stores (Nordstrom, Bloomies, etc) and online, and I know it's been recommended by Oprah and some beaty magazines. It's not cheap, but neither is plastic surgery! And it's cretainly not the most expensive stuff out there either. It's only meant to be used during the recovery period, not all the time. I'm sure other high-end cosmetic lines have something similar. Your dermatologist may even have a line of their own! Anyway, good luck on finding the right stuff! Try not to get too exasperated and skip the sunblock altogether! It's not worth getting skin cancer over it! Be sure to post back and let us know what finally worked for you! |
