Retin a stimulate facial hair?

What a strange thread. Thank you for the clarification Fenix. Dermatology actually ranks #1 in terms of competitiveness, even above all sorts of surgical specialties. I shudder at how many people might have read this thread and will now think their doctor is incompetent (derm, family practitioner, allergist whatever)even before experiencing their skill.

Back to the main topic, I haven’t read the whole paper but if you read the abstract, the conclusion says: “The efficacy and safety of combined 5% minoxidil and 0.01% tretinoin once-daily therapy appear to be equivalent to those of conventional 5% minoxidil twice-daily therapy for the treatment of AGA.”

From the same abstract, the basis of this study is this idea: “Tretinoin is known to increase the percutaneous absorption of minoxidil and, therefore, to enhance the response of AGA to minoxidil.”

I have some pitting and wrinkling on my upper lip and chin. They are not bad (in fact, I usually get told I have lovely skin) but they were becoming slightly more visible and are quite visible close-up. I have noticed some minor improvement; my skin looks softer, the texture looks better, and some of the pigmentation issues are improving. I am about to bump up the Retin A dose (I am on the weak one now) and possibly add hydroquinone and a topical steroid to improve my skin colour and reduce inflammation. I’ve just moved, however, and first need to find a local dermatologist. At some point in the near future I would like to have a TCA peel to more aggressively resurface my skin. [/quote]

there isn’t much to be gained by increasing the Retin A strength over time the .025% works just as well and produces the same results

the higher strengths usually just cause more irritation peeling etc

more on Retin A here with some pics

http://www.nature.com/jid/journal/v105/n4/pdf/5610741a.pdf