How Vitamin A and Retinoids Treat Acne

Vitamin A comes in two forms retinyl and retinol. Retinyl is absorbed into the body and converted into retinol and then retinoic acid. Retinol is absorbed as is into the body and then converted to retinoic acid. Retinoic acid is the most potent form of the natural vitamin A products and comes in two forms:

1. tretinoin/all-trans retinoic acid
2. isotretinoin/13-cis retinoic acid (Accutane).

Both are very potent and are only available with a prescription. Accutane produces an extreme drying effect on the skin by inhibiting sebum production and promoting skin turnover. Tretinoin is applied directly to the skin but tends to be more irritating than retinol which is available over-the-counter.

Can You Just Take a Lot of Vitamin A for Acne?

If you are thinking about taking vitamin A supplements to help with acne the doses that are considered to be effective (300,000 IU for women and 500,000 IU for men) are above the upper tolerable limits (maximum daily intake unlikely to cause adverse health effects).

Sunscreen Use

When using a retinoid be sure to use it at night and to apply sunscreen in the morning to protect against the increased photosensitivity. As a reminder the SPF of a sunscreen indicates the minutes of protection it provides so it needs to be reapplied when it is used up. For example SPF 45 sunscreen should be reapplied every 45 minutes when being exposed to direct sunlight.