Hello, I am Dr. Neal Schultz, and welcome to DermTV. I would like to make a very important distinction for you between retinol and Retin-A. Retinol is a cosmeceutical ingredient which is put into skin care preparations. Retin-A is a prescription cream which has been shown to be effective for acne and helps to reduce wrinkles, and is also useful for facial rejuvenation. Now, first of all, there is no retinol in Retin-A. And, second of all, when retinol ingredient in a preparation is applied to the skin, 5 or maybe 10 percent of that retinol can be converted into Retin-A. Retinol is a soluble form of vitamin A, and the manufacturers of skin care preparations promote retinol as an ingredient that helps to reduce wrinkles and helps in facial rejuvenation. And what they are hoping is that you are going to confuse retinol with Retin-A because Retin-A does do those things, but retinol is very, very weak. I mentioned that there can be a small conversion. At best, if 5 or 10 percent of retinol is converted into Retin-A in a cream that you put on your skin, you are just not going to get a meaningful result. And there is no assurance that that small amount of Retin-A that is created will be absorbed into your skin because no studies have been done to demonstrate that. So, the bottom-line here is: retinol is not a very effective wrinkle fighter or facial rejuvenation helper. And if you do want those benefits, if you want the real result, then use the real product, then get a prescription for Retin-A. But again, in the United States, Retin-A is only available by prescription. Please join me again at DermTv.com. If you have a question, please send it to me by visiting: DermTv.com/question. I am Dr. Neal Schultz, and thank you for watching today.
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