Does Topical Vitamin A Cause Thin Skin? (Ep. 49)

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Dr. Hall: The other day I had a patient

in the office and we were talking about

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skin care products, which is a very common

discussion that I have here in the office.

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When we're talking about facial

rejuvenation, this patient was young.

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We were doing a little mole removal and

I recommended that she start a topical

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form of vitamin a retin a or retinol.

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You know, there's a there's a bunch of

medically indicated brands out there

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that are worth using And she asked a

question which was really intelligent.

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She said, you know, I heard that

vitamin a , because of the way that

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it works to stimulate the upper level

of your skin turning over causes your

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skin to thin over time because you

have a limited number of skin cells.

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Like you have a limited number of eggs

in your ovary if you're a woman and

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Once you run through all of those, that

your skin starts to thin over time.

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And, We had a discussion about how skin

actually ages and figured this would be

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a great podcast episode because it will

serve to kind of help you understand

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how your skin ages, why retinol is an

important part of a skin rejuvenation or

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skin prejuvenation, so maintaining younger

skin, program, and gives us a good,

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good bit of information to talk about.

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So firstly, what causes skin to thin?

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And this is a topic that can get

really science y really quickly.

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Everybody's heard of oxygen free radicals.

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And they are a natural part of

the aging process, and as those

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free radicals accumulate it

causes breakdown in your skin.

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There are two layers of your skin.

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There's the epidermis,

which is that top layer.

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That's fairly thin.

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And that's the layer that we all see.

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And then the dermis, which is a thicker

layer, that's where the collagen

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and elastin in your skin lives.

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So gives the skin, it's it's bulk and

gives the skin, it's stretchiness.

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And what happens is those

oxygen free radicals cause

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chemical reactions in the skin.

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And.

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Cause enzymes to be released that break

down those collagen and elastin fibers

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over time and also keep your own body

from building more collagen and elastin.

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You can look these up.

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It's matrix metalloproteinase

is one of the enzymes.

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And then TGF beta, which is a growth

factor is down regulated to help

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keep you from producing more collagen.

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So, really what happens over time in

a nutshell is reactive oxygen species

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or free radicals build up, causes the

dermis to thin, exacerbates dryness,

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and causes, when that dermis thins,

it causes the skin to get wrinkly.

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And so the thinning of the skin

really happens in that dermal

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layer, not the epidermis.

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How does retinol work?

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Retinol causes the epidermis,

the top part, the very thin part

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of your skin to grow faster.

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So you can almost think of it

as a very slow chemical peel.

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You shed the, that top kind of dead layer

of skin that makes your skin look dull.

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And it, causes your skin to brighten

because that kind of dull, the light is

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not reflected off of dull dead skin cells.

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Those skin cells are more alive.

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There's more liquid

and there's more water.

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And so it reflects and gives

you a brighter skin tone.

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Really what we're doing with

our topical vitamin A's is.

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We are getting rid of those

surface dead skin cells and

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causing the cycle of reproduction

in those skin cells to increase.

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Because those skin cells are healthier,

your skin retains more water.

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And so it appears hydrated, it

appears healthy, it's no longer dull.

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And so...

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Retinoids, , the kind of prescription

strength retinols are really

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important for overall skin health.

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They're important as a

rejuvenation treatment or as

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part of a rejuvenation treatment.

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They're also a good addition for younger

patients who are looking to maintain

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healthy skin or slightly improve the

quality of their skin so that they are

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starting from a good place and we can slow

the skin aging process down significantly.

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So that's the long

answer to the question.

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The short answer to my patient's

question the other day, do retinoids

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or topical vitamin A's thin your

skin over time and cause it to age?

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No, that's a product of time

and oxygen free radicals.

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The retinoids actually improve skin

health and are a small part of a

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long term healthy skincare plan.

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Thanks for listening to

this short little episode.

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If you've got any questions, you can

shoot me a DM, shoot me an email.

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Look forward to talking

to everybody later.