Tretinoin is a retinoid, a form of vitamin A acid used on the skin. Clinicians use tretinoin cream for acne and for some sun-damaged skin. It increases the turnover of skin cells. It does not create new collagen by itself, and it does not replace sunscreen.
Tretinoin Cream 0.025% and Tretinoin Cream 0.05% are the same drug at two strengths. Both listings here are the Tretiheal brand from Healing Pharma, in a 20 g tube. This note is general information. A licensed clinician decides which strength, if either, belongs on a particular person’s skin.
What the percentage means
The number on the tube is the amount of tretinoin in the cream. 0.025% is the lower strength. 0.05% is twice that concentration. A 0.05% tube is a stronger cream. A second tube of either strength is the same cream again.
People often meet tretinoin after reading about “retinol.” Retinol in a cosmetic serum is a different, weaker relative. Tretinoin cream is the medicine itself. The percentage on a cosmetic bottle is not a substitute for the percentage on a Tretiheal tube.
Why two strengths exist
Clinicians often start with Tretinoin Cream 0.025% when the skin has not used a retinoid before, because dryness and peeling are common in the first weeks. Tretinoin Cream 0.05% is the higher strength, used when a clinician wants that concentration for acne or for uneven, sun-exposed skin.
The higher percentage is not automatically the better one. Skin that is already red, eczematous, or freshly peeled may be a reason to stay with the lower strength, or to pause. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are reasons to tell the clinician before either cream is used. Tretinoin is often avoided in pregnancy.
What the skin may do
Both creams can redden, peel, or sting the treated skin, especially at the start. The 0.05% cream can do this more than the 0.025% cream. Daylight makes tretinoin-treated skin easier to burn, so a clinician usually pairs either strength with sun protection.
Severe swelling, blistering, or a spreading rash needs care. Keep the cream off the eyes, the mouth, and broken skin. Keep it away from children.
Aziderm and Triluma
Aziderm Cream 20% is azelaic acid, not tretinoin. It comes up in the same conversations about acne, redness, and dark patches, and it is a different drug. The azelaic acid note on this site describes that cream.
Triluma Cream contains tretinoin 0.05% together with hydroquinone 4% and fluocinolone acetonide 0.01%. Clinicians use that combination for certain dark patches, such as melasma. It is three drugs in one cream. It is not a larger tube of Tretinoin Cream 0.05%.
This page is general information. Use medicines only as a qualified clinician directs, and follow import rules in your country.
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Pack prices include tracked delivery to the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Recipients remain responsible for local import rules. Products in this note: Triluma Cream, Aziderm Cream 20%, Minoxidil 5 mg Tablets, Tretinoin Cream 0.025%, Tretinoin Cream 0.05%.
