I finally figured how to avoid tretinoin induced angular chelitis and I think I am a genius

If you like me suffer from angular cheilitis while on Tret, here is my hack: you have to put Vaseline all over your lip, especially corners, not only before applying Tret, but every time you floss and wash your teeth, even in the morning and when you don’t use tret at all. That’s the only thing that finally cured the problem for me. Despite Vaseline and avoiding the area, tret somehow still manages to dry out and fragilize your lips, so flossing and even opening your mouth wide result in cracks. I was ~inspired~ by my dentist who offered to put Vaseline on my lip corners before a procedure that required wide mouth opening.

up: what didn’t work for me list

  • uriage fissure ointment prescribed by my derm
  • Vaseline, Aquaphor, homoplasmic before treatment only
  • Anti-fungal creams
  • mildest SLS-free toothpaste
  • iron supplements

I’ll have to try this! I’m pretty good about putting anti-fungal cream in the corners every time I brush, floss, and sleep. I tend to drool when I sleep hard and that gives me issues. If I’m starting to get a breakout I’ll put the cream on when I eat anything spicy or something sugary like ice cream. This has worked well for me. I seem to only have issues now when I go multiple nights in a row on very little sleep and/or when I let myself get dehydrated.

Wait… I drool and it makes me break out sometimes. Does fungal cream around the mouth area help this?!?

Yes. Just to make sure we’re talking about the same thing, I was referring to breaking out with angular cheilitis, not acne. I realized that could be misconstrued when I read it back.

I use a roller of diluted tea tree oil in the corners under vaseline, but same idea.

Vaseline is what gave me angular cheilitis… I’m suspecting you don’t actually have angular cheilitis and just have severe dryness. Angular chelitis is an infection. Occlusive layers can trap the infection and make it spread.

Or just use an SLS free toothpaste.

been there, done that and it didn’t work for me at all. SLS allergy/intolerance must be a whole separate problem from the tret problem. my angular cheilitis must have been made mechanically, even if the initial cause is tretinoin dryness

Me too. I got it even though I had occlusive on my lip every night. Nizoral shampoo with 1% ketoconazole left on for 5mins and Clotrimazole athlete foot cream took care of it completely in 2 days. Not sure why I got it but I’m back using my thick lip mask every night.

The key, at least for me, is putting an occlusive before you put your mouth through any potential damage, especially teeth brushing and flossing which is the worst

Keeping those corners moisturized with Vaseline sounds like a game changer, especially when dealing with tretinoin’s drying effects. Thanks for sharing what worked for you and what didn’t it’ll help others in the same boat.

Keeping those corners moisturized with Vaseline sounds like a game changer, especially when dealing with tretinoin’s drying effects. Thanks for sharing what worked for you and what didn’t it’ll help others in the same boat.

I’ve not had this issue with Tret, but have had issues with angular cheilitis. And what has seemed to take care of it for good for me is b supplement.

or do what I did, start putting it on the lips intentionally so they get used to it

Oh wow, you beat the system, how long did it take? Did it bleed?

don’t think it got worse than the lip pics that show up on r/Accutane

6 months-ish for them to stop being dry and cracking, the edges were the worst, red and painful