We've all tried products that made us red or inflamed. Here are some tips from Dr. Irwin on what to do when a product irritates your skin.

Transcript:

 

This is Dr. Brandith Irwin in Seattle, talking for my video blog at skintour.com.

So I want to talk today a little bit about what you want to do if you get irritated by a product. Because many times we go to the department store, we go to the grocery store, we go to wherever and buy a product or online, and lo and behold it causes a rash or it causes irritation, itching, burning, stinging. So, the first thing, and I know this may sound really obvious but it’s amazing how many times I have to say this, is stop the product. You don’t want to keep using it if it’s bothering you. So just stop the product first. Then, after that, you want to stop all the other things that you are using because once your skin is irritated by something, it may be irritated by things that don’t normally irritate it. So stop all of those glycolic acid products, stop your acne medications temporarily, you know, stop any harsh soaps that you might be using, anything that’s drying. Stop your Renova or your Retin-A or your Tazorac, any of those things you want to stop. You might want to stop them for 3 to 7 days or whenever your skin recovers.

So then, you want to use something bland on your face, so think things like Cetaphil lotion or Cetaphil cream, something that is really kind of comforting, a basic moisturizer that doesn’t have a lot of fragrances. You want short ingredient lists so look for things like that at the drugstore. And use those while your skin is irritated.

Then, lastly, it’s fine to use that over-the-counter hydrocortisone, 1/2 or 1%, on an area—just be sure that if the rash or irritation isn’t gone in about 3 to 6 days, that you call your dermatologist and stop using it. Don’t use the over-the-counter hydrocortisone for more than a week unless you know exactly what’s going on. You want to consult somebody at that point. Don’t just keep using it.

And then of course the other thing, if you have any signs of infection, you know, if something is oozing or if it’s red or if it’s really red or really tender or you have a fever, you want to get in right away—don’t use these kind of over-the-counter methods. Hopefully that will help.