Starting at age 16 I began using Tretinoin cream to treat my acne scars, however, I used it improperly and feel that I still suffer from misuse. Throughout my teenage years I continued to mindlessly use it in large amounts on my eyelids, and I noticed that it did cause a significant change to my facial skin altogether. For the past six months I have been treating the area with Ducray Ictyane HD cream which has helped, but not enough. My eye area still looks very hollow, and I need to reapply the moisturizer to my eye area every 3 hours in the daytime to avoid severe hollowness. I'm guessing the heavy use of retinoids on this very delicate area has stripped the area of its lipids, ceramides, fatty acids and cholesterol and that is why the emollient cream has not sufficed, even in large quantities. I've noticed that the skin is so irresilient that it doesn't bounce back if i was to just rub the area. Even the heat from the shower leaves it the way too, and it is very intolerant to water. I'm sure it sounds like I'm exaggerating, but I really aren't. I am now 20 years old and looking for a solution. I've found that Cerave eye repair cream works well to 'plump up' the area back to normal, but it is very irritating and I must use copious amounts to see such results. However, I do feel that the ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and niacinamide are the types of ingredients I need, since nothing else has helped to truly plump up the area back to normal. I started using it one week ago at nighttime and have noticed slight improvement (continuing with the emollient cream in the daytime) but I'm not sure if this is the best path to follow for recovery. My questions are what exactly the overuse of the tretinoin did to the eyelids and what is the best way to go about healing the effects completely, and how long it should take.
Thank you...