I've been using a new acne treatment, why is my face worse?

My dermatologist gave me two new acne treatments. They are topical gels. One is called Duac and one is called Differin. I am supposed to put the Duac on in the morning and the Differin on at night. I%26#039;m also supposed to wash my face once a day with Clean %26amp; Clear Continuous Control Acne Cleanser in the morning. Every other time I would wash my face I was to use Dove soap. Like a bar of soap. So I started doing this whole regimen. I washed my face at night with the Clean %26amp; Clear and it was really strong. So I put the Differin on at night and it worked alright. I didn%26#039;t notice any changes but, everything was still fine. So then after I washed my face with the Clean %26amp; Clear the next day I put the Duac on my face. Right after I put it on it started burning and stinging. Throughout the whole day it burned. So I went home early from school because I had to take off my makeup and the Duac. So once I did my whole face was red. And very very dry. I didn%26#039;t know if it was from the Duac or the Clean %26amp; Clear or the combination of both. But any suggestions? I stopped using both because two days later it got worse and worse and my whole face is now starting to peel and it stings whenever i put anything on it. I only use the Differin now at night and in the morning I was my face with Alpha Hydrox, the face wash I had previously used. I%26#039;ve been putting Ponds lotion on my face because it is so dry. Any ideas to make my face less dry or reverse whatever the Duac and Clean %26amp; Clear did? At first when I tried to use the Ponds it hurt to put it on, Everything did. Including Vaseline, and Aloe Vera. Nothing I did could stop the burning so I had to just live through it. Now It%26#039;s a little better and I can use the Ponds and the Vaseline but it%26#039;s still not healing the dry skin. It%26#039;s all flaky and it%26#039;s making my zits turn into scars. Please Help!!|||To heal your skin up, try using paw paw ointment. It is a good first aid cream and the best for healing up dry skin. Use fragrantless lotions because anything else could irritiate your skin.


I would say it is the Duac that is doing the damage, i have never used it myself but it sounds like you had a reaction to it. Contact your doctor.


Clean and clear should not be causing you any harm, it might not make a difference but it should not be making it worse.


Differin i think is a retinoid cream, any retinoid products can make your acne worse at first, but improve after 6 weeks. It can cause dryness also. Keep this in mind when using the product.


Keep your skin moisturised and do not scratch or pick your pimples to prevent scarring|||Perhaps you could be allergic to one or more of the ingredients in the treatments and if you have sensitive skin the ingredients could be too strong for your skin.


Also it could be good to just let your skin breathe a while.|||A lot of those products have warnings and say not to use with other acne medication, since it%26#039;s dry, maybe try using baby oil or some kind of moisturizer to keep your skin moist, and peel off what you can.