According to a new study on aging skin, retinol lotion may help to reduce the appearance of small wrinkles in the skin of the elderly.

Among others who contributed to the study were dermatological experts such as Sewon Kang, MD, of the University of Michigan's dermatology department.

They added retinol, which is a vitamin A derivative, to an over-the-counter moisturizer to see whether it would help. They also created a placebo lotion that did not include any retinol for the sake of comparison. No one would be able to determine which bottle contained the retinol lotion since Kang's team packaged the lotions in separate, similar bottles. The lotions developed by the researchers were tested at two senior facilities in Michigan on a total of 36 healthy seniors who were at least 80 years old.

First, the researchers photographed the skin on the inner upper arm of participants, which was an area that was unlikely to have been damaged by UV damage. In addition, participants had a skin biopsy taken from the inside of their upper arm.

Following that, half of the seniors received the retinol lotion and the other half received the placebo lotion. They were instructed to apply their allocated lotion on the inside of their upper arm three times each week for a period of six months.

Participants in the six-month study received another skin biopsy and additional pictures of their inner upper arm at the conclusion of the research.

The fine wrinkles on the inner upper arm of the elderly who had used the retinol lotion had lessened in appearance in the area where the lotion was applied. Those modifications began to occur after four weeks of retinol administration and persisted throughout the duration of the trial.

The wrinkles on the faces of individuals in the placebo group remained unchanged. The skin biopsies taken before and after the retinol therapy revealed that the treatment increased structural components in the seniors' skin.

Retinol has the potential to irritate the skin. By the end of the research, the majority of the patients in the retinol group had experienced some degree of skin dryness or irritability. In light of these negative effects, they followed the advice of their doctor and reduced their retinol intake.

The use of retinol did not permanently eliminate wrinkles. The researchers tracked the progress of 11 patients for six months after their retinol therapy was completed. During that period, the skin differences seen in the research began to diminish.