# Do anti-aging products - creams, etc. - work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 22, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-anti-aging-products-creams-etc-work/565090 "2010-12-22T18:27:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 26
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-anti-aging-products-creams-etc-work/565090/26 "2016-01-12T16:03:27Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > What’s the Straight Dope? Do these things really have an effect or are they just placebos? Tretinoin and tazarotene have been shown effective in treating photodamaged skin: [http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/733085\_5](http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/733085_5) > **[A review of tazarotene in the treatment of photodamaged skin - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18488880/)** > > Chronic sun exposure leads to photodamage, which is characterized clinically by fine and coarse wrinkles, dyspigmentation, telangiectasia, laxity, roughness and a sallow appearance. Many treatments claim to reduce the signs of photodamage, however... > **[\[From the Cochrane Library: Improvement of photodamaged skin with retinoid...](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16463616/)** > > A Cochrane systematic review of 30 randomised clinical trials assessed the effects of current treatments for adults with mild-to-severe changes in facial and forearm skin that occurred as a result of prolonged exposure to the sun ('photodamage').... > **[Retinoids in the treatment of skin aging: an overview of clinical efficacy...](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2699641/)** > > Aging of skin is an intricate biological process consisting of two types. While intrinsic or chronological aging is an inevitable process, photoaging involves the premature aging of skin occurring due to cumulative exposure to ultraviolet radiation.... --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-anti-aging-products-creams-etc-work/565090)._