Tranexamic Acid Sheet Masks for Rosacea or Melasma
I bought bought these inexpensive tranexamic acid and niacinamide sheet masks a couple of weeks ago and wanted to share. I ordered them from iHerb (I'm not affiliated with this product or with iHerb but I thought this was a good find for anyone with rosacea or melasma who might be interested)
Product info:
"Powered by 17.2% Tranex Niac Cen™ (containing tranexamic acid, niacinamide and centella asiatica leaf water)"
Full list of Ingredients:
Aqua (water), centella asiatica leaf water, butylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, 1,2-hexanediol, hydroxyethyl urea, propanediol, hydroxyethyl acrylate/sodium acryloyldimethyl taurate copolymer, hydroxyacetophenone, carbomer, arginine, glycerin, tranexamic acid, niacinamide, disodium edta, cellulose gum, dipotassium glycyrrhizate, glyceryl acrylate/acrylic acid copolymer, xanthan gum, inulin, cellulose, fructose, glucose, polyglucuronic acid, squalane, asiaticoside, madecassic acid, asiatic acid, sodium hyaluronate, melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) leaf extract, hippophae rhamnoides fruit extract, hydrolyzed collagen, beta-glucan, caprylyl glycol, nelumbium speciosum flower extract, artemisia annua extract, oryza sativa (rice) extract, saccharomyces ferment, solanum melongena (eggplant) fruit extract.
I liked the ingredients stack in this product and I like that there's no added fragrance. I was especially interested in the high concentration of tranexamic acid after reading a couple of studies on the effectiveness of topical use of tranexamic acid (TXA) or TXA "soaking" with a wet dressing either alone or in combination with microneedling with TXA. I have been experimenting with microneedling with TXA as a treatment for my rosacea for a while and I have also been using topical TXA. I think these sheet masks would be a more convienent and inexpensive option than basically soaking wet gauze in TXA as was done in this study:
"The new therapeutic choice of tranexamic acid solution in treatment of erythematotelangiectatic rosacea" (Bageorgou et al. 2018) compared the effects of 10% TA solution alone with those of a combination of 10% TA solution and microneedling to treat rosacea. In their study, 10 patients were treated for erythematotelangiectatic rosacea (ETR) with a wet dressing infused with 10% TA solution for 20 min every 15 days for four sessions; an additional ten patients were treated with a combination of microneedling and wet dressing therapy. The results showed significant improvements in the clinical severity and quality of life in both groups. The results of the combination therapy group were slightly better than those of the TA-only group.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30099833/
Other similar articles:
Xu Y, Ma R, Juliandri J, Wang X, Xu B, Wang D, Lu Y, Zhou B, Luo D.Medicine (Baltimore). 2017 May;96(19):e6897. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000006897. PMID: 28489798
Chen T, Xue J, Wang Q. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2024 Sep 25;17:2151-2163. doi: 10.2147/CCID.S479411. eCollection 2024. PMID: 39350932
Tranexamic acid solution soaking is an excellent approach for rosacea patients: a preliminary observation in six patients. (no abstract available)
Kim MS, Chang SE, Haw S, Bak H, Kim YJ, Lee MW.J Dermatol. 2013 Jan;40(1):70-1. doi: 10.1111/j.1346-8138.2012.01515.x. Epub 2012 Nov 1.PMID: 23116067
(There are quite a few other studies on microneedling with TXA or the use of topical TXA to treat melasma and rosacea).