What to Know Before Microneedling
The cosmetic world has been booming with new inventions and breakthroughs to naturally help your skin appear more youthful or reduce blemishes. One of the more popular treatments that has come about with famous movie stars and individuals alike is Microneedling. The name may cause you to pause and ask what is Microneedling? Microneedling is a minimally-invasive procedure used to treat acne scarring, hair restoration, fine lines and wrinkles, and stretch marks.
What is Microneedling?
Microneedling is a skin-rejuvenating procedure that involves a small device with tiny micro-needles. Your doctor lightly drags the device along the skin. As it passes over the skin, it creates tiny channels, or micro-wounds, on the skin. The micro-wounds cause the production of new collagen and elastin, which creates new capillaries to improve the blood supply to those cells. It’s like you’re tricking the skin into providing a thicker and improved texture.
When these micro-wounds are created, it allows topical products to penetrate into the skin deeper than it would normally. The skin utilizes these nutrients and increases that utilization by up to 3,000%.
Which Areas Can Be Treated?
Because Microneedling is used to treat stretch marks, acne scarring, hair restoration, and fine lines and wrinkles, it is not just exclusive to your face. It can be done anywhere on the skin that needs to be thickened like the places stretch marks appear on the legs, chest, or butt.
How is Microneedling Performed?
Using a hand-held, small device with the tiny needles, the device contains a roller that can casually roll across the skin with the needles as the device is dragged across the skin. The needles pierce the skin, which causes the body to generate new collagen and elastin to help heal the body. The treatment can take about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the size and number of areas you are looking to treat.
Does Microneedling Hurt?
If your procedure is done by a professional practitioner, they will numb the area first with a numb cream. Your skin may be a little pink afterwards with, worst case scenario, tiny punctuate scabs that fade within a few days.
How Many Treatments Do I Need?
Depending on the severity of the cosmetic problem you are looking to treat, the amount of treatments you could need may vary. If you’re trying to improve lines, wrinkles, or minor scars, you can microneedle every 3 to 6 months.
Someone that has dramatic acne scarring should plan do to one session per month for 4 to 6 months. Once you complete your treatments, you can come once a year for a touch-up to reboot your skin.
What to Expect with Microneedling?
After your microneedle treatment, you’ll want to avoid wearing any makeup for the day you are treated. Another item that is advised against using is retinol or anything too active for a few days. You will be sent home with a growth factor serum to put on usually before bed and in the morning. After the first day, you can put on makeup as long as you’re applying the serum.
Benefits of Microneedling
The primary reason people seek Microneedling at SculptMD is because of its ability to stimulate the growth of collagen and elastin, the key to youthful skin. With its ability to trigger the generation of new skin cells, just a few sessions will produce a noticeable reduction in fine lines, crow’s feet, and deep wrinkles.
Not only that, but since collagen is the most vital way to improve the look of skin, you can reverse sun damage and discoloration like hyperpigmentation that happens with melasma. It can help blotchy, brownish facial pigmentation and pigment from sun-damaged skin.
Overall, it can help any damaged skin. It can tighten any loosening skin, which helps for older men and women. Another appearance it can help is pores. Even though it’s piercing your skin, one major benefit is the appearance of smaller pores. With the stimulation of collagen in and around your pores, they plump and look shrunken.
An additional appeal of Microneedling is the improvement of product absorption we mentioned before. It helps your expensive serums penetrate the skin more efficiently and do what it’s supposed to.
Risks of Microneedling
A minimally-invasive treatment for acne and other skin issues, the procedure is more effective than more aggressive treatments of acne scarring. Like any invasive procedure, regardless of the degree, there may be some side effects.
Most patients experience slight swelling and redness/pinkness, almost like a sunburn for a few days after the treatment. Some people are able to see their skin return to normal in just 24 hours after their first treatment.
Microneedling with SculptMD
At SculptMD, our doctors and nurses are trained professionals are up-to-date on all the latest Microneedling benefits, using the only legally marketed and FDA cleared Microneedling device in the US – the SkinPen. In your first appointment, our doctors will sit with you to discuss your treatments, the amount you may need, and your skin care regiment to follow. We put time into your appointment to make sure your Microneedling treatment will yield the results that you want to see. To see if you’re a candidate for Microneedling, or to schedule your consultation, contact us today to get closer to a youthful and more confident you!
