Anyone who has suffered with acne will know that getting rid of the blemish is only half the battle. Most people are left with some scarring that can range from superficial to much deeper, ice pick type scars. Even if you weren’t a pimple picker, scars can still blight your now clear skin visage.
But help is out there, in the form of lasers and microneedling. We will explain exactly what microneedling is and how it can help with scarring.
What is Microneedling?
Microneedling stimulates the skin to produce collagen and elastin by creating a wound response. The MD Needle Pen uses tiny needles to pierce the skin causing the cell to think there’s a problem, an injury, so they’ll repair it. As the body naturally heals the surface of the skin you will get an improvement in scarring, fine lines, texture and even open pores.
Acne scarring is probably one of the more difficult conditions to treat because it often originates quite deep into the skin. Like many treatments for scarring, you will require more than one depending on the severity and what you’re starting out with.
Most patients will require three to six treatments, with a four week break in between each session.
What is it Like to Experience a Microneedling Session?
The procedure starts with you getting the area to be treated cleaned and pictures taken. Immediately after that an anesthetic numbing cream or ointment will be applied to your skin and will stay on for up to 30 minutes. A blood draw will be performed to acquire the PRP which is separated from the blood during the spinning process. After the 30 minutes, the numbing cream is removed with antiseptic, so it is super clean before the needling starts. The PRP, Platelet Rich Plasma, is placed on a small area and the microneedling device is glided over the skin. Expect to feel some pressure during the needling process and a slight sensitivity on boney areas around the eyes. The treatment takes about 10-15 minutes for the full face.
Immediately after your skin is REALLY red. We’re talking tomato red or like a bad sunburn. But unlike lasers like Fraxel, the skin isn’t burning hot like a radiator. Expect your skin to feel tight and warm after a session. The holes created from the microneedling treatment close over very quickly, so it is important to put good and pure products, like Hyaluronic Acid on directly after, if you are not doing PRP in conjunction with your treatment. It is important to avoid having a hot shower or exercising for 24 hours.
The following day you can still have some spotty redness, which can be covered easily with make-up. You should start moisturizing the treatment area and avoid any retinol or products with active ingredients for at least 48 hours. Once the redness has subsided it is safe to use those types of products, if nothing else is instructed from your skin care professional. There’s an increased risk of sun damage after the treatment so make sure you’re wearing high SPF.
A week later your skin should be back to “normal” without it being dry and certainly with no peeling. Expect the skin to start to look fresher straight away and continue to improve over the next 3 months as collagen is produced. Although one treatment won’t get rid of the scars, they will diminish over time and continue to do so with thehelp of retinol and vitamin C products.
Visit us at MDNeedlePen.com or call us at 855-714-0004 if you have more questions about MD Needle Pen or Microneedling.
