Unlock Radiant Skin with Microneedling
Microneedling: A Non-Surgical Facial Skin Rejuvenation Procedure
Microneedling has become an incredibly popular non-surgical facial rejuvenation procedure over the last few years with the rise of social media influencers and their content about this topic. People from all walks of life can benefit from this procedure, it’s anti-aging results, and clear, radiant skin. In this blog post, we'll explore the world of microneedling, the procedure, how to get the best results.
Who Can Benefit from Microneedling?
Microneedling is a versatile treatment suitable for most individuals, but there are a few exceptions.
People with active facial infections or eczema flare-ups should postpone their microneedling sessions until these issues are resolved. The reason is simple: microneedling involves creating controlled injuries on the skin, and spreading infections is a no-go.
Individuals with extremely sensitive skin should also proceed with caution. If you know your skin is sensitive but you’re still interested, we can spot-test behind your jawline to help determine if microneedling is suitable for you prior to performing a full microneedling procedure.
However, for the vast majority of individuals, microneedling is a viable option, regardless of their skin type. It's essential to understand how microneedling works to appreciate its benefits fully.
How Microneedling Works
Microneedling is a minimally invasive procedure that involves creating tiny punctures in the skin's surface using fine needles. These punctures, made at controlled depths, target the dermis, the deeper layer of the skin. This controlled injury triggers a cascade of proteins and signaling within the skin, inviting fibroblasts to the scene.
Fibroblasts are the builders of the skin. They deposit essential structural components, namely collagen and elastin, which are vital for skin health and firmness. Collagen, the most abundant protein in our bodies, is responsible for maintaining skin's strength and elasticity.
Microneedling vs. Oral Collagen
You might have heard about collagen supplements, but these are not the same as the collagen produced by your skin through microneedling. Ingesting collagen orally won't directly impact your skin's rejuvenation because it gets digested in your digestive tract, like any other protein (chicken, tofu, etc…). Microneedling, on the other hand, stimulates your skin to produce collagen where it's needed most.
Benefits of Microneedling
Microneedling offers a range of benefits for your face and skin:
Improved Texture
Microneedling helps reduce the visibility of acne scars, making your skin appear smoother and more even.
Increased Cell Turnover
This procedure promotes cell turnover both in the dermis and epidermis, causing the skin to thicken as well. This leads to a healthy, radiant complexion and beautiful glowing skin.
Reduced Hyperpigmentation
Microneedling helps fade age spots and darkened areas, leaving your skin looking brighter and more even-toned.
How Many Microneedling Treatments Are Needed?
For noticeable results, most dermatological and plastic surgery studies recommend a minimum of three microneedling sessions, typically spaced one month apart. At Stratus, we allow one “trial treatment” to assess how a patient responds to ensure
Your skin doesn't have an adverse reaction to microneedling
You have a pleasant experience and feel comfortable with the procedure
Most patients move forward with our three treatment package after a successful trial treatment.
Microneedling Devices
Microneedling is typically performed in a medical setting like our office. We use a professional microneedling pen with disposable, sterile cartridges to ensure cleanliness. The cartridges contain twelve, very tiny 30-gauge needles.
The microneedling pens can control the speed of the movement and the depth of the needles, between 0.25mm to 2mm. This makes the procedure very precise and we can tailor this to the patient’s skin. For more sensitive, thinner skin, we minimize the depth; for bigger areas or areas with scarring, the needles can go deeper to help revitalize the scarred tissue.
The Microneedling Process
Before Microneedling
Before the procedure, Dr. Okada will apply a prescription-strength numbing cream to the face, a benzocaine, lidocaine, tetracaine (BLT) cream. We then wait about 20 minutes to ensure the patient is completely numb to minimize discomfort during the procedure.
During Microneedling
Dr. Okada then will use the microneedling pen and carefully move it around the face to perform the procedure. She will talk to the patient during the procedure to ensure there isn’t any discomfort and if so, can adjust as necessary.
One additional thing that can be performed in our office is adding a growth factor topically to the skin while we're doing the microneedling. This applies an extra signaling to the skin with anti-inflammatory cytokines (called TGF beta) and an amino acid (called a tran-examic acid) that does a lot when it comes to suppressing hyperpigmentation. Our patients have been very happy with the results of adding these during the procedure so it’s something we recommend.
After Microneedling
After the treatment, there's no downtime although you may have a little redness for about 24 hours after the procedure, but not nearly as much as you may see on social media.
Patients should wash her face with a clean facial cleanser and should not apply any makeup for 24 hours. We don't want any impurities to go in the pores that have been open until they're healed up and that's going to take about 24 hours. Additionally, it's not a good idea to go get a sun tan so avoid going out into the sun for too long or apply sun screen.
You can expect to have a little bit of peeling about four to five days after microneedling. That's your skin reacting to that controlled injury and peeling the top layer of your skin off for the new growth to replace it.
Post-Treatment Skincare
To enhance the benefits of microneedling, incorporating retinol creams and topical vitamin C into your skincare routine can be beneficial. Both ingredients support collagen production where topical vitamin C can help with wound healing and “down regulates” hyperpigmentation. Both are great for overall skin health as part of a basic skincare regimen as long as your skin can tolerate it.
There are also stronger prescription retinoids, for example, adapalene and tretinoin, that are also known for their anti-aging and skincare properties.
We could go really deep into skincare but that’s a huge blog post in its own right, but retinol creams and topical vitamin C work very well in tandem with microneedling, in addition to applying growth factors during the microneedling process.
Home Devices vs. Professional Microneedling
There are a few at-home microneedling devices like “derma rollers” or “derma stamps” that are promoted online. These have limitations like controlling depth of the needles, which is a critical part of the treatment being effective. It can also be difficult to perform on yourself depending on the size, your pain tolerance, and more, limiting the effectiveness of the devices.
Professional microneedling in an office setting offers more precision, safety, and overall will result in better skin than home treatments.
Non-recommended Facial Treatments
There are other non-surgical anti-aging treatments out there that cause a “controlled injury” like microneedling including laser or radio-frequency (RF) treatments. Laser treatments use heat as a way to cause the “controlled injury” instead of the mechanical version of a microneedling device. RF treatments actually use both the mechanical mode AND apply heat energy at the same time to create the injury.
Dr. Okada does not recommend these treatments as they are harder to “control the injury” and are easier for your skin to have a bad reaction. Too strong of an injury is going to put the pigment-making part of your skin in overdrive causing post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation inadvertently, when that’s what you’re trying to remedy.
Can they work? Yes, but microneedling is a more controlled procedure. Especially for patients that are prone to hyperpigmentation or women of color, we highly do not recommend laser or RF treatments.
Microneedling, Facial Lines, and Other Skin Treatments
Microneedling is an excellent option for various skin concerns, but it may not be suitable everywhere. Microneedling can promote skin thickening like areas with stretch marks and thinner skin, but it will not make the stretch marks disappear.
While microneedling can help with fine lines, for very deep, dynamic wrinkles that your face can make, these are better addressed by neuromodulators like Botox or Juvederm.
Cost of Microneedling
The cost of microneedling varies based on factors like where you want to have treatments performed, the size of the area, if you want the topical growth factors applied or not, and the number of sessions. Stratus offers a 3-packages discount that can provide cost savings compared to individual sessions.
In Conclusion
Microneedling is a powerful non-surgical facial skin rejuvenation procedure that can provide remarkable improvements in texture and tone. It's suitable for a wide range of individuals and offers numerous benefits, making it a valuable addition to any skincare routine. To determine if microneedling is right for you, contact our office and schedule a consultation to get personalized guidance and treatment recommendations from Dr. Okada.