Everyone is looking for that next big thing in beauty and skin care, anything to enhance their beauty. When thinking about skin needling and resurfacing techniques, there is a variety to choose from, including laser resurfacing, dermabrasion, and chemical peels. However, there is another option to consider called skin needling.
It is a less invasive procedure with a relatively short recovery period. A cosmetic doctor, dermatologist or plastic surgeon can perform this procedure. Skin needling is good for correcting flaws in your skin such as scars from injuries or acne, wrinkles, and aging skin by stimulating collagen growth.
Over the years, several dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons have experimented with different ways to lessen scars, and have found this to be one of the most effective ways.
Treatment and the process of skin needling
When you arrive for your appointment, the doctor will thoroughly cleanse and apply a cream to the skin that is about to be needled, the selected area is then injected with a local anesthetic. This will numb your skin so the needling will not be painful. Some doctors also give their patients intravenous anesthetic to help with any discomfort they may experience.
A needle roller is then rolled over the skin several times, creating several tiny puncture wounds. This skin needling roller has needles from 1mm – 3mm in length, and the micro punctures only penetrate the topmost layer of your skin. These stimulate the formation of collagen and can promote even skin tone if you have splotches of pigmentation. Afterwards, a soothing cream is applied and your doctor may choose to cover your face with bandages for about 24 hours.
Benefits of skin needling
This treatment will make your skin red for a few days, but after about a week or so, most of the redness is gone. Some doctors recommend up to five sessions, depending on the severity of your skin’s flaws. Deeper, more apparent scars may need several treatments before it starts to improve in appearance. Other patients may only need one or two treatments before seeing improvement. You should wait six to eight weeks between sessions to allow the skin to heal completely.
Skin needling can be performed mostly on the face, but can also be performed on the hands, back, neck and chest. Overall skin needling provides improved skin, fewer wrinkles and improves scarring. A single skin needling session can help collagen production for up to a year, and can typically be more affordable than other skin resurfacing treatments.