Micro-needling is not a new treatment, it’s been around for years. However, it has in more recent years been overlooked in favour of newer, all singing, all dancing machines, trendier more insta-worthy or more exciting sounding procedures. Understanding all the new treatments and machinery and how they can benefit your skin can be incredibly overwhelming. Our mission at SO is to help you achieve the beautiful skin you deserve.
With that in mind we have put this blog post together to give you more information about this amazing treatment.
SO, what can micro-needling do for the skin?
Anti-Ageing - Many of the visible signs of ageing including fine lines, wrinkles, and thinning of the skin are the result of the decreasing presence of some of the skin’s fundamental building blocks. This loss occurs naturally as we age but micro-needling can help slow down the process and can help reduce the appearance of ageing. In addition, micro-needling helps to increase the absorption of any anti-ageing skincare product you apply after the treatment, such as anti-ageing creams.
Scars & Stretch Marks - Using similar mechanisms to those described above, micro-needling can also help reduce the appearance of scars. This is especially true of acne scars which tend to be sunken inwards rather than raised. However, micro-needling is not recommended for those who have keloid scars, dome-shaped raised scars, as the process could cause the skin condition to worsen. In much the same way, micro-needling can help breakdown stretch mark tissue, the skin markings which appear as the result of rapid growth, and fade their appearance over time with multiple treatments.
Skin Tone & Pores - One of our favourite benefits of micro-needling is that it can aid in improving the overall tone and texture of your skin while reducing the visible appearance of your pores. Any sort of discolouration such as age spots can begin to fade with multiple treatments, specifically when used in conjunction with age spot treatments which we can feed into the skin during the procedure.
SO, how does micro-needling work?
All these benefits from one treatment… how does this happen? Well, the key reason that microneedling can do all this is because it works to stimulate regrowth of the skin. This means you end up with tighter, fresher, more evenly-toned skin which looks younger and clearer. Needling brings about this regrowth by creating thousands of tiny, controlled puncture wounds in the skin, which provokes the skin’s wound-healing response. This means the body flooding the skin with growth factors causes the skin to create new, firming collagen and elastin.
One treatment alone of clinical microneedling (with longer needles) can benefit the skin for 300 days. Ideally you would have a course of four to six sessions, each a month apart, to see the best effects. The results of properly-done microneedling can be really impressive. Another great thing about microneedling treatments is that they work on all skin tones – there’s no risk of the treatment causing hyperpigmentation, as there is with some light treatments.
Any reasons to avoid microneedling?
Note that microneedling is not recommended for rosecea – this may well irritate the skin and make the rosacea worse. Expert advice is needed for treatment of rosacea – it’s a fickle skin condition and it’s easily disturbed. Micro-needling also can’t be done on active acne but can be used to improve acne scarring.
SO, does micro-needling hurt?
Having all those tiny puncture wounds created? What do you think? But seriously, it’s not as bad as you might imagine, because you’ll be dosed up with plenty of numbing cream beforehand, to make it comfortable.
Can home-microneedling give the same results as in-clinic procedures?
If you mean, can home treatment rejuvenate the skin, soften the look of scarring, and reduce pigmentation, and produce tighter fresher skin in the way that clinical micro-needling can – the answer is, ‘No.’
You won’t get the same results using a home needling device with very short needles, because these needles aren’t long enough to create that wound-healing response in the skin. What short needles can do, though, is create enough tiny punctures in your skin to allow skincare products to get a bit deeper in than they otherwise would. This works because the outermost layer of the skin is only 0.02mm thick, so even 0.1mm needles will get through it.
Do be careful with home needling – we have seen many patients come to see us who have scratched the surface of their skin with over-enthusiastic needling.
Micro-needling the SO way...
SO, here's the deal....there's micro-needling devices and there's the Exceed.....UK's first double FDA approved, MHRA registered micro-needling pen with a medically notified body CE class 2A mark, featuring a world exclusive floating treatment tip!!! Did we tell you, when SO buys a piece of kit, we buy the best on the market!
In a nutshell, this device allows us to needle in any direction while the unique rotation of the needle plate significantly reduces epidermal scratching that occurs with all traditional treatment tips. It also has a patented back blow safety membrane to ensure the highest levels of sterility. In essence....the QUEEN of micro needling devices.
As a cosmetic procedure, micro-needling does come with some possible side effects that a client may experience depending on the sensitivity of your skin, which is why it is important to discuss your options thoroughly with your practitioner before you start. The most common side effect of micro-needling is some minor skin irritation immediately following the procedure and some redness for a few days thereafter. More severe side effects include bleeding, bruising, infection, and peeling which is why micro-needling may not be the best treatment for those meeting certain conditions such as being pregnant, having psoriasis or eczema, open wounds, recently had radiation therapy, or having a history of scarring.
Fortunately, if you decide to undergo micro-needling, you can expect very little downtime after the procedure, though, as we have discussed, you may experience some redness or dry skin for only a few days. Your skin will also become more sensitive to the sun or sun damage, so you will need to be careful should you be exposed to sunlight for an extended period of time and wear SPF protection.
SO does micro-needling work? Hell yes!