What You Need to Know About Microneedling
The concept of having someone stick a micro-sized needle into your face over and over may sound less like a beauty treatment and more like some sort of medieval form of torture, but hear us out. This process is called microneedling and it is clinically proven to even out your complexion and make your skin more smooth and radiant. Oh, and it doesn’t really hurt.
While this technique has been used in dermatology since the 1990s, the idea of using your face as a pincushion is rumored to date thousands of years. “It’s believed that Cleopatra stuck her face with porcupine needles to plump up her skin,” says Macrene Alexiades, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York. In modern times, this prickly procedure is used to create a controlled injury that triggers a wound healing response, which in turn improves skin texture. The methodology is similar to how lasers and chemical peels work to brighten and improve the complexion. “The needles also create multiple microscopic open channels that can easily absorb therapeutic ingredients like platelet-rich plasma (PRP) deeper into the skin,” says Corey L. Hartman, MD, a board certified dermatologist in Homewood, Alabama.
How It Works
“We use an electric, handheld microneedling device that looks like a large Sharpie,” says Alexiades. “As the microneedling pen is moved across the skin, the needle goes in and out like a ballpoint pen, creating multiple micro-injuries that stimulate the skin’s natural healing process.” It’s a relatively quick process. Once it’s done, skin-boosting products can be applied. “Traditional microneedling alone is pretty superficial and doesn’t have much efficacy,” Alexiades says, “but it’s a very effective tool for delivering a topical ingredient, like hyaluronic acid, into the skin.” Another plus of microneedling? It's considered safe for darker skin tones and won't lead to discoloration because the needles only make small, superficial wounds. The after-effects and downtime are minimal (just a day or two of redness. Most doctors recommend 1 to 3 treatments, spaced four weeks apart. The cost per treatment for face and neck starts at $400.
In addition to this traditional method, there’s something called radiofrequency (RF) microneedling. “It is the true evolution of microneedling—this is where the real advances are,” says Alexiades. “What is so clever and incredible about this technology is that we’re able to bypass the epidermis, thereby reducing the risk for discoloration.” The device used for this procedure is a square-shaped, hand-held gadget containing 49 gold-tipped, insulated needles. Once the needles penetrate the skin, RF energy is emitted. “You set the depth to a point of penetration that’s in the dermis, where collagen and elastin lie,” says Dendy Engelman, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York. “This way you’re directly delivering radiofrequency heat where it can create a controlled injury and ultimately stimulate collagen and elastin production, which improves the texture of the skin over time. The insulated needles don’t give off any heat at the base of the epidermis, where the pigment-making melanocyte cells live. This makes it a much safer alternative for darker skin.”
Radiofrequency microneedling is clinically proven to be safe and effective for treating acne scarring, especially in dark skin types. “It’s extremely precise and controlled, and the needles in combination with RF energy effectively help to break up the scar tissue that’s causing textural irregularities on the surface of the skin,” says Engelman. Most doctors recommend 1 to 3 treatments, spaced four weeks apart. Cost per treatment ranges from $1500 to $2500.
Does it Hurt?
For traditional microneedling, a topical numbing cream is applied to your face about 20 mintues before the procedure, making it virtually pain-free. As for RF microneedling: “It depends on the depth of the needles, and the strength of the RF energy you’re delivering,” says Engelman. “They’ve done a great job at making this technology relatively comfortable, but we apply a numbing cream beforehand to help, too. We also have Pro-Nox, which is laughing gas, on hand if a patient requests it—they rarely do.”
The Bottom Line
Microneedling, particularly the radiofrequency version, can be a very effective and safe treatment for improving the texture of skin, increasing collagen and elastin production, and treating acne scarring.
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