Microneedling is a controlled procedure to stimulate collagen and elastin.
Microneedling is a controlled procedure to stimulate collagen and elastin.
Microneedling uses a pen with a cartridge with small hair thin sterile needles, adjusted to specific skin thickness depths to create controlled, precise punctures in the skin. This creates your skin response to heal, which increases the collagen and elastin in the skin. You see this as an improvement in skin quality, texture, firmness, and fine lines.
Frequently microneedling is combined with topical treatments to further the improvement. You will see skin preps, hyaluronic acid, PRP (protein rich plasma), antioxidants, and exosomes used. In our office we prefer HA and exosomes.
You want the microneedling to be very precise. Go too superficial, you won’t get the improvement. Go to deep, you may prolong healing or create scarring. When the microneedles have been applied, you get microchannels in the skin. We take advantage of this to use these channels to help topical bioactive treatments improve the skin, having access to deeper layers in the skin not normally open.
It can be used on the face, neck, and decolletage. But other areas have seen success too: the area above the knee, the back of the hands, and scars. Our microneedling pen has a special scar setting. For my surgical patients this may be incorporated into our post surgery scar optimization for some patients.
Microneedling is an in office procedure. The microneedling procedure takes about an hour. Plan for downtime after the procedure, particularly the first day or two, as it is common for your face to look like you are flushed or have a mild sunburn.
Microneedling ideally is done as a series of three, spaced 1-2 months apart.
The procedure is a multistep process to the entire face. It involves cleansing, hyaluronic acid, microneedling, mesenchymal exosomes, antioxidant spray, and a cooling mask. As part of our series package we include products as well. For full details please call the office.
It can hurt, so to ensure your comfort we provide a strong topical numbing medication which you pick up prior to the procedure. We like you to pick it up prior to the procedure, so you can put it on before you drive to the office. It takes about 45 minutes for the numbing medication to kick in, so plan accordingly. Be sure to apply to the entire face, being diligent to the upper lip and the area under the jawline. You can also take Tylenol a half hour prior to the procedure for background pain prevention.
PLANNING:
Microneedling is not done as a single treatment. Usually it is done as a series of 3- 6 treatments spaced 1-2 months apart. When you call the office it is good to schedule all three.
2 WEEKS PRIOR:
1 WEEK PRIOR:
**If you have any active skin infections, eczema, cold sores, or other issues, postpone your appointment.
Microneedling improves skin quality, tone, texture, and pigmentation. Studies have shown improvement in
This is a treatment to improve the quality of the sheet (your skin). It is not a tightening procedure. For lifting or filling the face, you likely need volume with fillers or fat grafting or a facelift to tighten the skin.
This is a great treatment to improve hard to treat areas like the under eye, crows feet, perioral wrinkles, and the neck and decolletage. Remember the changes will be subtle, and for optimal results you need a series of treatments.
We purposefully do not use radiofrequency in our microneedling, as many of those machines have been shown to injure the underlying fat. Given you lose facial fat as you age, and that subcutaneous fat helps nourish the skin, we prefer the pure microneedling. Please see all of my writings on facial fat grafting.
When doing microneedling there is improvement from the actual microneedling itself. But many of us take advantage of the microchannels made in the skin to drive bioactive products into the skin itself to help them improve the skin quality.
We looked at all the different options of topical medical grade products to use. After researching our options and looking at scientific studies to show us what was seen in series of patients, we ended up with a protocol using HA and mesenchymal “Age Zero” exosomes as our main agents.
Hyaluronic Acid is used to improve plumpness and hydration of the skin. It also helps soothe and calm the skin post procedure.
Exosomes is a broad term. Sources range from plant to animal, with some indications being topical and some being internal. We decided on Resilielle “Age Zero” exosomes, which are Wharton’s Jelly mesenchymal stem cells. The company has a high dedication to consistency, quality, and sterile production. They have done a study specifically looking at topical application with microneedling in which they showed an 80% improvement on average in most parameters (skin quality, texture, firmness). We think they are worth the cost. For more details, please read the blogs.
In general, microneedling is good for all skin types. The dermapen we use has a precise adjustable setting to change the depth, to adjust to different areas of the face where skin thickness varies, and to adjust to different thicknesses of skin seen with genetics and aging.
CONTRAINDICATIONS:
We totally understand in this age of being able to do it yourself with a YouTube video and supplies off Amazon the allure of doing this at home. We strongly believe though that microneedling is best done in the office for safety and results.