Done by a dermatologist using a dermapen — think a small stamp of needles that’s pressed into the skin – skin needling is a way of stimulating the skin’s production of collagen to treat fine lines and wrinkles, enlarged pores, stretch marks, acne scars, and textural concerns.
While it sounds like an easy route to great skin, there are a few things to consider before you take a try to your skin specialist.
Here, we speak to Sarah Powell from Melbourne wellness studio Beauty On Rose to find out how to know if skin needling is the right option for you.
What is skin needling?
Skin needling is a form of collagen induction therapy. Essentially what that means is getting your own body to create collagen. Collagen is a building blocks to what hold our skin up, meaning more of it leaves us with a youthful, plump & refreshed looking skin.
Essentially skin needling uses tiny sterilised needles to create tiny puncture wounds in our skin that our body goes into over drive to heal. It’s your body creating collagen which unfortunately starts declining at a rapid rate after we turn 26.
What are the benefits of doing skin needling?
Skin needling can be targeted to multiple skin concerns such as fine lines, wrinkles, pore texture, skin tone, pigmentation, acne scarring, rosacea honestly most things.
As there is no heat involved with skin needling , when done correctly, there are minimal side effects and most skin types can have this treatment done.
How often should you get the treatment?
Ideally treatments are done in course of 6-8 treatments depending on the concern. However treatments can be done individually but when we do them in course the results of the collagen build on each other.
What’s the down time?
Like when you’re sunburnt approx. 24-48hrs. Think dry, tight, like your face is going to crack.
Then you’ll start to get micro crusting – this will last approximately a week, and the skin will feel super rough like you need a good exfoliation. It’s really important not to pick during this part as this is the skin healing and picking off these scabs can cause more damage. It’s fine to use makeup to cover your skin during this period.
Personally, I find I break out at about week 2. I start seeing results at week 3 and best results seen 3 month later. This is because it’s your body actually creating the collagen (which takes time) rather than applying something topically to your body. If you’re planning for an event, ideally you want your last skin needling treatment 2 months prior with more epidermal treatment leading right up to the event.
However there is also the option to customise your skin needling treatment and create an epidermal treatment (more superficial) doesn’t mean less results just means we’re targeting a concern that sit in the upper layers of the skin rather than deeper. For example, acne vs wrinkles. Epidermal skin needling treatments have very minimal if any downtime.
Why shouldn’t I get the treatment?
If you’re dealing with an inflammatory condition—such as psoriasis or eczema, or actively tanned, sun burned skin—or you have a skin infection such as cold sores, skin needling should not be performed. You don’t want to further stress out skin that’s already irritated.
If you’re unsure which camp you fall in, always ask your dermatologist.
How long does it last?
Collagen produced can last up to 2 years in the body. Again because it’s your own body create the collagen.
What is the duration of the treatment?
A treatment doesn’t take super long, it is approximately 30-45mins. The painful part is over pretty quickly.
We also have a treatment that is 60min that includes LED light therapist + calming face mask used post needling to reduce erythema (redness) in the skin.
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