Microneedling (aka collagen-induction therapy) is a nonsurgical treatment that penetrates your skin’s surface with fine needles to improve its appearance. This popular procedure can help smooth lines and wrinkles, even skin tone (including stubborn melasma), minimize large pores, firm skin, and fade stretch marks and scars, including acne scars.
Deliberately inserting tiny needles into your skin may sound a little medieval, but most skin rejuvenation treatments (including lasers and chemical peels) trigger a similar kind of wound-healing response, to kick-start a regeneration process at the cellular level.
Advantages:
- The treatment is quick (about 15 minutes), comfortable when paired with a topical numbing cream, and relatively cost-effective.
- Microneedling provides both short- and long-term benefits. “There is an immediate result that people describe as a ‘glow’ to their skin, which is actually mostly related to temporary swelling,” says Dr. Cameron Chesnut, a dermatologic surgeon in Spokane, Washington. “But it serves as a nice interim benefit while the longer-term result of collagen production takes effect.”
- The treatment can be customized to treat localized problem areas, such as acne scars, dark under-eye circles, crow’s feet, and neck or chest lines.
- Recovery time is usually just a few days, depending on your treatment intensity. “If you do more passes and go deeper, there will be more downtime,” says Dr. Emer.
- Microneedling doesn’t involve the delivery of heat, so it’s safe to use on all skin tones without the risk of pigmentation issues that can accompany laser resurfacing and light procedures.
- Though it’s mostly used on the face, neck, chest, and hands, microneedling can be done all over the body.