Of the many treatments available today to rejuvenate your skin, microneedling is one of the most effective and well-tolerated options for adults of all ages. Here at The Spa at South Lake in Clermont, FL, we’ve had excellent results with using this therapy to treat a wide array of different skin conditions and while multiple treatment sessions are normally needed, some patients have experienced improvements after their first visit with us.
How Often Can You Get Microneedling?
How often you’ll need to return for additional microneedling sessions depends on many different factors, including the type of condition we’re treating. You can safely return for more treatments once per month, but some issues may completely resolve after only a few sessions, making it unnecessary to continue treatments unless you’re doing so for the preventative benefits.
An issue such as enlarged pores, for example, may respond quickly after your first treatment session, while lines, wrinkles, and other tell-tale signs of aging usually require regular maintenance with once-a-month treatments. An issue like scarring, on the other hand, may need as many as 10 sessions before the results are seen, though improvements for a condition like this normally last forever.
What Is Microneedling Therapy?
As an all-natural approach, this therapy uses tiny needles to poke small holes in the skin to help stimulate the body’s natural healing process. To prevent or resolve some skin conditions, a healthy blood flow and adequate levels of elastin and collagen are often needed. This therapy is capable of stimulating blood vessels while increasing elastin and collagen production, all of which can lead to significant improvements in both the appearance and overall health of the skin.
Compared to surgical procedures, microneedling is more natural, much safer, and the healing process is significantly shorter due to its minimally invasive nature. This therapy can also be a safer choice for those with darker skin colors, as it doesn’t cause hyperpigmentation of the skin the way other types of treatments sometimes do.
Corrective vs. Preventative Treatments
With this therapy, you can choose whether you’d prefer to regularly schedule treatments for preventative benefits or only schedule when issues arise as a corrective approach. While this is entirely up to preference, there are some clear advantages offered by the preventative approach.
Corrective Approach: Occasional Treatments
As a corrective treatment, microneedling can fix or minimize a wide variety of different issues, including dark patches on the skin, sagging skin, acne scars, and fine lines. It does this by stimulating collagen and elastin, which can restore skin to a softer texture while stimulating blood vessels, which enhances the repair of long-standing issues.
Preventative Approach: Regular Treatments
If you’d like to take advantage of the preventative effects of this treatment, you can do so at just about any age. Our skin continues to degrade and suffer from both the aging process and environmental factors as we get older. With preventative treatments, you can schedule them regularly once a month or every few months to keep the skin healthy and dead skin cells from returning.
What Happens During the Treatment Process?
Brief Consultation
During your initial consultation, we’ll discuss your medical history, as well as your expectations and any medications you might be taking. Blood thinners, for example, should not be taken around the time of your therapy session. We’ll also explain the healing process and what you can expect after treatment while answering any questions you might have.
Therapy Session
During the treatment process, we’ll first apply a topical anesthetic to your skin, then, small channels are created in the skin with a handheld device that we’ll normally roll back and forth over the treated areas. The entire process can take up to 30 minutes, though in some cases it may take as little as 10 minutes, depending on the size of the area we’ll be treating.
Is There Any Downtime After My Treatment?
While there is no downtime with this therapy, your skin is going to be more sensitive for a few days, and you may notice flaking or peeling of the skin for a few weeks, which is completely normal and part of the healing process. You’ll be able to return to most of your usual activities immediately after treatment, but we may recommend that you avoid strenuous activities for a few days to prevent skin irritation.
How Quickly Will I See Results?
In general, most patients can expect to see results with this therapy within the first two months if receiving regular needling sessions every four to six weeks. However, everybody’s bodies are different, and conditions can also differ in type and severity. Results can therefore vary widely from person to person, as some may notice positive changes within just a few weeks, while others may take a bit longer.
Although microneedling stimulates the immune system by inducing collagen production, this can still take some time, and not everybody’s immune system will respond as quickly. If your skin has been depleted of collagen for a long time or if you have a condition that requires multiple treatments, it may take a few months before you start to see the effects.
How Long Will the Results Last?
The effects of this treatment can last as little as four weeks or as long as twenty years, depending on different factors. Some of our patients have enjoyed long-lasting benefits where they only needed one or two sessions, while most require regular maintenance sessions at least once a year.
This treatment enhances the skin’s natural ability to produce collagen and elastin, and in some cases, this can lead to permanent improvements if the condition we’re treating is repairable with higher levels of these proteins. On the other hand, some conditions may lose some improvements if these proteins eventually wane again due to the effects of aging, so repeated treatments will be necessary to maintain results with these types of conditions.
How Safe Is This Therapy?
As one of the safest skincare treatments available, microneedling therapy is a completely natural process that doesn’t involve the use of chemicals, incisions, or many other things that can make other treatments risky. Because we don’t use any heat, there’s no risk of hyperpigmentation, which is a darkening of the skin that can occur with other types of therapies.
Also, the therapy itself is a relatively painless process that’s minimally invasive, as the needles we use are extremely small and can’t penetrate any further than 3 mm below the skin surface. This means that there’s no need for sedatives, so you’ll be able to safely drive yourself home after each treatment session.
What Are the Benefits for the Skin?
Microneedling therapy offers the following benefits:
Repairs Chronic Damage
When your skin is damaged, whether it’s by the sun, acne wounds, harsh chemicals, or virtually anything else, the injury can become a chronic issue as scars develop, and the epidermis takes on a rougher texture. This treatment can repair damaged skin to correct many long-standing and seemingly incurable conditions.
Removes Dead Cells
After being pricked with microneedles, one of the first ways that your immune system responds is by removing dead skin cells. While doing this, it replaces the dead cells with healthy ones, which not only improves the skin’s appearance but can also make it more responsive to future treatments.
Tightens Loose Skin
Sagging, loose skin can occur with the natural process of aging, as our bodies produce less collagen and elastin in older age. This therapy can tighten skin by encouraging the production of elastin and collagen, and in many cases, this effect can continue for up to a year, which can help to firm up otherwise loose skin.
Improves Circulation
This treatment can also promote the formation of new capillaries, or blood vessels, through a process called angiogenesis. This can help to improve skin texture by delivering more nutrients to damaged skin and can improve many aesthetic issues with the skin, including discolored patches.
Prevents Future Issues
The main way that this treatment improves skin issues is through collagen induction, and this can lead to many long-term improvements over time. When collagen is stimulated in your skin, it can have a preventative effect because the skin is more supple and less vulnerable to the things that typically affect its appearance and texture.
Schedule Your Consultation Today
Microneedling is a minimally invasive yet highly effective treatment that can address many different skin conditions by correcting existing issues while preventing future ones from developing. To see how this therapy can help you, schedule your consultation by contacting us at The Spa at South Lake in Clermont, FL, and start the path toward your aesthetic goals today.