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How Often Can You Get Microneedling Treatments?

Microneedling is a popular and effective treatment for a variety of hard-to-treat skin conditions that might not respond well to other forms of therapy. Its collagen-stimulating effects can successfully minimize the appearance of lines, wrinkles, discolorations, scars, loose skin, and other conditions while naturally rejuvenating one’s appearance. Here at Southwest Michigan Plastic and Hand Surgery in Portage, MI, this therapy is performed by a trained and licensed professional in a relaxing setting.

In addition to its corrective effects, this treatment can also be used to prevent some skin issues before they occur by promoting collagen production, which helps to keep the skin healthy and radiant. For this reason, it can be an appropriate solution for people of all ages and can be safely repeated multiple times until improvements are achieved.

How Often Can You Get Microneedling Treatments?

This treatment can be safely repeated once per month, but how often you’ll need to return can depend on different factors. Some conditions may not require more than one treatment, as is the case with enlarged pores, which often respond favorably after just a single therapy session. Other issues, like acne scars, may require six to eight sessions spaced out every four to eight weeks before permanent improvements take place.

Then there are age-related conditions, like wrinkles and lines, that require regular maintenance sessions anywhere between every three months to every twelve months. For milder issues, at least three appointments are normally needed, but it’s your choice whether you’d like to schedule regular appointments to stay on top of your skincare goals or return only when needed.

How Does This Therapy Work?

Microneedling, which is also known as percutaneous collagen induction, is a therapeutic option that has shown to be effective in treating many different types of health and cosmetic issues, including some skin conditions of the face. It works by using small needles to induce an immune response within the skin, which can lead to increases in proteins that help heal the skin, including collagen and elastin.

Because both elastin and collagen can play a role in the skin’s elasticity and appearance, this therapy can be beneficial for those with sagging skin, wrinkles, discoloration issues, enlarged pores, and other otherwise chronic or permanent conditions.

What Happens During Treatment?

The Treatment Process

To start the therapy session, we’ll normally begin by applying lidocaine gel or another numbing solution to the skin about 40 minutes beforehand. We’ll then move on to the needling part of the session, which involves passing a handheld device over the target areas of the skin where treatment is needed.

Tiny needles attached to the device will move back and forth in the skin producing microscopic holes. While this may sound painful, most patients do not experience any significant pain and the anesthetic we apply beforehand can make this process more comfortable.

Aftercare Recommendations

After your appointment, you’ll be able to return to your usual activities again, whether it’s returning to work or going for a walk, but we’ll give you some aftercare instructions to ensure that you receive the most optimal results from this therapy.

Some things that should typically be avoided for a while after treatment include strenuous exercise, rubbing your face, excessive heat, and anything else that the skin is likely to be sensitive to while it’s healing. There’s otherwise no downtime and the recovery period itself is usually less than seven days.

How Quickly Will I See Results?

Most of our patients begin to notice results within a few months after their initial treatment, but repeated treatments are often necessary for certain conditions. As the tiny wounds made by the microneedling process heal within the first week, the skin often responds favorably with a brighter and fuller appearance.

As more time passes, the skin may continue to respond to the collagen-stimulating effects of the treatment by removing dead skin cells, replacing them with healthy ones, and repairing damage while giving the skin a smoother texture.

How Long Do the Results Last?

This therapy can lead to long-term improvements that may or may not require regularly scheduled treatments to maintain results. Most patients will need to return for touch-ups at some point, and this can vary anywhere between every few months to once per year. The following factors can all play a role in how long the results will last:

Your Age

The single biggest factor in how long the results will last is your age, as we naturally lose collagen and elastin in the body as we grow older. This therapy can retrain the skin into regularly producing adequate levels of collagen, but this effect may last longer and be more noticeable over time for those who are younger.

Condition

Some conditions are simply easier to treat and respond more favorably to this treatment than others. For example, if you have acne scars, any improvements seen after treatment are likely to last, whereas wrinkles or fine lines are more likely to require regular touch-ups every now and then to maintain collagen levels and keep these issues from surfacing again.

Lifestyle

Your skin responds to the environment and what you put into your body in either a positive or negative way, depending on the stimuli. Alcohol, smoking, excessive sun exposure, and stress can all have a negative effect on skin health, as they can lead to skin damage and a loss of both collagen and elastin, the proteins that play a major role in how effective this treatment is.

Prior Sessions

If you’ve had multiple microneedling sessions, you may notice some cumulative improvements over time. After your first session, your skin will likely produce more collagen, which can soften the skin and improve the appearance of many conditions. These prior effects can help boost the effectiveness of this therapy when you return for additional treatments by making the skin more responsive over time.

What Is the Best Age to Start This Treatment?

Adults of all ages can benefit from microneedling, as it has both preventative and corrective effects and can be started before skin issues appear. So whether you’re in your 20s or your 60s, you can start this treatment at any time with the following approaches:

Corrective Approach

This therapy can be extremely effective in treating a wide range of conditions, even long-standing ones that you may have been told were otherwise permanent. By boosting collagen and stimulating blood vessels, it has shown effectiveness in minimizing or eliminating lines, wrinkles, acne scars, dark patches, and sagging skin. For this reason, it can be used correctively at any age where you can come in for treatments whenever you have a skin issue that you’d like to minimize or resolve.

Preventative Approach

Microneedling can also be used preventively, to slow or completely halt the development of many skin conditions. Many of our patients choose to start treatments in their 20s, before the tell-tale signs of aging, like lines and wrinkles, have had a chance to form. When we treat your skin with a preventative approach, you can simply let us know if you’d like to target specific areas or the usual locations on the face where these types of issues are likely to appear later in life.

What Makes Microneedling Safe?

This therapy is considered to be safer than most other skin-rejuvenation techniques for many reasons. The following are some of the characteristics that help to make it a safe option:

Minimally Invasive

The microneedles we use only reach a maximum depth of 3mm within the skin, making this a minimally invasive solution that doesn’t go deep enough for any structural changes to take place beyond the skin.

No Harsh Chemicals

The only chemicals we use are alcohol or acetone to clean the face and an aesthetic to numb your skin, which have only temporary effects. No harsh chemicals are used during the treatment process itself.

No Heat or Lasers

Treatments that use heat and lasers often lead to hyperpigmentation, which is a darkening of the skin, as a side effect. Microneedling doesn’t use any form of heat or lasers, making it safer for patients with darker complexions.

Relatively Painless

Not only are the microneedles we use so tiny that they’re unlikely to produce any noteworthy pain, but we also use a topical numbing agent before your therapy session for extra comfort.

Contact Us Today

Whether you’re currently experiencing any of the common signs of aging, such as wrinkles or sagging skin, or you’re looking for an effective solution for scars, dark patches of skin, or other aesthetic conditions, microneedling may be able to help. To see what this treatment can do for you and if it’s an appropriate option for your skin issues, contact us today at Southwest Michigan Plastic and Hand Surgery in Portage, MI.

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