Microneedling Mesotherapy

The Truth About Excessive Microneedling Risks

Microneedling constantly causes trauma to the epidermis; the growth factors are enabled when using a derma roller every time and can minimise potential collagen production.

When you repeat the microneedling procedure too often, all you're doing is breaking down the collagen and elastin at each time and impacting the ability of the skin to build collagen strength and gain tone.

Again the consequences are not felt straight away. But excessive skin microneedling or using home rollers can result in a lack of tone longer term.

The skin is a big organ. It transports and communicates messages via growth factors to stimulate cell communication and metabolism as the biggest organ in the body has multi-function.

• Skin will keep things out and allows recognizable active ingredients in via this communication
• Has a protective barrier - Extra Cellular Matrix, which acts as a gatekeeper
• The epidermis contains keratinocytes - conductors of cell metabolism and communication
• They communicate downwards through the layers of the skin towards the dermis
• It takes like 28 days for the keratinocytes to complete this cycle of their life

There are NO blood vessels in the epidermis; therefore, no blood should appear when triggering the keratinocyte cascade for skin rejuvenation.

The keratinocytes send the message down to the epidermal junction where the STEM cells are stored; it is these stem cells that you want to react to the wound healing response via the epidermal growth factors for cell regeneration and collagen production.

When you go too deep and too often, you will trigger too much inflammation and cause scarring and potential pigmentation in the future.

If you are skin rolling at home and draw blood in your treatment too often. You are going too deep. The odd pinpoint bleed is not the end of the world, but the skin should not be bleeding to trigger growth factors to improve your skin health over the next two or three weeks.

If you want to wait two years for the potential benefits to come through, then sure, keep doing it that way, but I cannot guarantee you get the results you want.

How often should I be microneedling? 

It would be best to give your skin STEM cells time to react and the fibroblasts to create the collagen and elastin for skin tightening. It takes 28 days for those growth factors to communicate and regenerate the skin cell membrane in general skin conditions.

• Min. every 14 days
• No blood, only pink, glowing, dewy skin
• To address pigmentation, hydration, open pores, fine lines and blemishes
• The depth of the needle should be no more than say 0.5, 0.25 to 0.1mm

• Between 4- 6 weeks apart
• Pinpoint bleed - Chin and Jawline
• Deep wrinkles, (DNA) sun damage, skin tightening, acne scars, stretch marks
• The depth of the needle can go to like 1mm or 0.8mm

How many microneedling treatments do I need? 

At home: You can continue to skin needle for every two weeks for say 12 weeks, so a maximum of 6 treatments within a 3 months period. For skin cell regeneration and rejuvenation.

I would encourage rest for about six to eight weeks before you start again next season.

In-clinic; Three treatments, four to six weeks apart for skin tightening, scars or stretch marks.

In Summary, Microneedling treatment risks are related to the depth and the number of times you use your device and your skincare routine at home. Allowing time for your skin to repair and create new skin cells and collagen for brighter firmer skin.

Avoid drawing blood and aim to great dewy glowing skin today and for the years to come.

The Microneedling Treatment Risks - These are minimal in the current day, it is your future skin that is my main concern. microneedling is a simple solution to your ageing concerns, but less is more often; however, you must be consistent.

Read this first if looking to have Microneedling Treatment

Most microneedling treatments on YouTube tend to show quite an aggressive approach to microneedling which looks quite scary and can often lead to some apprehension about the micro needling treatment.

However this really should not be the case, yes there are risks to having a microneedling procedure but in this article, I want to you know how it should be done to avoid those dangers!

But please let me share with you what you can expect from a professional Microneedling Treatment. This treatment is the best skin treatment to stimulate collagen production and treat acne scars, as the subcision of several tiny needles stimulates collagen production.

The controlled wound healing triggers a response by your immune system to produce growth factors that will create new skin cells and effectively encourage cell communication and metabolism within the cells.

The result of skin needling is a noticeable improvement in general skin rejuvenation.

Improved skin rejuvenation is a great way to describe strong, firm, healthy skin cells that fight the effects of ageing skin against internal and external environmental factors.

Hence, micro needling mesotherapy treatment is recommended to all my clients as every skin condition, concern, or area of skin can be treated and improved within weeks of having this treatment.

To help you understand more there are two versions of the microneedling treatment in my clinic.

1. Microneedling with mesotherapy serums 

The use of mesotherapy serums in the treatment is ideal for improving skin tone, and skin rejuvenation. So if your skin is dehydrated, oily, dull or you have blemishes, this is the right treatment for you. 

2. Microneedling with radiofrequency 

Microneedling Radio frequency is ideal for sagging skin or skin that lacks tone due to the intense energy that goes down the needle and can increase inflammatory response deep in the skin cells for next month's skin and beyond.

Step 1: Cleanse and clean the skin

No numbing cream is applied in the microneedling treatment's preparation phase. This is due to that you should not be causing this level of pain or trauma to gain the long term benefits of microneedling, also these products can cause skin irritation and poor wound healing.

The most important part of this phase is the cleaning or the use of a gentle cleanser of the skin as it is an ideal opportunity to assess the skin and have a look at the open pores, the laxity and how well the skin is likely to react to the needling treatment.

In the preparation phase, I use Micellar Water to remove any grime before applying the main part of the preparation phase.

The liquid acid exfoliation is, Perfecting Solution to remove dead skin cells. It is a gentle PHA and initially reduces the skin pH to a pH of 4. I may use a deeper peel, such as alpha hydroxy acids like glycolic acid once I become more familiar with the skin.

The liquid acid exfoliator is left on for three minutes and removed damp and cotton pads.

They may be a slight tingling sensation whilst the peel is dropping the pH of the skin down to either 3.5 or thicker skin down to a pH of 1.2.

Step 2: Apply mesotherapy serum

Now the skin is cleaned next is to target skin concerns, using a light layer of the mesotherapy serum NCTF135 HA serum, this is the active ingredient serum that soaks into the skin and will act as a glide on the skin. 

Step 3: Start miconeedling the skin

Starting on the jawline, at the deepest depth of 1mm to 0.75. Working over the skin in a crosshatch technique.

It's important to note here that I do not go backwards and forwards or needle in doing circles.

Each stroke is in a single line, but multiple times, a maximum of three lines in different directions to puncture the same area and then move on. 

This reduces the potential to draw blood, damage and trauma to the epidermis, level of pain, and downtime.

The needle depth is reduced as I work over the chin and lip and also remains 0.5mm over the cheekbones as the skin gets thinner and can feel quite sensitive, particularly on the eye bone edge.

During the needling extra mesotherapy serum is applied to help glide over the skin to reduce the scratching feeling as I work over the cheekbones.

Working over the nose to reduce the open pores and help improve the skin cell turnover around the t-zone and under the eyes to reduce the sebum collection and improve hydration, identified as those white spots in the tear duct area.

One of the most fantastic features of a microneedling pen is that I can treat close to the eye area.

Focusing on the thick side of the eye to target the hydration (cross feet) and break down the Glycation [AGE] wrinkles.

The depth of the needle will be at 0.25 but closer inside the eye area will be a depth of 0.1 as it is very delicate thin skin and has no pores so there is not need to over treat this area. 

As I move over the brow onto the forehead to target the wrinkles on the forehead and brow the depth will be only 0.25mm, to target the skin tightening and skin rejuvenation.

This area always makes my clients sneeze, it's the ophthalmic nerve, a terminal branch of the trigeminal nerve. It provides sensory innervation to the skin, so as I go over the forehead and down the nose, the client more often sneezes. it does not hurt just always causes a sneeze.

Once completed on both sides, I apply another layer of serum and then reduce the pen needle depth to 0.25 to 0.1mm and go all over the skin in single long strokes, I call it a Wash - fantastic to enhance hydration and pigmentation.

Step 4: Maintain and protect skin

This is the best bit for the client - applying the collagen ghost mask (hyaluronic acid youth mask) is a delightful moment.

The skin starts to feel warm or hot and feels like moderate sunburn, so the cold, wet, damp face mask is delightful.

It's a lovely feeling as it goes onto the skin. Once in place, I continue with needling down the neck and onto the decolletage.

Applying more serum to improve glide and reduce scratching. The needle can penetrate deeper into the neck and will be between 0.8 - 1mm on the neck area, sometimes reducing down 0.5mm on thin skin.

The Hyaluronic Acid youth Mask will stay on for 20 minutes; during this time I will either do a head massage or use the jade roller to improve the soothing effect. It helps to push the product into the skin.

Remove the mask and gently wipe the skin, nothing too aggressive as the skin is quite tender.

There is NO blood to wipe away. Absolutely no blood... 

I apply eye gel serum  with a little massage to improve lymphatic drainage.

Then B3 Recovery Cream is applied. It's very calming and just sits very gently on the skin.

Finish with SPF 50+ as the microscopic channels in the skin will have closed during the mask so the skin has now absorbed all the serum and is very happy to have cream laid on the top.

Microneedling After Care Instructions 

• Avoid makeup for at least another 20 minutes due to the redness. If you must apply, if going out on a lunch date or you need to go back to work, it's not a problem, but my advice is to avoid wearing makeup for the rest of the day.
• Avoid any excessive sweating. Such as gym, a run or going for a swim or sauna. Anything that will stimulate your skin to sweat. It will not damage your skin in any way or even affect the treatment. It just hurts. And it's not very nice. 
• Also, avoid any exfoliation. No liquid acids that day or for a further two days. This includes any scrubs, exfoliations or masks that contain, glycolic or lactic acid. This also includes vitamin A and Vitamin C or any beauty serums.
• Avoid all other treatments, evasive or non-invasive treatments. So no hair removal, no tattooing, no muscle relaxant or filler. For the next two weeks, the main reason I give this advice is that if your skin reacts to anything, I know what I've done and what advice to give you. If you've had another treatment on top of that, I'm lost. I don't know what the root cause of the issue is.

The other thing is, is not to panic. The skin may feel quite uncomfortable, but there are no side effects. You will be a bit sore and have a little redness, apply simple cleansing milk, nothing too complicated, nothing too active.

You just want to calm it all down, but do continue life as normal you can go shopping, for a walk etc...

The epidermal layer of your skin has not been broken, you do not have any open wounds.

The needles have gone in and out very quickly, and the channels have had time to close.

So as long as you have your SPF 50+ on there's no concern about being outdoors, but please avoid direct sunlight or long sun exposure.

Jen note: there is no point in adding fancy serums or expensive creams from your home skincare routine to the skin during the healing process.

Whilst there is no blood drawn, there is trauma and I have already put the perfect active ingredients into your skin afterward so the body's healing process has already begun.

There are 59 different active ingredients in the NCTF 135 Ha mesotherapy serum at the perfect molecular size and weight, so the skin does not need anything else to confuse the situation.

It has everything it needs for the cellular layers in the epidermis from the stratum basale to communicate down to next weeks skin cells in the stratum granulosum and then onto the stratum corneum to create epidermal growth factors to communicate with the hypodermis tight junctions to stimulate the production of collagen and elastin via fibroblasts.

The mesotherapy serum has all the nutrients, growth factors and peptides it needs as the skin cell turnover presents the new cells to the surface. 

The skin cell communication works downwards and passes the message down to each skin cell layer.

If you start adding in another layer of topical serum and or active ingredients, these skin cells will get confused and overwhelmed. Resulting in outbreaks and sensitivity.

Your skin cells are traumatized. The comfort blanket is to let them bath in it, let them deal with the trauma. Yes, you can go back to your normal skin routine, maybe post five days or seven days, but let your skin just sit for a bit - give it time.

Microneedling treatment recovery timeline

1 to 3 days: You will look a bit pink and dewy

Day 4 to 10 days: Itchy and dry: The serums have been placed into the next skin layer, so the top layer of skin will start to flake away. Do not panic, do not do peel, just leave it, let it do what it wants to do. The hyaluronic acid in the serum is a humectant and attracts water, so the next layer of the skin is pinching all the water from the top layer. The next layer of the skin is coming through and collects all the nutrients.

Day 11 to 14 days: You are cooking on gas, your skin will have shed away all the dead skin cells and the new fresh, firmer, hydration skin cells are visible.

Days 14 to 28 days: At your best - toned, clear and tightening. Potentially even further improvement into the second month, you'll be very contented with the treatment and the trick is, to enjoy your next treatment.

In summary, the microneedling treatment is perfect for skin rejuvenation to address fine lines, wrinkles, saggy skin, acne, acne scarring, you can also have the treatment on the body and treat stretch marks and scars.

My advice is to book your first treatment with a medical professional or aesthetics therapist in a clinic or office rather than using a derma roller at home because this is a cosmetic procedure.

A feeling of redness for 24 to 36 hours.

Your skin may feel warm and tight for one to three days. During this period, use delicate cleansing milk and recovery creams. 

The best advice is to avoid swimming, strenuous exercise and excessive sun exposure during this 36 hours window. 

Initially, your skin will feel dry after a few days, but as your skin cell turnover removes your current skin and relieves the new skin influenced by the microneedling you will begin to feel softer, firmer-looking skin. 

Learn the best way to microneedling at home

If you are microneedling your skin every day or once per week, please STOP as you are causing more damage, and it is AGEING your skin rather than improving it.

Microneedling treatments at home are becoming increasingly popular instead of visiting a clinic for professional microneedling treatments. There are several home devices such as derma roller, home microneedling devices, and stamps for sale that people may use at home.

From a skin aesthetic therapist's point of view, the biggest concerns are; needling techniques, depth of needle, the quality of the home microneedling devices, use of blunt needles, bent needles or using too much pressure.

The microneedling at home risks are potentially causing future skin health concerns, such as lack of tone, scarring, thickening of the skin, blemishes and pigmentation.

What Is Microneedling?

Microneedling is a skin-rejuvenation procedure involving tiny needles puncturing the skin. This stimulates an inflammatory response that triggers the healing process.

Which can improve the texture of scars, reduce fine lines, wrinkles, and other types of skin damage.

The constant subcision of tiny needles creates microscopic wounds in the skin barrier and creates a controlled trauma to trigger the natural wound healing response.

The wound healing response produces growth factors to stimulate the creation of new skin cells. By encouraging cell to cell communication and metabolism within the mitochondria to complete their life cycle quickly and efficiently.

When used safely and effectively by a specially trained healthcare professional using reputable materials that contain active ingredients, microneedling creates a positive end result in skin cell regeneration.

With the correct usage, professional microneedling devices at home can give the same results as professional treatment in the clinic for large pores, improved texture or uneven skin, stretch marks, acne scarring, reduced fine lines, wrinkles and lift, tighten and tone ageing skin.

What Are The Microneedling At Home Risks?

However, the main concerns from a professional's point of view and risks associated with microneedling at home are when the treatment is either completed too; aggressively, often or deep.

The most frequent misconception is that causing more harm to your skin will increase collagen formation, resulting in firmer skin.

The problem is that your body prefers equilibrium. Too much damage may overstimulate the immune system's inflammatory response, leading to excessive collagen development, which creates thicker skin, known as fibrosis.

Fibrosis is a type of scarring where the skin becomes more rigid and less elastic. As well as, the sebaceous glands can become overactive in an attempt to protect the skin, resulting in excess sebum (oil) production and enlarged pores giving your skin an orange peel effect. Not to mention an increase in blemishes, pigmentation and higher risk of keloid scarring.

The other issue with aggressively treating the epidermis layer with subcision of needling is lowering the skin barrier. The damage caused by microneedling derma rollers can influence skin cell membrane integrity. The constant damaging of the epidermis layer can lead to the skin cell membrane losing its ability to hold onto the moisture in your skin.

The excessive removal or damage of the epidermis creates TEWL, which is short for transepidermal water loss. This is the amount of water that passes through the stratum corneum to the outermost layer of the skin.

The more you remove or damage the epidermis layer, the higher your TEWL will be, which means your skin will lose more moisture, become dry and look aged. 

The issues arise because most people react with more treatments such as chemical peels, microdermabrasion, and more microneedling to address the dehydrated skin, creating severe damage to the skin health in the long term.

Effects Of Excessive Microneedling At Home

Microneedling too often, as an example every week, will weaken the skin laxity in the long term.

The epidermis contains the keratinocytes that conduct cell metabolism and communication. These keratinocytes are the primary growth factors that communicate down through the layers of the skin to trigger the inflammatory cytokines response to tell fibroblasts in the dermis what to do.

The fibroblasts must be able to understand and respond to the signal for them to heal and generate collagen. It takes around 28-50 days for the keratinocytes to complete this life cycle communication process.

Therefore you should only be microneedling at home every 4 to 6 weeks. Those who need the treatment the most - lack of skin tone and excessive laxity, need to have the treatment the least often. 

For young acne scars or active acne, you can needle skin every four weeks - but you need to ensure a single-use sterile roller or stamp because your skin microbiome is unbalanced, and the risk of infection is enhanced.

How Deep Should You Microneedle?

The depths of the needles can depend on your microneedling device and the thickness of the skin. 

It is essential to understand the epidermis does not contain blood vessels.

Blood should not be drawn when looking to trigger a cascade of keratinocytes for communication and inflammation to the epidermal junction for healing and collagen production.

The base of the epidermal junction is where the STEM cells are stored.

You want to react to these cells to produce the collagen and from the wound healing response and via the epidermal growth factors, not in the hypodermis where the blood vessels are.

This layer is too deep and will trigger too much inflammation and cause scarring and potential pigmentation in the future.

There are benefits to a pinpoint bleed on the jawline, chin and neck, but the skin should not be bleeding. If you want to trigger growth factors to improve your skin health over the next two or three weeks, you need to create an erythema pink skin - not blood.

Another factor to consider when microneedling at home is the serums you use to help the keratinocytes communicate. Your skincare serums will not encourage cell to cell communication. In summary, microneedling at home comes with risks, but NOT the actual needling creates the risk. It's the person who is doing the needling.

Too aggressive, too often and too deep, and you risk making whatever endpoint you want from treating your skin at home - worse.

The main secret to microneedling at home is to be constant, not too deep, use suitable serums [mesotherapy] and allow sufficient time between treatment for your skin to rest and repair.

You need to give your skin STEM cells time to react and the fibroblasts to create the collagen and elastin for skin rejuvenation.

In general, regardless of the skin conditions, skin concerns or area you want to treat, microneedling is an excellent skin treatment - BUT you need time for those growth factors to communicate and regenerate the skin cells.

Microneedling skin treatment addresses: 

• Orange peel chin
• Verticle lines on top lip
• Large open pores on nose
• Crows feet around the eyes
• Wrinkles on forehead
• Acne scars on cheeks
• Creepy skin on the neck

The main skin corners that microneedling will address: 

• Improve lack of tone
• Stimulate collagen production
• Hydrate dry skin
• Reduce signs of rosacea
• Brightening dark spots

The areas you can treat with microneedling are:

• Jawline for sagging skin
• Eyes for fine lines and crows feet
• Forehead for wrinkles and deep lines
• Neck for skin tightening
• Backs of hand for dark spots

In conclusion, microneedling at home risks are related to the user not the treatment. The microneedling treatment is an amazing way to improve skin health. In general, if using home devices, be careful not to over treat your skin by using too much pressure, completing the treatment too often, and drawing blood or going too deep.

To purchase the Skin Meso Kit - visit my shop.