Could Micro-Needling Be the Secret to Better Skin?
If you want to look younger without breaking the bank, consider micro-needling. A treatment that's been around since the early 2000's, micro-needling is an affordable, easy way to improve skin's appearance, and you don't have to make a trip to the dermatologist's office to have it done. You can simply do it yourself in the comfort of your own home.
Micro-needling, also known as dermarolling, is a skin treatment that involves a small tool shaped like a paint roller that's covered in tiny needles. This tool, called a dermaroller, is rolled gently across the face to give you younger, healthier-looking skin.
Relax! While rolling a needle-filled tool over your face sounds horrible, it's really not. The needles are so small that they don't cause pain or injury. Micro-needling is a perfectly safe method for improving your skin.
What Does It Do?
First, it causes micro-injuries. You can't see them, and they're not painful. However, these micro-injuries send signals to the brain that request healing. In response, the brain sends collagen to the surface of the skin in an effort to heal them. The collagen plumps up the skin, giving you younger-looking, healthier skin almost instantly.
Second, these micro-injuries allow products to penetrate deeper. This makes micro-needling especially useful when used in conjunction with serums, which are already designed to easily penetrate skin. It allows the serum to burrow into the deepest epidermal layers that it couldn't otherwise reach.
How to Get Started
You'll need to purchase a roller. Start with .25 mm needles, which are the smallest ones available. As you get comfortable with the procedure and your skin adjusts, you can increase the size of your needles to .5 mm. If you want to, you can eventually go all the way up to 1.0 mm needles.
Bigger needles allow for deeper penetration of skin care products. You can go deeper than 1.0 mm, but you'll have to make an appointment with a professional aesthetician or see a dermatologist.
How Often Can You Micro-needle?
How frequently you use your derma-roller depends on the length of its needles. Your skin will be more tolerant of smaller needles, so shorter needles can be used more often than longer ones. A 1 mm roller can be used about once a week. A .25 mm roller can be used three to five times a week.
Regardless of needle-size, start by using your roller once a week. See how your skin reacts before increasing the frequency.
Safety
Micro-needling is a very safe procedure, but you should take some basic precautions. Never use it on inflamed or irritated skin, and avoid using it around pimples and active eczema patches. If you have acne, wait until the acne has healed to try it. Using a dermaroller over acne can spread bacteria and increase your chances of developing an infection.
Also, keep your roller sanitized by allowing it to sit in rubbing alcohol for a few minutes after each use, and never share it, even if it's clean.
Micro-needling is an effective, simple way to treat your skin at home. Not only does it stimulate changes in the skin by boosting collagen production, but it also allows for deeper and more effective penetration of expensive products, allowing you to get the most bang for your skincare buck.