Are you ready to treat uneven skin once and for all? Microneedling is a minimally invasive procedure dermatologists use to treat a wide range of skin issues, including uneven skin tone or texture resulting from acne, scarring, stretch marks, or sun exposure.
Smooth Uneven Skin Tone With Microneedling Sessions
Smooth, even skin tone is a sign of youth and vitality. However, the combination of age and life experience can cause individuals to feel self-conscious about uneven tones on their faces or bodies. Fortunately, the right dermatology treatments can even out skin tones while making the skin look more radiant.
Currently, we use microneedling to smooth uneven skin tones due to:
- Dark sun spots
- Acne scars
- Burns
- Scars due to prior surgery or injury
- Melasma
- Large or uneven pores
- Wrinkles and fine lines
- Varying textures
- Stretch marks
Your dermatologist will tailor microneedling sessions depending on your situation and your overall goal.
How Does Microneedling Work?
Microneedling is a non-surgical, minimally invasive procedure. While it can be done in a dermatologist’s office, we create a spa-like atmosphere to ensure clients are able to relax entirely and take advantage of other services if desired.
Microneedling is done using a special, handheld pen-like device that is applied over the area of interest. The tiny needles penetrate the skin in various depths – depending on the treatment goals. This creates automatic inflammation stimulating the body’s healing response.
The small punctures made by the needles also provide channels for personalized serums and other active ingredients to penetrate the skin more deeply. Once the treatment is over, the natural healing process – called dermal remodeling – generates new collagen and uniform tissues.
What Should I Know Before I Schedule Microneedling?
First and foremost, microneedling is a medical procedure. It should only be performed by an experienced, board-certified dermatologist or a licensed esthetician who is trained and works under the supervision of a board-certified esthetician.
Typically, you’ll schedule:
1. A Pre-Treatment Counseling Session
At this session, we’ll review your current medical history and go over your areas of concern. You’ll discuss your overall goals and expectations for the treatment, and we’ll review the process with you.
We recommend asking prospective dermatologists which tools they use. For example, we use the Lutronic INFINI, which has 49 microneedles (rather than the customary 36). It also delivers radiofrequency waves while microneedling, further stimulating collagen production and healing. As a result, clients who adhere to our after-procedure protocol experience faster healing times than others.
By the end of the pre-treatment appointment, we’ll know if microneedling is the right procedure for you and if it can meet your expectations. If so, we’ll schedule your first session.
2. Your First Microneedling Session
Our MedSpa is intentionally designed to provide all of the comforts (and services) provided by a day spa. The result is a very soothing and relaxing environment, making it easy to release any pre-session nerves.
Once we have you seated comfortably in the chair, we’ll gently cleanse your face and apply a topical serum that numbs the nerves at the surface of the skin. You’ll close your eyes and breathe deeply while our estheticians work their magic.
3. A Post-Procedure Treatment Plan
Once your treatment is over, we’ll send you home with a personalized, post-procedure treatment plan to speed up and optimize your healing time. Most clients recover from their treatment within 7 to 10 days.
In addition to refraining from using certain skin care products (like those that use Retinol), it’s imperative that you diligently protect your skin from the sun.
How Many Sessions Will I Need?
Most clients schedule at least three to five sessions. Deeper or more stubborn patches of uneven skin may require extra sessions. These are booked weekly or biweekly to continue stimulating collagen production and healing.
Deeper scars, textural differences, or more severe melasma or sun spots may require extra treatments to achieve desired results.
Is the Procedure Painful?
We use a topical anesthetic that temporarily numbs the area(s) targeted by the procedure. However, the needles do penetrate into the skin so some minor level of discomfort is to be expected – and that may be elevated for clients who have an innate fear of needles.
The Side Effects
The side effects of microneedling are temporary. You’ll experience minor swelling/inflammation, redness, and some skin flaking. These are all signs that the treatment is working. It’s that same inflammation and healing response – including increased collagen production – that results in the growth of new, even skin.
This Procedure Isn’t For Everyone
There are clients who are not good candidates for microneedling. Examples include anyone with:
- Active acne or breakouts
- A sunburn or recent tan
- A current skin infection
- A prescription for isotretinoin (this is a medication that treats severe acne – you need to have at least one whole month between your last isotretinoin dose and a microneedling session).
If any of these apply to you, we’ll work with you to combine helpful treatments, a daily skincare routine, and a timeline until we can schedule your first appointment.
What is the Difference Between Microneedling and Dermabrasion?
We prefer using microneedling to dermabrasion for uneven skin tone, especially when it’s due to scarring or more severe sun damage. While dermabrasion works wonders for issues affecting the outermost layer of skin, microneedling penetrates deeper into the skin layers. This supports the inflammatory, healing, and collagen response beyond the outer layer of the skin and results in more dramatic and lasting changes.
So, while we might recommend dermabrasion for the first signs of dull skin or age spots, microneedling is best for scars and other causes of uneven skin texture/tone rooted deeper below the skin’s surface.
Balance MedSpa Heals the Appearance of Uneven Skin Tones
Are you tired of the uneven tones or textures resulting from scarring, sun/age spots, or other causes of uneven skin? Schedule a consultation at Balance MedSpa. We use science-based treatments to help our patients look and feel their very best.
