How is a medical skin needling treatment performed?

Usually each session is about 45mins, with 20-30 minutes of needling, a double cleanse and a hydrating mask or serum to finish.

If needed for the comfort of the client, numbing cream can be applied, but usually not necessary, especially on the fleshier areas treated.

The needling session should start with a test area, for comfortability and skin reaction, this will help the Therapist to determine the needle depth and safe active ingredient to be used for the treatment.

A chosen treatment serum may be mixed with a water based, gliding lubricant (when needed) for a smoother slide along the skin with the medical needling pen, the skin should be pulled taut for even distribution of micro injuries and absorption. Some areas may be crossed over in more than one direction to make sure all areas are covered completely.

The needling session is mildly irritating, causing a tingling, warm sensation which is slightly more noticeable on more bony areas, (the depth of needle should be reduced for comfort).

At the end of a session, the skin will appear and feel similar to a mild to moderate sunburn, this may last between 3-48 hours as all skins react differently.

There may be tiny blood dots in some areas or a line of red dots where a therapist may do more glides across certain areas for best results.

Treating and adhering to the advice with the correct home care advice (especially for the first 3 days) will give you the best outcome from your treatments.

Medical skin needling is usually achieved in 4-6 treatments, one month apart and for continuous maximum results, treatments twice a year is optimal.

Needling deeper into the skin to create more micro injuries does not necessarily improve the outcome of the treatments. Having more frequent than prescribed “medical skin treatments” (less than 3 weeks apart) does not allow the time for skin to heal effectively (it takes about 20 to 40  days for new cells to be produced). Over needling can lead to the “switching off” of cellular messages in the skin, resulting in collagen and elastin production to become “lazy’’ once again (as it does as we age).