My Skin Needling Journey, what I wish I had known about the risks

My Journey With Skin Needling

At 42 and seeking preventive skincare, I opted for skin needling with PRP microneedling, believing it safer than Botox or fillers.

My experience started with a brief consultation at a local medical spa. The lack of necessary photo documentation should have been a red flag.

The treatment involved skin cleansing, numbing cream, and derma stamping with PRF, creating microchannels in my skin. I left the PRF overnight, expecting collagen and elastin stimulation.

Initially, my skin appeared plumper with less noticeable lines, likely due to post-procedure swelling.

A Change for the Worse

During my second skin needling treatment, the nurse praised my improved skin.

However, after the session, my skin’s reaction was entirely different: it felt tight, appeared red, had an uneven texture, and seemed delicate.

My skin, typically dry, suddenly turned oily, and my pores enlarged.

Breakouts, a problem I’d never faced, began to appear. The surface of my skin took on a strange orange-peel texture.

I contacted the med spa to express my concerns. No before-and-after photos were taken during my visits, adding to my worries.

Although I was refunded for both treatments, they didn’t offer further solutions besides suggesting a course of peels, which I declined.

I was so worried that the microneedling had ruined my skin.

Turning to an Expert

In my quest for answers, I contacted Samantha at the Naked Chemist, inspired by comments from others who’d experienced poor microneedling results. I also read their ebook, which you can find here.

She has extensive experience helping people turn their skin around after skin needling.

Samantha explained the importance of careful consultation before microneedling and the need for well-documented treatment protocols.

The Essential Aftercare Advice

Upon reflection, I recognised the shortcomings in the consultation given to me and the lack of aftercare.

The advice I received was minimal and erroneous, and it was recommended that I use acid-based products after the treatment, which only exacerbated my skin condition further, instead of healing and soothing it.

Misguided Recommendations

My aftercare from the clinic also included using a retexturing activator from Skin Ceuticals three times a week at night, designed for skin needling in cases of acne scars, which wasn’t appropriate for my situation.

The AnteAge System was also suggested for morning and night use, but because it is derived from stem cells, it wasn’t suitable for my compromised skin post-microneedling.

Surprising Vitamin C Dilemma

Surprisingly, I was also advised to continue using a Vitamin C serum for my aftercare. Recent research indicates that post-microneedling.

Vitamin C can trigger an immune response, leading to granulomatous scar tissue. I believe this might have significantly contributed to my issues.

You can read more about microneedling and Vitamin C here.

The Significance of Consultation

Samantha highlighted the importance of pre-consultation and the skin-needling before-and-after process in achieving a successful outcome.

Why? This treatment disrupts the protective barrier function of your skin and the microflora, forming the acid mantle that maintains a healthy skin pH.

With these disruptions, your skin becomes exposed and vulnerable to various factors.

If not managed properly, it can result in various unexpected conditions, as was the case with me.

The Healing Skincare Routine

It was also recommended that I use high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid in its pure form to initiate my skin’s healing.

Pure H20 hyaluronic skin shot formulated by the Naked Chemist contains no additives, such as aloe vera, which can harbour harmful microbes.

Once my skin improved, I introduced gentle, non-irritating products containing skin-identical ingredients to replenish and further repair my impaired barrier function.

• Fortify barrier repair cream is rich in lipids, ceramides, and cholesterol.
• Xcell barrier repair oil was great for my scars.
• DNA age delay skin shot helped to rebuild my thin, fragile skin.
• The B+ niacinamide skin shot was perfect for helping balance my skin’s oil and minimising the large pores.
• To target the breakouts, I used Resq clearing skin shot; this worked wonders at eradicating those spots.
• The clinic also has a unique enzymatic exfoliator that is wonderful at retexturing my skin and helps with the orange peel texture.

Future Steps: Introducing Actives

Samantha’s guidance also extended to future considerations; she suggested that I consider introducing active ingredients like Vitamin A.

This would help further reduce the orange peel texture and address age-related concerns.

To Conclude. The naked truth

If you are contemplating this treatment, it is worth doing thorough research.

Because, as you can see, rushing into invasive treatments might lead to long-term damage.

I recommend looking for an experienced esthetician who understands the skin well. After all, the skin is the body’s largest organ and deserves careful attention.

I want to add that I have not been compensated for sharing my story, and there are no affiliate sales links.

This is not medical advice but an honest account of my microneedling experience.