Pre-treatment Recommendations

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​​Avoid medications like Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Motrin, Advil, Aleve and other NSAIDS have a blood thinning effect and can increase the risk of bleeding or bruising. You may need to avoid taking these medications for about a week before your treatment. Be sure to let us know if you are on any blood thinners such as Coumadin, Dabigatran, or Apixaban.

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​Stay away from cigarettes and alcohol for 2 days prior to your procedure to decrease the risk of bruising.

​​If you are especially prone to bruising, use Arnica cream before your appointment. 

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​We will apply Lidocaine cream to your treatment for 30 minutes before treatment to minimize the pain.  If you would like to do this at home let us know and a prescription can be sent to the pharmacy of your choice alternatively, you can purchase some from our office.  You may also come in early for your appointment and we will give you some free of charge.  After applying the Lidocaine cream we will place a plastic saran mask, if you are doing this at home you can use regular saran wrap.   

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​Cleanse your skin before your appointment. Your doctor needs your skin to be free of any dirt, moisturizers, or cosmetics before your treatment.  We will clean your skin again with an antiseptic cleanser before the injection to remove anything you weren’t able to wash off.

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After completing a microneedling treatment you will be Red

It looks and feels like a bad sunburn. Some people get redder than others, it differs from person to person. Your skin may feel warm, tight, dry and itchy, tingly and slight burning. Sometimes there can be a little bit of swelling too. This is normal and part of the skin’s natural controlled inflammatory process. Effects may last up to 3 days and on rare an allergic reaction can occur which can last longer - so plan accordingly in terms of special events. To reduce visible redness, you can use a Hyaluronic Acid serum or Aloe Vera.

 

On the third day after the treatment, you may see some peeling. This is actually a very good sign so don’t be concerned. It is simply the ‘peeling’ of old dead skin cells and is normal. Not everyone will have peeling. Be assured peeling is not a benchmark for the effectiveness of the treatment or an end goal for microneedling treatments.

 

Do not exfoliate at this point. Within several days or weeks, you will notice a smoother, more radiant appearance. However, with microneedling you will only notice the full effects of the treatment until several months later as it takes the skin up to 30 days to develop new skin cells and replace old ones. The full effect of microneedling treatments will greatly be noticed 12 weeks since starting the treatments, i.e., after 3 treatments once a month.

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Avoid the Sun, Sauna, Tan Cans and Tanning Beds

On the day of the treatment, avoid the sun completely. This is critical as exposure to the sun may cause post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Ideally do not use any sunscreen because there might be chemicals in the lotion that can be harmful to the skin and cause irritation. This is just to be extra safe. Remember the skin is ‘open’ due to the micro channels punctured in the skin.

 

Stay out of the sun the first day and apply a SPF 30+ from the second day after the treatment. Applying SPF the first few days after a microneedling treatment is critical.

 

Avoid Active Ingredient Products / Fragrance Products

For the next 2 days after your microneedling treatment, cleanse your face with a gentle and mild soap like Dove and lukewarm water. Avoid skin care products that contain active ingredients like Alpha Hydroxyl (Glycolic acid), Beta Hydroxy Acid, Retinoid product (Vitamin A), Vitamin C or anything perceived as ‘active’ skincare. Avoid these products for at least 3 days after the treatment. After 3 days you can return to your normal skin care products. When using Aloe Gel, make use of it in its purest form and not sold as part of an after-sun product.

 

Avoid Hot Water, Heat and Excessive Exercise

Avoid excessively hot water, steam baths and showers, saunas and cardio exercise or any exercise that will cause you to sweat. If you sweat, the skin pores open and make way for dirt, pollutants and bacteria to enter the opened skin channels. This can cause a reaction or infection. Increased heat in the vulnerable skin layers has also shown to increase the risk of pigmentation.

 

Avoid swimming for 48 hours

After a microneedling treatment the integrity of your skin has been compromised.  Pools contain chloride and other strong chemicals, and some pools areas in the ocean can contain harmful bacteria that could lead to infection. 

 

Avoid Make-up for 3 Days

Do not wear makeup three days after the treatment, because the skin channels are open. Applying makeup can cause the channels to become contaminated, cause irritation or worse lead to an infection. The skin needs time to breathe in order to recover properly after a treatment.

 

Avoid Anti-Inflammatory Medication

Avoid anti-inflammatory medication for at least 3 days prior the treatment and 3 days afterwards. Microneedling induces the skin’s natural controlled anti-inflammatory processes. This however occurs in a controlled environment. Using additional anti-inflammatory medication like Ibuprofens might interfere with the controlled inflammatory process and in extreme cases can lead to post inflammatory hyperpigmentation. If you need to take pain medication use Tylenol.

 

Drink Water

Keep your skin hydrated after the treatment. It will help your skin heal and rejuvenate quicker. Visible skin renewal can be noticed within 2 weeks after a treatment. The skin takes up to 4 weeks to recover and collagen starts working after 4 weeks. Prone to Cold Sores (herpes simplex) / Sensitive Skin Herpes simplex is highly unlikely (1 in a 1000). If you feel that typical tingling feel of herpes, you can use a topical virucidal agent like Zovirax cream which can be obtained over the counter.

 

Allergic Reaction after Microneedling

On rare occasions patients can experience an inflammatory response or allergic reaction after microneedling. It is more likely that people with sensitive skin can develop a reaction. If you have a reaction, immediately apply an anti-inflammatory cream that contains 0.5% hydrocortisone. (This can be obtained from your local pharmacy.) You can also mix the hydrocortisone with equal parts Aloe Vera Gel twice a day, which cools and hydrates the skin. Also take an over-the-counter antihistamine like Benadryl to block the reaction and relieve hives, itching and redness. Avoid topical treatments like serums and peels for at least 4 weeks.