My Experience with Microneedling

I’m not much of a needle person (I mean, who is??) so I don’t know why I felt so compelled to try microneedling, but I’m very glad I gave it a stab.

In the summer, I work full time outdoors exposed to sun, wind, and pool-chemicals like chlorine. Despite wearing sun protection like high SPF sunscreen, I really seem to notice the effects of these elements on my skin.

After completing a successful summer lifeguarding, I was devastated to notice a few itsy-bitsy fine lines on my forehead. Working part-time as a model, I didn’t feel like this would go over well.

I impulsively booked a session with microneedling to try and correct this.

For those who don’t know what microneedling is, its like an electric pen that has a whole bunch of needles at the tip. The needles can come in different sizes, and they run this over your skin where the needles vibrate in and out, puncturing your face hundreds of time.

Often, the technician will add some sort of serum for your skin to absorb in the process. You bleed from the microscopic puncture wounds, and when your skin heals, it stimulates collagen production resulting in smoother, more even skin. With proper aftercare, your skin should improve! (Or at least that's my understanding of how it works... who knows, I'm not a tech).

It sounds terrifying I know.

The entire process can be split into three main categories: the fear, the remorse, and the pride of having it done.

First came the fear.

I sat down in the office, and Cindy, the lady who did my face, slathered a numbing cream which sat on me for about 20 minutes.

From there, she used the pen on my face.

The actual process wasn’t painless, but it wasn’t very painful either. It was more... irritating. There were some spots that hurt more than others (around my eyebrows and on my nose) and some sports where it was actually kind of enjoyable (on my cheeks).

When we were done, she left the blood on my face, gave me hyaluronic acid to apply to my face, and some distilled water for cleaning with gauze pads.

The overall appointment was fast, and I left looking like I just participated in a murder scene.

By that evening, a lot of the swelling and redness had gone down, and I looked a lot less scary.

Then, came the remorse.

The next day, it looked like I had a severe sunburn.

The three following days, the redness went away in a patchy fashion (with a few red spots here and there) until I looked back to normal.

Following that, I peeled. I’d describe it as my face had dandruff, and skin felt rough to run your finger over. This lasted for just under a week.

I was scared I had taken my not-too-bad skin to begin with, and ruined it.

Then, came the pride. I survived.

Two weeks after, my skin texture and appearance was back to normal, and I have to admit, I was glowing.

My fine lines were nearly invisible, my skin felt and looked radiant, any hyperpigmentation had disappeared, and even my acne scars shrunk in size, some completely disappearing.

I definitely will be getting this treatment again, and even though the healing process was daunting, overall made a noticeable difference in my skin.

Cheers,

Chloë