For any treatment, you'll want to have as little downtime as possible. Therefore, healing time is vital when choosing the right skin treatment to address your aesthetic concerns. That said, microneedling is a great alternative to surgical cosmetic procedures, offering a faster microneedling healing time compared to invasive treatments.
It has quickly gained traction among beauty enthusiasts. But how long does the skin take to heal after a microneedling procedure? For the most part, many people experience a healing time for microneedling that ranges from 3 to 7 days. So, within a week, you should have healed and gone back to your normal routine. Nonetheless, some factors may add more days to this range. Keep reading to find out more.
This guide provides a detailed analysis of the microneedling healing time and what you should expect after the treatment. This will help you manage your expectations and direct you toward proper microneedling aftercare.
What is Microneedling?
Before jumping right into the microneedling healing stage, let's understand what the treatment entails. If you are new in the realm of aesthetic medicine, let us start with the most basic of questions. What is micro-needling? At first, this might sound foreign, but let’s break it down.
Microneedling is a minimally invasive procedure that uses fine needles to puncture numerous tiny wounds in the skin. This is meant to increase the production of collagen and elastin, which help maintain the skin’s firmness, elasticity, and youthful appearance.
The procedure is also known as collagen induction therapy because it triggers the body’s natural healing response, increasing collagen production. Simply put, it leaves micro injuries on the skin to prompt it to heal itself, producing more collagen and addressing various skin concerns.
Microneedling is the best procedure for anyone who wants to say goodbye to wrinkles, large pores, and scars without going through surgery.
How Does Microneedling Work?
Microneedling is an in-office procedure with minimal downtime. Your medical practitioner will put you in a reclined seat for comfort and accuracy during the procedure.
A topical numbing cream is applied to the treatment site and left to set for 30 minutes. This will reduce discomfort and pain during microneedling.
The doctor will then use a micro-needling device, which could be a derma roller or a micro-needling derma pen with fine sterile needles. The device is gently moved over the skin for about 15 minutes, creating numerous tiny controlled punctures.
The depth of the needles is adjustable depending on the treatment area, skin concerns, and expected results.
The tiny controlled punctures formed on the skin will prompt inflammation and, consequently, collagen production. More collagen means renewed skin, which addresses various concerns you may have. Newer skin cells are free from hyperpigmentation, scars, and dryness.
Later after the microneedling healing stage is done, you will definitely experience that much-desired glow thanks to a simple 30-60 minutes 30 minutes procedure.
Various serums, such as peptides, vitamin C, Hyaluronic acid, and even platelet-rich plasma (PRP), may also be applied during or immediately after the micro-needling procedure to accelerate healing and enhance the treatment's effect.
Generally, microneedling intends to trigger collagen production. Some skin care enthusiasts will refer to collagen as your skin’s knight in shining armor, as it protects the skin and, at the same time, heals all underlying conditions.
Some common concerns that microneedling addresses include:
● Wrinkles
● Fine Lines
● Acne scars
● Facial dryness
● Hyperpigmentation
● Blackheads
● Stretchmarks
● Loose skin
● Hair loss
● Enlarged pores
How Long Does It Take to Heal from Microneedling Treatment?
Now, let’s explore the day by day microneedling healing time to give you a clear picture of how your skin will recover throughout the week. Remember, this timeline is not universal, it does vary from one person to the other. However, the variations in the healing periods are minimal. Explore!
Phase 1: Immediately after a microneedling treatment
One of the main advantages of this procedure is the minimal microneedling downtime, allowing most individuals to return to their daily routines within a few days. However, there are a few post microneedling care tips you should follow, especially in the first 24 hours after the procedure, to enhance your microneedling healing time and recovery.
After the procedure, your skin will look like it just suffered a sunburn, and you will experience some redness. This is caused by inflammation caused by the tiny needles. To manage this, follow these simple microneedling aftercare steps to soothe irritation and accelerate healing.
● Wash your face using a gentle foaming cleanser
● Use a suitable moisturizer according to your skin type
● Avoid harsh chemical peels
● Apply mild sunscreen
● Apply a hydrating serum
● Cold press the treated areas to ease discomfort
These tips will help you manage the early side effects of a microneedling procedure. But there's still a long way to go, so let’s see how the other healing stages will look like.
Phase 2: Early microneedling recovery
Healing starts immediately after you leave the treatment chair. The early microneedling recovery phase takes place during the first three days after the procedure. By then, the inflammation should have gone down.
However, the treated areas should still appear red or flushed; this is due to the increased blood flow to the treatment areas triggered by the tiny needles. Deeper microneedling treatment will also mean that the swelling is still profound. You may also experience some skin tightness and slight swelling.
It is also normal to experience slight bleeding, but not to worry, all these side effects are a result of the trauma caused in the dermis during the procedure.
Tips to follow
● At this time, you are recommended to avoid touching your face to avoid any risks of infection; after all, your hands are the largest germ and bacteria carriers.
● You may be tempted to add some makeup to your face to hide the redness; however, during these first days, we encourage you to embrace your bare skin and follow the right care after microneedling to avoid irritation or prolonged healing. You can apply some light hydrating serum to ensure the treated areas remain supple.
● You should also avoid Retinoids, Alpha-hydroxy Acids(AHAs), and Beta-hydroxy acids(BHAs) because the skin is still sensitive and irritants may accelerate the swelling and even cause a microneedle facial infection.
● Apply sunscreen if you must go out under the sun, as this will reduce the blunt effects of direct sunlight. If you can stay indoors, the better. This will ensure your skin is well protected and promote expedient healing. Additionally, if you’re wondering, ‘How long after microneedling can I workout?’Avoiding sweating and excessive heat for the first 48 hours is crucial to prevent irritation.
● Avoid strenuous activity such as heavy lifting, which may cause further tearing on the treated areas.
Phase 3: Intermediate microneedling recovery
As part of the day by day microneedling healing time, midterm healing occurs between the third and the seventh day after a microneedling procedure. By now, the redness should have gone down, even in deep tissue treatments. However, if your skin is overly sensitive, you may experience some pinkish hue on the treated areas.
During this stage, you may experience some flaking and dryness in the treated areas and the skin may also feel tighter as it begins to peel. This is the skin's natural way of getting rid of the older skin cells and replacing them with newer, rejuvenated skin cells.
Here are some important tips to follow during the midterm healing stage.
● As the microwounds begin to heal, avoid picking the skin, as it will prevent further scarring and frustrate your skin treatment efforts. Leave any scars that manifest on the skin during this period untouched to avoid causing more blackspots on the treated areas.
● The good news is that you can resume applying some light makeup after five days. This is because the tiny punctures have closed and healed, reducing the risk of infection.
● You can also use hydrating moisturizers to ease up the flaking and drying.
● Use sunscreen with an SPF of above 30 at all times to prevent any further hyperpigmentation caused by direct sunlight exposure.
● Maintain proper hygiene, as your skin is still healing, and any bacteria exposure could lead to a microneedle facial infection. Any brush, sponge, or equipment that comes close to your skin should be clean and disinfected. Change your pillowcase often to avoid any risk of germs being transmitted to your skin.
Phase 4: Final microneedling recovery period
After a week, you should see significant improvement in the treated areas, such as improved texture, reduced redness, and inflammation. Most of the microneedling downtime signs should have fully resolved, especially the redness that significantly diminishes. However, the skin may still remain dry.
Continue with all the steps used during immediate, early, and intermediate healing periods. At this point, you can also resume your retinoids, AHAs, and BHAs as your skin is more resilient, marking the final stage of your microneedling healing time. However, reintroduce these products gradually to reduce the risk of purging that may be counter-reactive to your intended results.
What happens past the first week of healing?
About 1-4 weeks after the procedure, you should see some significant results. Any wrinkles or fine lines should have now diminished; that desired glow is finally here!
However, the changes are gradual, so it is important to manage your expectations. By now, your skin is producing more collagen, so maintaining a good post microneedling care routine will help extend the benefits of the procedure.
Some practitioners may advise that you should consider getting an additional microneedling treatment six weeks after your first treatment to enhance your newly found glow.
Again, this will depend on the damage that the procedure has caused to your skin and if treatment was effective. Your doctor should be able to evaluate all these factors and recommend when it would be more appropriate to get your touch-up.
If not, you can proceed with your usual personalized skincare routine for more effective results. Ensure you eat a balanced diet rich in nutrients and omega-3 nutrients to promote further facial rejuvenation.
What Factors Affect Microneedling Healing Time?
Earlier, we’d mentioned that the healing period varies from one person to the other. Here is why this is the case. The following factors influence how short or long your healing time after a microneedling treatment may be:
1. Skin type and conditions
Personalized skin care is of the utmost importance because every person has a different skin type with different characteristics. As such, there is no one-fits-all remedy.
Sensitive skin types such as oily skin are likely to experience more prolonged swelling. On the other hand, if you have more resilient skin, you are likely to experience lesser downtime and quicker microneedling healing stages.
Patients with underlying skin and general health conditions such as diabetes, chronic acne, or eczema are also likely to experience prolonged healing periods.
2. Injection depth
As mentioned earlier, deeper microneedling is often required where the concerns to be addressed are more intense.
Deeper penetration means more extensive punctures that would naturally take longer to heal, affecting your microneedling healing time based on treatment intensity. Therefore, a patient who went through shallow treatment may heal faster than one who had deeper microneedling.
3. Age
Older patients often have more profound skin concerns to address. They may experience more sagging and fine lines, especially on the face. Younger individuals, on the other hand, may have fewer concerns as a result of the body producing just enough collagen for the skin.
Unfortunately, older patients do not enjoy the luxury of increased collagen production even after microneedling, so their microneedling healing stage time is slower than that of younger patients.
4. Lifestyle
Lifestyle factors such as diet, drug intake, and stress levels could also frustrate healing effects after a microneedling procedure.
Failure to take a balanced diet leads to poor skin health, hence prolonged healing. Patients who take diets rich in vitamins A and C will likely have shorter healing periods as the nutrients promote faster healing.
To speed up the microneedling healing stage, you can also increase your water intake, as it plays a major role in promoting skin health.
5. Proper Aftercare
Your medical practitioner should ensure you are well-informed of all the necessary microneedling aftercare tips to improve your microneedling healing time and overall skin recovery. However, it is upon the patients to follow the various guidelines. Patients who practice proper care after microneedling and follow the provided guidelines are likely to heal faster.
Conclusion
Healing from a microneedling procedure may be the most important part of the treatment, as a proper microneedling healing stage guarantees the desired results.
However, the recovery process is multifaceted and involves different levels of healing, making it essential to understand your microneedling healing time for optimal results. Understanding these timelines will help you manage your expectations while ensuring you are well informed about what aftercare tips to employ.
Always consult your qualified medical practitioner throughout the treatment to address any concerns that may come up.
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