Microneedling is a type of collagen induction therapy that can reduce wrinkles and lift sagging skin. The treatments work because they cause collagen to be produced in your skin, which causes your skin to plump up, lift, and thicken. Here's how microneedling is done and some treatments that are often given at the same time.

A Treatment Involves Using Needles On Your Skin

Using needles on your skin sounds painful, but your dermatologist applies numbing cream first so you don't feel discomfort. The needles pierce your skin and create tiny areas of injury that stimulate the healing and collagen production response in your body. The needles also create tiny channels that allow serums and other treatments to sink deep into your skin for increased effectiveness.

Professional Treatments Yield Better Results

If you have a needle roller you use at home, talk to your dermatologist about whether you can continue using it once you've had a professional treatment. If so, you may be advised to use the shallowest needles at home and let the dermatologist use the longer needles at the clinic. This reduces the risk of getting an infection at home and makes the treatments less painful.

The larger needles used with a professional treatment are able to give you the best results because they reach deeper layers of skin. Even if you use a needle roller at home, you will still benefit from professional treatment.

When you first start microneedling, you may need a series of treatments over several months. After that, you might maintain the results with yearly treatments. Your dermatologist can let you know how many treatments you need based on the condition of your skin and how deep your wrinkles are.

Additional Treatments Can Be Added

A nice thing about microneedling is that it pairs well with other beauty treatments. Since the needles could leave your face red for a couple of days, you might want a cryo facial at the same time to provide additional lift and to reduce redness.

You can also combine Radiofrequency (RF) therapy with microneedling to deliver heat deep into the tissues to further stimulate collagen production. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy is another option with microneedling. PRP therapy uses your own blood to deliver growth factors to your skin. Your dermatologist can deliver any type of serum or beauty treatment at the same time as you get microneedling to enhance the effectiveness of the serum by allowing it to sink deep into your skin.

If you have wrinkles and loose skin you want to tighten up on your face, or if you have stretch marks on your abdomen, you might find microneedling to be an effective treatment that's fairly easy to undergo and that has a quick recovery period.