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It completely makes sense that people are skeptical about microneedling.
I’m just saying, I get why people think that adding tiny microscoping holes to your face would be bad for it!
This post is going to talk you through what dermarolling and microneedling actually are, how it works, and why it’s so good for your skin. If you’re feeling skeptical about what microneedling actually does, I hope I’m going to be able to put your mind at ease!
First: what’s the difference between microneedling and dermarolling?
“Microneedling” is a skincare procedure where a device with tiny needles makes small holes in the skin in order to make healthy, younger skin grow back. Microneedling can be done with a dermaroller, but it can also be done with a dermastamp, an electronic microneedling pen, or even a single needle.
“Dermarolling” means using a dermaroller to do microneedling. It’s a plastic or metal barrel full of thin needles that can be rolled over the skin, creating the small holes. The barrels can be different sizes and widths, and the needles can be different lengths.
So, all dermarolling is microneedling, but not all microneedling is done with a dermaroller. A lot of what we talk about on this site focuses on a dermaroller rather than the other types, because dermarollers are cheap. If you’re going to do this for a long time, it makes financial sense to upgrade to a microneedling pen eventually. But if you’re just starting out, buying a cheap dermaroller and making sure you’re actually going to do your treatments makes sense first!
Okay. How does microneedling work?
Okay, so you’ve already added ‘dermaroller’ and ‘microneedling’ to your vocabulary. Here’s another one: “percutaneous collagen induction”.
‘Microneedling’ describes what is being done to the skin in the treatment, but ‘percutaneous collagen induction’ describes the intended result. Let’s break this one down:
Collagen is the substance that makes our skin full and plump and youthful.
Induction means ‘creating or bringing about’. So, collagen induction refers to any process that spurs the body to create the collagen that makes our skin look nice and young.
But there are a lot of different (theorized and proven) ways to create collagen, and collagen exists in all sorts of places throughout the body. Percutaneous means ‘through the skin’ or ‘to the skin’.
So percutaneous collagen induction specifically refers to puncturing the skin in order to spur the body to create the collagen.
If your eyes glazed over there, try this: the needle punches a little hole in your skin, and over the course of a couple weeks, your body fills that hole back in with skin that’s younger and healthier than what was there before!
But that seems like it shouldn’t work.
It does though!
The needles create tiny holes in the skin. Your body detects each hole and releases growth factors that seek to heal it, creating collagen and elastin (cite). It also induces new capillaries, which helps to replace scar tissue with healthy new skin that matches the rest of the skin around it (cite). Your body is engaging in its natural healing response to injury; because the injuries, the tiny needle-holes, are so small, your body can create healthy new tissue, unlike a large injury that might leave a scar.
I remember feeling really reluctant to microneedle over a scar because, like, obviously it scarred over once because it was an injury, how is injuring it again going to help? Clearly this skin can’t heal, because it already scarred once. But, unless you are someone who forms keloids in response to an injury, your body can heal microneedling injuries because they are so small. And, over a number of treatments, that scar will slowly heal over into healthy younger skin again.
This is why microneedling has so many applications–it’s not that it’s some magical wonder tool that has a scar attachment and a wrinkle attachment and a hair regrowth attachment. Rather, it’s a general-use tool that is able to cause your body to replace any kind of unsatisfactory skin (scarred, wrinkled, loose, follicle-less) with healthy new skin that doesn’t have those negative qualities.
Still feeling skeptical?
If you’re still not sure, take a look at some of the photos in these research-based posts: How to Reduce Stretch Marks with a Dermaroller and How Many Microneedling Sessions for Acne Scars? And DIY.
You’ll see that, even though it’s maybe a little weird, it really does work. And if you’re interested in getting started with DIY at home, you’ll find all the info you need here!
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