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Hey all, it’s good to be back! Today we’re talking acne scarring.
Whether you choose to DIY with a microneedling device or get a treatment session in a medspa, there’s a lot of good research for microneedling for acne scarring.
This was one of the first well-documented uses of a microneedling procedure, so there’s a great deal of research showing how microneedling improves the appearance of scars after acne.
This post will review how microneedling works for facial acne scars, how many microneedling sessions for acne scars, and two possible schedules for microneedling treatment depending on whether you’re prioritizing the fastest possible improvement or spending as little as possible.
How does microneedling work for acne scarring?
Basically, how microneedling repairs acne scarring is the same way microneedling works for everything: it pokes a tiny hole in your skin, and your body fills that hole back in with fresh, healthy, younger-looking skin. It’s called collagen induction therapy. Each little hole gets a couple cells of healthier, younger skin, times thousands or millions of little holes from those tiny needles per treatment.
In the case of acne scarring, that new collagen comes in and fills the sunken, deeper scars with healthy new skin. As the treatments go on, people with acne scars will see a reduction in their uneven skin texture and overall skin rejuvenation.
You’ll see improvement from the first session, but here’s the deal: you don’t see the full results of each treatment for six weeks after the treatment itself. It takes your body that long to generate all the collagen it’s going to make. Since most places are going to suggest you schedule every four weeks (4-6 weeks is standard!), you’re not seeing the full collagen production from the last session yet!
How many microneedling sessions for acne scars?
Of course, the answer to that depends on a lot of things! The appearance of acne scars or the severity of your scarring is the big one, but also, different people respond to microneedling differently.
In general, more treatments means better results. But if you’re on this post because you’re worried you can’t afford a full set of six treatments, know that if you only do two, you’re still going to see significant improvement. And, because the results of microneedling are permanent, doing two now and two next year will still lead to more and more improvement.
So, I can’t tell you exactly for you personally how many sessions you’re going to need, but here are some before and after photos out of peer-reviewed research. I noted under each photo how many sessions they got.
3 sessions. (Note that the right side of her face also got PRP — the left side, the lower photos, was microneedling only.) From Asif et al.
4 sessions. From Khalid et al.
3 sessions. From Hassan.
What I really would have liked to find for this post was peer-reviewed before and after photos of just one treatment. I was able to find studies like that for stretch marks in this post, but not here. I am pretty distrustful of photos put out by medspas or things on Pinterest, so I’m not going to link to those.
So, in these 3-4 sessions from these sample photos, we see that their uneven skin tone is drastically reduced but not completely eliminated. So, 3 sessions is likely to be an effective treatment, but people with deeper scarring may need more for best results.
Up next: two possible ways to go about getting microneedling for acne scars. One plan is for the fastest possible results, and one plan is to spend the least possible money. Then, DIY instructions.
How to space microneedling treatments for fastest results (if you’re in-office)
If you’re okay with potentially spending a little more money as long as you’re getting the fastest possible results, you’re looking to space your appointments four weeks apart. If you have mild to moderate acne scarring, I would stuggest that you start with a smaller number of sessions: 3 or 4. You might see significant improvements from that and decide that you got your desired results. If not, you can always schedule more appointments for further improvements.
If money is not at issue, you can also consider add-ons like PRP, or platelet-rich plasma. They take some of your own plasma from your blood and add it to the treatment. The research on this is really positive. If you’re going in-office, consider this, because you can’t do it at home! It’s also really good for overall appearance of the skin, sun damage, and the appearance of fine lines.
How to space microneedling treatments to spend as little money as possible
I’ve been there!
If you have a little bit of money to spend but not a ton, first I’m going to encourage you to consider going the DIY route in the next section! But I know that’s not for everybody.
If you feel like a derma roller is not for you and you definitely want to go to a medspa, here’s a treatment plan that makes sure that you don’t spend any more money than necessary:
- go for an initial consultation and schedule your first two appointments four weeks apart
- After the second appointment, wait 6 weeks to see the full results of the two appointments. Then, decide if you want to do another appointment.
- If you choose to do a third, wait another 6 weeks to see the full results before deciding if you’re going to do another. And so on.
Spacing your treatments this way ensures that you’re only continuing with each cosmetic procedure if you really feel you need it. You’re not still going because you’ve already made the appointment, or because you’re dissatisfied because you didn’t see the full results of the last appointment. And honestly, once you see deep scars become tiny holes that can be covered with makeup, you may decide it’s good enough for now!
DIY microneedling for acne scars
I love at-home microneedling and it has really upgraded my healthy glow. If you want to get regular treatments of microneedling but don’t see yourself spending hundreds of dollars every couple of weeks, doing it yourself is easy.
I have a whole protocol written up already about how to do microneedling yourself for acne scars, so let me just give you the FAQs and send you over there.
- You can still use a topical numbing cream if you’re worried about pain. Here are the best ones.
- Once you know how to do it, you can use it to address other skin concerns, deep wrinkles, sun spots, etc.
- Never microneedle over acne breakouts! Let your skin clear first, or avoid active acne.
- Once your scarring is gone, you can continue maintenance treatments to keep up the production of collagen until your texture is really even.
You can find the directions for at-home microneedling for acne scars here!
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