Category Archives: Microneedling

Which microneedling is right for you?

Microneedling is one of our favourite skincare treatments on the planet!

But did you know, there are many different types of microneedling treatments you can get at Skin Essentials?

How do you know which is right for you?

Microneedling: I absolutely love microneedling and incorporate it into almost all our anti-ageing programmes. There are many types for different levels of outcome and a customised plan will be created especially for your skin, but in general terms:

Classic Microneedling: Best for early signs of ageing such as first eye lines etc, in a course of 3. Excellent as a single treatment as a pre-ageing advanced facial to build collagen as a future-proofing method. Add into your treatment routine from late twenties onward to delay the visible signs of ageing.

Trifractional Resurfacing: Combines shallow needling with radiofrequency energy. Best for first lines, pores, texture issues. All ages requiring surface smoothing and tightening.

Voluderm Facelift: Combines deeper needling with radiofrequency energy. Best for hollows under the eyes, softness around mouth and neck rejuvenation. Usually age 40 plus.

Pyramid Facelift: Combines trifractional and voluderm technologies as above with radio frequency skin tightening to address all signs of ageing where revision is required on wrinkles, sagging or lax skin, texture and radiance. Usually 40 plus but can also be adapted to address pitted scarring on any age skin.

SmartMeso Nano Needling: Combines very shallow needling with vitamin C and Hyaluronic Acid Infusion. Best for dull, congested skin that needs a boost. Deeper than a facial but still focused on the uppermost skin layers to improve skin quality not structure or shape.

We have just launched a very exciting microneedling treatment from Amieamed Exceed, which is the most comfortable and effective microneedling technology in the country. We have Amieamed Exceed Microneedling exclusively in Wexford and Donnybrook.

Shop our special launch offers HERE, and book a treatment online below:

Microneedling – should it cause your skin to bleed?

The goal of microneedling is to strengthen the skin and support it’s processes to achieve a firmer, smoother and more even skin.

This is achieved by triggering the release of growth factors and cytokines in the skin which promote and increase cell-to-cell communication,

while also enhancing the absorption and processing of your homecare ingredients.

Ultimately the formation of new collagen is the end goal.

In order to get this response it is NOT necessary to penetrate the skin to a depth where you will cause bleeding, despite popular images on social media etc. where you will see a lot of epidermal trauma/bleeding allegedly associated with cosmetic or clinical microneedling.

These images are either used for sensationalism and share-worthiness or possibly because the person posting it is not educated in the latest microneedling techniques and science which has shown us that, unlike early attempts at refining the technique, needling to blood-depth is not at all necessary for results on skin rejuvenation.

In the skincare industry we now know that,

“new collagen forms no deeper than 0.6mm regardless of depth of injury”*

This tells us that needling beyond that depth is pointless and will just give the skin more work to do in terms of healing, using up energy resources that could be better used in creating collagen fibres, the very end goal we are looking for.

So, absolutely not, you do not need to see bleeding as an end point on microneedling, this is very outdated thinking and not what you should expect from a practitioner who is up to date in education and experience in the field of microneedling.

Even better, the technology is being so refined that skin needling is no longer a treatment to grit your teeth and get through, it is by far more comfortable that it used to be. You may not quite sleep during your treatment but you may be surprised at how much the treatment has changed. Give it a try! Your skin will thank you.

*ref: “The Concise Guide to Dermal Needling”, Lance Setterfield, M.D. “An Alternative Treatment For Scars, Wrinkles and Skin Laxity”, (Matthias Aust, M.D., Des Fernandes, M.D. & colleagues).

New launch coming soon to Skin Essentials! Sign-up for first access:

Which microneedling is right for you?

I absolutely love microneedling and incorporate it into almost all our anti-ageing programmes both in our Wexford base and our Dublin pop up clinics.

There are many types for different levels of outcome,

But in general terms I have outlined the differences below and tried to give a best example of what skin concern each is best for:

Classic microneedling (Bio therapeutic Microneedling on our website) Excellent as a single treatment as a pre-ageing advanced facial to build collagen as a future-proofing method. Take in a course of 3 spaced a month apart for correction when you already have early signs of ageing such as first eye lines etc.
Trifractional Resurfacing: Combines shallow needling with radiofrequency energy. Best for first lines, pores, texture issues. Fantastic for resurfacing and revealing a smooth, glowing radiant skin. A great option to jump-start the skin after a period of neglect, or when starting a new skin regime. Results from a single session, take a course for deeper issues.
Voluderm Facelift: Combines deeper needling with radiofrequency energy. Best to address hollows under the eyes, softness around the mouth and to re-volumise cheeks for a youthful look. Best in a course of 3.
SmartMeso Nano Needling: Combines shallow needling with vitamin C and Hyaluronic Acid Infusion. Best for dull, congested skin that needs a boost. Have this in place of, or combined with, your regular facial 3-4 times per year for deep, deep skin hydration and cellular energy.

We use the above in a bespoke single-treatment, combination or series to address each client’s concerns, time availability and budget.

Note: You may sometimes see microneedling described as ‘medical microneedling’ or ‘surgical microneedling’. These terms describe a much deeper type of needling that is performed by a doctor, or surgeon, and is a very different treatment, although the terms are often misused by salons or cosmetic clinics who perhaps don’t really have the advanced expertise to know the difference.

Some advanced types of medical/surgical needling even require a general anesthetic! Don’t worry though, you will get amazing results from cosmetic grade needling on all signs of ageing, wrinkles, scars and lax skin.

The previously mentioned options are usually used for very deep scarring or other skin conditions that involve the underlying structures and are strictly for the plastic surgeon’s office.