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So, absolutely not, you do not need to see bleeding as an end point on microneedling, this is very outdated thinking and not what you should expect from a practitioner who is up to date in education and experience in the field of microneedling.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