If you follow beauty news and trends, chances are you have heard of microneedling, or dermarolling as some like to call it. Put simply, microneedling may be one of the quickest and easiest ways to get more glowing, even, and youthful looking skin. Put a bit more complexly, but hopefully without getting too technical, below is an in depth look at this magical treatment and what it can do for you.
What is it?
Microneedling, clinically referred to as ‘collagen induction therapy’, is a treatment designed to invoke the healing response in your skin by causing microtrauma in a carefully controlled manner. Sound complicated? Well, the science behind it is a bit complex, but actually performing the treatment on yourself is simple, and the results rather fabulous.
Anti-ageing benefits
Whilst we are going to try to keep this as straight forward as possible, a little bit of technical information is necessary: A dermaroller (the microneedling device) has a rolling head, equipped with hundreds of ultrafine needles that create micropunctures in the skin. The body perceives these microscopic channels as wounds, and prompts a healing process. Healing of the skin is mainly done by collagen and elastin production. And it just so happens that collagen and elastin is what the skin requires to look plump, healthy and youthful.
Sadly, there are many factors that contribute to our overall appearance ageing, be it naturally or prematurely. The good news is that microneedling can drastically help reduce and reverse these issues. This includes skin texture, pigmentation, fine lines, scarring and sun damage. Yay!
Here is what you can expect an at-home microneedling routine to do for you:
Reduce fine lines and wrinkles
This might be the most amazing and important benefit of microneedling...
How it’s possible? You guessed it, by stimulating collagen and elastin production. Also, the stimulation of little blood vessels which supply blood, oxygen and nutrients straight into the dermis does wonders. It’s not magic, but it certainly is magical.
Reduce hyperpigmentation and give you a more even skin tone
Basically, any sort of skin problem (inflammation, pimples, eczema) and sun damage, can result in the skin changing colour leaving the skin looking blotchy, uneven, and ultimately older.
To understand how microneedling helps, we would need to get very technical:
scientists believe that the effect comes from increased expression of matrix metalloproteinases as well as reducing growth of keratinocytes. Instead, let’s just say that unsightly pigmentation and uneven skin tone can be successfully combated with regular microneedling.
Exfoliate the skin
Just like any treatment that ‘mechanically disrupts the epidermis’ (that’s fancy language for abrasively treating the skin), microneedling will result in exfoliation. Exfoliation is important because removing dead skin cells makes your skin look fresh and smooth. And we all want to have fresh and smooth skin, don’t we?
Allow for better absorption of your skin care products.
The microchannels created during treatment enable serums and creams to be absorbed in a way that simply isn’t possible on untreated skin, in fact, about 300% more! Aside from the obvious benefits – that your products can work on a far deeper level – you will use less of your precious lotions and potions!