Anyone who has suffered with acne will know that getting rid of the spots is only half the battle.
Most people are left with some scarring, and it can range from minimal to much deeper, ice pick scars. Even if you weren't a pimple picker, scars can still blight your now clear skin visage.
But help is out there, in the forms of lasers and microneedling. Below clinical aesthetic practitioner Elizabeth Rimmer, from London Professional Aesthetics, explains exactly what microneedling is and how it can help with scarring.
What is it?
"We are stimulating the skin to produce collagen and elastin by creating a wound response," Elizabeth told Cover Media of the invasive skin-rejuvenation procedure which uses needles to pierce the skin. "Piercing the skin results in the cells thinking there's a problem so they'll try and repair the surface of the skin and with that you get an improvement in scarring, fine lines, texture and even open pores.
"Like many treatments for scarring, you will often require more than one. It depends on the severity of what you're starting out with, but scarring is probably one of the more difficult things to treat because it can often originate quite deep down into the skin and that's why it can be troublesome."
Most patients will require three to six treatments, with a six week break in between each session.
What it's like to experience a microneedling session:
Before
Like skin lasering, the face needs to be covered in a thick layer of anaesthetic cream for up to an hour. "Without you wouldn't be able to do it," Elizabeth noted. "Then we rub some alcohol preparation over the skin, so it is super clean, as when we're piercing the face we want to reduce the risk of infection."
Immediately after
O.K. so the skin is REALLY red after being microneedled. We're talking tomato red and worse than any sunburn you've ever experienced or seen before. But unlike lasers like Fraxel, skin isn't burning hot like a radiator. Some people's skin can feel tight after a session, though mine didn't. Elizabeth applied a layer of hyaluronic acid but it's important not to put anything else on the skin that night, to avoid the risk of infection. The holes created close over very quickly, but while they are open don't put anything on your face. And avoid having a hot shower or exercising.
The following day
Redness takes a good two days to go down, but from the following day you can cover with make-up. Using powder is effective, to the point you can't even see how red the skin is underneath. You can start moisturising and putting face serums and creams on from day two, but avoid any retinol or products with active ingredients for at least 48 hours or until the redness is gone. There's an increased risk of sun damage after the treatment so make sure you're wearing SPF.
A week later
Unlike with Fraxel, I didn't experience particularly dry skin and certainly no peeling. The downtime is minimal, it's just the hours after you might want to avoid doing anything as your face will resemble a radish! Skin started to look fresher straight away, and although one treatment didn't get rid of the scars, they have diminished and continue to do so with the use of retinol and vitamin C products.Read more at: vintage formal dresses | australian formal dresses
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