Does Microneedling hurt?

Why in the world people poke their faces with needles in the name of beauty? Its called as microneedling (also known as collagen-induced therapy) has become a hot topic in the beauty industry these days. What exactly is it? Microneedling involves puncturing your face being repeatedly by a system of tiny little needles attached to a cylindrical drum. Does microneedling hurt? Keep on reading to find out.

It actually gives your skin the wake-up call by creating micro injuries injuries in the skin causes a collagen boosting response, filling in the pores, wrinkles, plumping the skin and giving a younger look.

That’s a difficult question to answer because pain is subjective and depends on the person’s own pain tolerance. Everyone has a different pain tolerance but mind it when I say that microneedling is not a comfortable pursuit. But there are few ways you can do to minimize the perception of pain. First, we need to consider some things when microneedling to have a less painful and more beneficial experience:

The type of needles you use (Titanium vs. Stainless steel)
The type of tool you use (Pen, Roller, Stamp)
The Needle lengths are most important (0.25mm vs 3.0mm)
How you do perform microneedling and how often you do it
If you use numbing cream

The type of needles you use:

Stainless Steel Derma Roller:

The needles on these derma rollers are extremely sharp and hygienic. These needles penetrate the skin more easily. The big up side to this derma roller is that it is easy to make them clean. Even with the best sterilization methods, you can’t make titanium roller as clean as stainless steel derma rollers. The big down side is that the stainless steel gets blunt easily-they are not strong enough. You have to replace them more often. As they are very easy to clean, it is less likely to cause an allergic reaction or an infection on the skin, if properly cleaned.

Titanium Derma Roller:

Titanium derma rollers are known for being more strong and and more durable. But there are some studies that show that they are less stronger than the stainless steel derma roller. Although, the problem of bending and becoming dull is less with these kind of rollers, but still you have to replace them after some time of use. The big down side of this roller is their cleanliness. They are very difficult to clean even with the best sterilization methods.

The Needle Length:

The important factor when it comes to pain is the needle length. ‘’As you sow so shall you leap’’-which means small needles cause less pain, long needles are more. The needle length 0.25mm cause no pain at all, 1.5mm are quite painful, and 3.0mm should be only done professionally and should not be used at home. Although, longer needles are more effective but they are more invasive and cause more pain-you will literally cry. But still you want to use them, you can use a numbing cream prior to the procedure.

The type of tool you use:

There are three different kinds of tools available:

Dermaroller
Dermastamp
Dermapen

The tools used for the procedure can have a big effect on the pain. The derma pen is less painful and more safer than the other devices. The needles on the derma rollers can bend easily and become bend-therefore increasing the amount of force for to do the procedure and causing more pain eventually.

How often you micro needle

Professionals recommend to do microneedling only twice a week. Give your skin some time to heal before doing another microneedling procedure. Wait at least 4 to 6 weeks, if you are using longer needles. Atleast 3 to 6 microneedling sessions (4 to 6 weeks apart) are required to get an effective result.

A numbing cream:

Does microneedling hurt? Now, you know it does. But you can use a numbing cream to numbs the skin (as the names says) to decrease the perception of pain. You can apply it prior to the treatment. Make sure to apply to all over your face and clean it properly after some time. And Voila! No Pain!

CONCLUSION:

It is completely fine to feel mild discomfort during or after the procedure because the needles used are supposed to create small injuries into the skin. The pain caused somehow depends on your pain tolerance and the needles you use. Slight irritation and redness is normal with small needles, while longer needles might cause bleeding.