A few months ago, I decided I wanted to do a bit more to my skin than getting facials, and my own skincare routine. So I started to explore the realm of micro-needling and chemical peels. My biggest skin concern while still battling acne is that I have a lot of scarring from old breakouts. I started breaking out when I was in middle school, and now I am 25. When you do the math, that equals too many years dealing with this. I found a local place that was able to do both, and upon my first consultation, she recommended I do three sessions of micro-needling to start. I want to disclaimer that I do have a high tolerance for pain for the most part, but I will try my best to describe each procedure in detail. And if you have any questions feel free to ask me!
Micro-needling
- Micro-needling is a procedure that uses small needles to prick the skin. It works to stimulate the collagen in your skin so that the reproduction of new skin occurs. It also is known to lighten scarring, wrinkles, and large pores. The needles may sound scary, but it isn’t that bad. The only areas that seem to hurt are the ones with the least amount of skin. So, for example, your forehead or the bridge of your nose It takes about an hour to complete and leaves your look face extremely red and feels like a sunburn for a couple of hours after. My face will felt warm as the needles go around, but it’s dull for the most part. You cannot wear makeup or go out in direct sunlight for at least two days. After that, you should be fine, and the redness goes down dramatically. I put some pictures below to show the results. Typically I would schedule these appointments on a Friday so that I could stay home the entire weekend for the most part.
Chemical Peel
A chemical peel is a treatment that improves the appearance or feel of the skin. The chemical solutions used to cause the skin to exfoliate, and eventually peel off. My chemical peel took about a week to heal. And let me say this is not for the faint of heart. You are going to wake up and feel just a bit gross. You cannot peel off the skin you have to let it fall off on its own to prevent damaging the new layer of skin. Which is way easier said than done. I never realized how much I relied on my skin, looking decent to make me feel normal. I had gotten the procedure done the week before Thanksgiving break. I had to go back to work while my face was on full peel mode. The peel does feel a bit uncomfortable, but it isn’t on your skin that long for it to be painful. It is shorter than having micro-needling done, but as I mentioned, the recovery time is longer. About three days in, I went to brunch and put on makeup. My dermatologist said she would rather I didn’t, but after three days, it would be more okay too. She strongly recommended though that for the next couple of weeks/months, I never forget to wear sunscreen and try to avoid the sun as much as possible. Which you should always be wearing sunscreen at least on your face!
At first, I felt the peel was working or was going to work. But I think my face got worse before it got better. I even feel like it got oilier, which I didn’t even think was possible. But, I never went in for my last micro-needling, so overall, I think I could be the reason why I didn’t precisely get the results I was looking for.
I would recommend the micro-needling over the chemical peel because both times I did micro-needling, I did feel an improvement. But what I recommend more than that is to consult a medical professional before deciding what treatment is right for you. Post quarantine, I have decided to look into the laser to diminish the look of my acne scarring because my overall skin goal is actually to wear less foundation, which is what the majority of the spotting I have on my face is versus new blemishes.
