Microneedling: What It Does, What It Does Not Do, and How Many Sessions You Need

Microneedling is the treatment I am asked about most and the one most often oversold. So here is the version I give clients in a consultation, including the parts that do not help me sell anything.

It works by creating thousands of tiny, controlled channels in the skin. Your body reads these as damage and responds the way it responds to any damage — by producing collagen and elastin to repair the area. That repair response is the entire point. Nothing is being injected into a wrinkle and nothing is being filled. You are being prompted to rebuild your own structure.

What it genuinely does well

The evidence and my own results are strongest for:

• Textural acne scarring — particularly rolling and boxcar scars, the soft-edged indentations left behind after acne has cleared
• General skin texture — roughness, enlarged-looking pores, that slightly crêpey quality on the cheeks
• Fine lines — the early ones, especially around the eyes and mouth
• Post-inflammatory pigmentation — the marks left after spots, as opposed to deeper melasma
• Overall firmness — gradual, cumulative, more "your skin looks well" than dramatic

The results build. You will see a glow within days, which is largely hydration and circulation, and then the real change arrives between weeks four and twelve as new collagen matures. It is a slow treatment in a market that mostly sells fast ones.

What it does not do

Just as important:

• It does not lift. Sagging is a structural issue that needle depth does not reach. If someone is offering microneedling as a facelift alternative, be sceptical.
• It does not fill deep static wrinkles. Lines that are visible with your face completely relaxed are unlikely to disappear. They may soften.
• It does not remove ice-pick scars. These are narrow, deep and steep-walled, and they need a different approach entirely — usually something a dermatologist provides.
• It does not clear active acne. And it should not be performed over it.
• It does not reliably fix melasma. Sometimes it helps; sometimes it aggravates it. Melasma is temperamental and deserves a cautious, properly assessed approach.

How many sessions you actually need

For general maintenance and glow, a single session every four to six weeks is plenty.

For a specific concern — scarring, texture, pigmentation — three sessions spaced four weeks apart is the standard, and it is standard because that is roughly the arc of a full collagen remodelling cycle. Which is why a course of three is priced at £100 rather than three separate sessions.

Could you need more than three? For significant scarring, sometimes six, spread across the year. Anyone promising a complete result from one session is describing a treatment I have never performed.

What happens on the day

1. Double cleanse so the skin is clinically clean.
2. Numbing, if you would like it. Topical cream, left to take effect.
3. Microneedling. The device is worked across the treatment area with a solution — at Dermatique that is Derma 2.0 PN and PDRN. Most people describe a mild prickling; the forehead and along the jaw are the parts people notice.
4. Serum infusion. This is when the open channels matter — actives penetrate far deeper than they ever could on intact skin.
5. Moisturise and protect. A nourishing moisturiser and SPF.

Face alone takes around 30 minutes, face and neck 45, face, neck and chest around 75.

Afterwards you look mildly sunburnt. It typically settles within 24 to 48 hours, occasionally a little longer on the first session.

Why I think this one belongs at home

This is the treatment where mobile makes the most practical difference. You finish looking flushed and feeling warm, and then you can sit down. No drive, no car park, no walking past the school gates looking like you have caught the sun. I bring everything and set up in whichever room you prefer, anywhere within about ten miles of Northampton — the areas I cover are listed here.

Aftercare, and please take this seriously

For 24 to 48 hours:

• No makeup. The channels are open. This is the rule people break and regret.
• No sun exposure, and SPF every morning once you are past the first 24 hours.
• No actives — no retinoid, no acids, no strong vitamin C.
• No intense exercise, sauna, steam or swimming. Sweat and chlorine into open channels is exactly as unhelpful as it sounds.
• Keep hands off. Clean hands only, gentle products only.

Written aftercare comes with you on the day, and you can message me afterwards if anything is worrying you.

Who should not have it

Microneedling is not suitable if you:

• Have active acne, an infection, or a cold sore in the area
• Have keloid or hypertrophic scarring tendencies
• Are pregnant or breastfeeding — largely a precaution, but a firm one
• Are taking oral isotretinoin, or finished it within the last six months
• Have a bleeding disorder or take anticoagulants, without your doctor's agreement
• Have eczema, psoriasis or rosacea actively flaring on the treatment area
• Have any undiagnosed lesion or changing mole — that goes to a GP first, every time

Home dermarollers are a separate conversation and mostly a bad idea. The needle quality is inconsistent, the depth is uncontrolled, sterility is nearly impossible to maintain across uses, and the most common outcome I see is a damaged barrier rather than new collagen.

Realistic expectations, in one paragraph

If you come to me with rolling acne scars, commit to three sessions, keep off the sun and wear SPF, you will very likely see a meaningful improvement — scars that are shallower, skin that catches the light more evenly, texture that feels different under your fingers. You will not see them gone. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling.

If that sounds like the right trade, the treatment page has the detail, and the price guide has everything costed. If it does not, that is a perfectly good outcome from a consultation too.

Common questions

Does it hurt?

With numbing cream, most people find it very manageable — a prickling sensation rather than pain. Without it, it is sharper but still tolerable for most. You decide on the day.

How long is the downtime?

Redness like mild sunburn for 24 to 48 hours. Some tightness and light flaking for a few days after. You can go about your normal day; you just would not choose to be photographed.

When will I see results?

A glow within three or four days. The real structural change shows between four and twelve weeks, and continues improving after the final session of a course.

Can I have it before a wedding or event?

Yes, but not in the fortnight before. Plan the final session at least three to four weeks out, so any redness has long gone and the collagen response has begun to show.

Is it safe on darker skin tones?

Generally yes, and it is often preferred over aggressive resurfacing precisely because it carries a lower risk of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Depth and technique still need care, which is what the consultation covers.

What is the difference between this and a chemical peel?

A peel works chemically on the surface layers to resurface and brighten. Microneedling works mechanically at depth to rebuild structure. They address different things, and for some people a combination across the year is the right answer.