Microneedling Offers Long Lasting Skin Rejuvenation
What originally started as a handheld tool with a barrel at the end of it has evolved into an electric pen that creates microscopic punctures in the skin with virtually no pain, stimulating the brain to turn on its skin healing capabilities and produce collagen.
At Skinspirations Center for Cosmetic Enhancement in Clearwater, licensed aesthetician Gale Pingleton is accustomed to clients communicating their skin needs. She has heard patients express a desire to eliminate the signs of aging or conceal a childhood scar that continues to be a painful reminder of early skin issues. She says the Center’s addition of treatments with the microneedling tool SkinPen by Bellus Medical has broadened an already extensive line of skin care solutions she can offer her clients.
“This is a great treatment for anyone concerned about looseness in the skin or for those who don’t like the texture of their skin from wear and tear or sun damage over time,” Pingleton says. “It’s also helpful for people with scars because the needling process creates collagen and fills in those areas with new skin without a lot of downtime or discoloring of the skin.”
Led by board-certified physician and owner Dr. Cynthia Elliott, Skinspirations offers a variety of injectable fillers, laser treatments, injection lypolysis as well as aesthetician services. The SkinPen has been in use at the Center since earlier this year and the feedback is already quite positive.
“Clients tell us they feel like their skin is plumper, firmer and has a beautiful glow to it. Some have even commented that this treatment has minimized pores and improved skin tone,” Pingleton says. But the real beauty of the product, she says, is its simplicity in how it works. What originally started as a handheld tool with a barrel at the end of it has evolved into an electric pen that creates microscopic punctures in the skin and by doing so, stimulates the brain to turn on its skin healing capabilities and produce collagen.
As this latest version of the non-surgical tool, the treatment has become much faster, and more comfortable for patients and requires far less downtime (at most a day) compared to a laser alternative which may deliver similar results but at greater cost and requiring as much as four or five days of downtime.
With the skin pen by Bellus Medical, Pingleton and her colleagues can provide customized treatments, since needle length can range anywhere from 0.25 mm to 2.5 mm. That also includes being paired with other skin care treatments. For example, during one popular treatment, platelet rich plasma (PRP), a patient’s own blood is processed and applied to the skin during the microneedling treatment as a means of boosting the treatment’s effectiveness and layering the surface with additional rich cells to encourage new skin growth, “much like a fertilizer for the skin,” Pingleton notes.
Patients who opt for the skin needling treatments should plan for a minimum of three appointments, scheduled four weeks apart, for the optimum effectiveness of the treatments, which can be done on the body as well as the face for those interested in eliminating old stretch marks or scars on the stomach or a limb in addition to the popular facial treatments.
Pingleton says another big advantage of the treatment is the longevity of its results – usually a year. “Your skin will keep going through a kind of remodeling mode, creating collagen for up to 12 months after treatment,” she says.
Article written for Destination Tampa Bay magazine