Microneedling

Downtime is minimal. My approach to microneedling is intentionally controlled and conservative—I’m looking for an effective treatment response without leaving your skin raw and intensely inflamed for days afterward.

You may leave with some mild redness or warmth, similar to a light sunburn, but for most people this settles within several hours and the skin is largely back to normal by the following day.

Your skin will be especially sensitive to the sun immediately afterward, so plan to protect it carefully. Avoid direct sun exposure on treated areas for at least 48 hours and wear SPF, a wide-brimmed hat, and sunglasses when outdoors.

For the first 24–48 hours, think gentle and simple. Avoid direct sun exposure, strenuous exercise and excessive sweating, saunas, steam rooms, swimming, and anything that may irritate the freshly treated skin.

You’ll also want to temporarily avoid strong active skincare ingredients such as retinoids, exfoliating acids, scrubs, and other potentially irritating products. I’ll give you specific aftercare instructions based on your skin and current skincare routine.

Come well hydrated and have something to eat within a few hours of your appointment, especially since your treatment also includes body acupuncture.

Arriving with a clean face and minimal makeup is ideal. In the days leading up to your appointment, avoid anything that has left your skin irritated, sunburned, or overly sensitized such as retinoids or concentrated chemical exfoliants.

We’ll also review your current skincare products, medications, recent cosmetic procedures, and anything else that may affect how your skin responds before beginning treatment.

For the best results, I generally recommend a series of treatments rather than a single session. The number you need depends on your skin, age, and goals—treating acne scarring or pigmentation, for example, may require a different approach than supporting overall skin quality and healthy aging.

For most cosmetic goals, a series of 6 treatments provides an opportunity for meaningful cumulative change. A 10-treatment series may be more appropriate for more advanced signs of aging or for those who want to make microneedling part of an ongoing healthy-aging practice.

We’ll determine the right treatment plan and frequency for your skin together. 6- and 10-treatment packages are available.

You will likely notice brighter, fresher-looking skin relatively quickly, but microneedling is designed to create changes that develop gradually as your skin repairs and remodels itself.

Improvements in texture, tone, fine lines, scarring, and overall skin quality build over time and with repeated treatments. Because collagen remodeling is a process, some changes continue to develop in the weeks following your treatment.

Results vary depending on your age, skin health, lifestyle, sun exposure, skincare routine, and the concerns we are treating.

Good skincare between treatments can help protect your results. I’ll advise you on your at-home routine, help you decide which products are appropriate for your skin, and determine whether practices such as facial gua sha or cupping make sense for your particular concerns.

After completing an initial series, occasional maintenance treatments can be used to continue supporting healthy skin renewal over time.Item description

Microneedling can be incorporated into a skincare routine that also includes Botox or dermal fillers, but timing matters.

Please tell me about any recent injections, including what was treated and when. I recommend following the waiting period advised by your injector before microneedling, as timing can vary depending on the product, treatment area, and procedure.

When in doubt, we’ll err on the side of giving your skin and tissues adequate time to settle before treatment.

I do not perform microneedling during pregnancy. While acupuncture can be safely used during pregnancy when appropriately performed, microneedling is an elective cosmetic procedure and can simply wait.

If you're pregnant, my cosmetic acupuncture treatment would be a better choice for this stage of life.