VIVACE MIRCONEEDLING AT JACQUELINE BRENNAN

It’s been all the beauty rage the last few months. In fact, you’ve probably read about Hollywood A-listers including Jennifer Aniston, Demi Moore, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kim Kardashian who are turning to microneedling RF (short for radiofrequency) treatment as a less invasive IPL or laser alternative for restoring smooth, toned skin.

RF NEEDLING VS MICRONEEDLING: WHICH IS BETTER?

Microneedling and RF Needling are both used to promote collagen and elastin in the skin and to reduce scar tissue for a smoother, more youthful-looking complexion. The procedures involve a number of small percutaneous punctures to the skin. In less technical terms, they’re like poking your face full of nearly-microscopic little holes using very tiny little needles. The needles stimulate a micro wound healing response throughout your skin without creating an actual wound. The healing response causes your body to release growth factors (the hormones that stimulate cell repair) as new blood vessels form and the collagen fibres begin to rebuild and regenerate themselves. As a result, fine lines and textural concerns are reduced, and your skin looks strengthened and more youthful.

Although the treatments are similar, the tools are very different and we tend to get stronger results from RF needling with fewer treatments.

Microneedling

Microneedling treats surface texture and tone, fine lines and ageing, and mild surface scarring. It’s done with a dermaroller or a dermapen, although we much prefer to use a pen.

The dermaroller, true to its name, has a handle and a roller with tiny needles on it. The needles are about 0.25 – 0.5 mm in diameter and usually 1.5 – 2 mm long. It’s rolled over the skin to make the little pin pricks that stimulate a healing response in your skin.

You can purchase dermarollers for at-home use, but they come with risks. If you don’t keep them properly sterilised, or if you don’t cleanse your skin properly, it can lead to infections and breakouts. If you use the wrong depth or too much pressure, you can also risk causing microdamages and tears to the skin, which can result in scar tissue.

Instead of the roller, clinics will use a microneedling pen, the needle tips on a microneedling pen move speedily in and out of the pen as it’s moved across the skin. The quick movement and retraction of the needles make the microneedling pen much less likely to cause damage than the dermaroller.

As mentioned above, microneedling stimulates a micro wound healing response without creating a wound. Your skin responds by rebuilding collagen and repairing itself for a healthy, youthful appearance.

RF Microneedling

RF Needling, short for Radiofrequency Needling, is a major advancement on microneedling. Like microneedling, it treats ageing and textural concerns, but it can treat deeper scarring, some skin sagging and more stubborn textural concerns because it can safely reach deeper layers of the skin.

RF Needling comes with a hand-held device on which gold plated micro needles move back and forth, but with a few improvements. Rather than moving steadily along the skin’s surface, the handpiece treats one spot at a time. That is, the handpiece is held perpendicular to the skin so that the microneedles can puncture and draw back. Then the handpiece is placed on the next spot. This further decreases the risk of micro damages to the skin and gives your Clinician greater accuracy. The needles can also be adjusted to a greater range of depths for areas with thinner skin (such as the eye area) and areas with thicker skin (like the cheeks).

Another advancement with RF Needling is the addition off radionfrequency. The radiofrequency energy creates controlled heat in the deeper tissues of the skin to give your collagen an additional boost and increase the healing response created by the micro needles. Radiofrequency is often used on its own for skin-tightening treatments, sometimes known as non-surgical facelifts.

Essentially, microneedling treats the surface layer for fine lines and mild scarring while RF Needling treats both the surface and the deeper layers of the skin for slightly deeper acne scarring, ageing, and to promote collagen in the foundations of the skin for youthful strength, elasticity and lift.