Professional vs. At-Home Microneedling:
What You Need to Know
Is at-home microneedling safe? Dr. Simran Sethi breaks down the risks, benefits, and misconceptions about microneedling at home versus professional treatments. Discover why microneedling at home might not deliver the results you’re hoping for, especially if you have skin of color or acne scars. Learn how professional microneedling works, why depth and safety matter, and how to choose a trusted provider for optimal results. Dr. Sethi also shares insights into common mistakes and the potential dangers of at-home devices.
0:00 – Introduction to Microneedling
0:22 – At-Home Microneedling Risks
1:54 – How Professional Microneedling Works
5:22 – Who Should Avoid At-Home Microneedling
7:49 – Final Thoughts and Advice
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I’m going to start by first telling you that I personally do not like the idea of microneedling at home. And I know you’re probably going to say, “Okay, now she’s going to talk about all the negative aspects of microneedling at home.” But I just want you to understand that this is not because I’m an aesthetic provider myself, and I want people to come to my offices to microneedle, but because I have also seen in my practice so many people, especially those who have skin of color, have very, very bad effects from microneedling at home. And, scientifically, there are very good reasons why it’s not safe, and it’s also not going to actually give you any benefit. So not only is it unsafe, it’s not beneficial. So, now, let’s jump into what is microneedling. Very briefly. Microneedling is a controlled injury of your skin, where needles are going into the dermis of your skin, which is your deepest skin layer.
The dermis is responsible for making collagen. It also is where your collagen is housed. When you microneedle, the goal is to stimulate this deep layer, so that it starts making new collagen rapidly and kind of brings it to the surface. And as a result, this should help soften fine lines. It should reduce acne scars, also reduce pigmentation. Now, when you microneedle at home, and I’ve looked at multiple devices that are promoted by other physicians as well, and what I’ve found is, most of these devices don’t have the depth to reach the dermis, and that is probably the most important function of a microneedling device, is going to the right layer of the skin to stimulate that collagen. And this is even more problematic if you have acne scarring. So people who have more moderate to severe acne scarring have a whole layer of scar tissue sitting on top of their skin. Then comes the epidermis, then comes a dermis.
Now think about it. If somebody doesn’t have any acne scarring and they just need, let’s say, one millimeter of a needle to go into their dermis, or a one millimeter needle can reach their dermis, great. Mission accomplished. But what if you have a whole millimeter of acne scarring sitting on top of your epidermis, when that needle goes in and it only gets through one millimeter, it hasn’t done anything. It hasn’t gone into your dermis for sure. Most of the time, and actually I will say very definitively, a lot of the home kits for a microneedling don’t even go deep enough to get into the dermis of your skin. Second, microneedling is really painful. If you were to microneedle in a medical spa, you are going to be numbed with a very heavy numbing cream for at least 30 minutes, and that’s the only way your skin can tolerate getting a microneedling treatment.
I have an excellent pain threshold. I do all these procedures on myself, and I can tell you definitively that if I wasn’t to numb for 30 minutes with a very heavy prescribed numbing cream, I would not be able to get through a microneedling procedure. Definitely not be able to get through one that goes deep into the dermis. Maybe a superficial one, yes, but a depth of two and a half millimeter, which is kind of the minimum you need in most parts of the face to get to the dermis. You’re not going to be able to do it. So how could you possibly microneedle at home and get into the dermis without experiencing excruciating pain? Likely, you are going to only be able to take that device up to, again, maximum a millimeter, and you are not entering your dermis at that depth. If you are to microneedle yourself, you just cannot inflict that level of pain to get into the dermis. It just cannot happen.
So that’s the other reason why microneedling home devices don’t get into the dermis. They’re just really painful and you are just not going to be able to administer it yourself. And then last but not least, bacteria. I know there are some kits where you have a disposable little device that you throw away after you’ve microneedled, but many don’t. They’re reusable. There are derma rollers that literally people put on their skin, put it over in their drawer, and then use it again. Imagine how much bacteria you are allowing to enter into your skin. So even from the perspective of just infection, at-home microneedling devices can be questionable and likely probably not the best choice, especially if they’re not disposable after the first use.
So I’ve given you a whole bunch of negatives about microneedling at home. If you have microneedle at home and you’re like, “You know what? My skin looks great. I’m going to continue to do it. I’m not going to pay a medical spa hundreds of dollars to do it.” Fine. And I’m not saying you should stop if you are getting positive results, but, there are people who should definitely, definitely not microneedle at home. And number one, people with skin of color. If you’re a skin type four or greater, you have a lot of melanin in the epidermis, your superficial skin layer, because your epidermises job is to produce more melanin to protect your skin from damage from the environment, damage from skin breakage.
So imagine if you microneedled and go through the epidermis and don’t get into the dermis to actually stimulate new skin production, you are actually going to just hyperpigment and worsen pigmentation, actually worsen scarring. You’re scratching away at your skin. You’re doing exactly what triggered that acne scarring or that scarring and hyperpigmentation. So, if you have a darker skin tone, you should definitely avoid microneedling at home. And that is actually the one group that I see come into my clinic where they have microneedled at home and have had a terrible amount of hyperpigmentation that we then can eventually correct, but with a lot of sessions of in-clinic microneedling.
The second group that should absolutely not microneedle at home is people with acne or scar tissue or moderate to severe scarring from acne. Microneedling devices that are home devices don’t get to a depth where they can get to the dermis and stimulate new skin production and scar reversal. You’re exposing your skin to more risk, and you’re not getting any improvement or any positive effect.
So, those are the groups that I think if you are considering microneedling at home, you should absolutely not consider it. You are actually risking your skin even more. If you have any comments about this topic, you’re using a microneedling device at home and having great results, or you’re considering it, you’re not sure if it’s right for your skin type or skin condition, I would love to hear from you in the comments. Please remember to subscribe, turn on your notification bell so that you know whenever we release new content.