Has your skin been damaged by prolonged UV ray exposure? Do you have age spots on your face or stretch marks on your thighs, chest, back, or stomach? Do you wish you could smooth away the C-section scar from your second child? If so, you may be the ideal candidate for microneedling at Soza Clinic in Richardson, TX.
How Long Do the Results of Microneedling Last?
Microneedling, also known as collagen induction therapy, provides results that typically last around six months. However, the durability of your treatment results depends on several factors, including the condition you are treating and the health of your collagen. Here’s a brief overview of how long results last based on the condition being addressed:
Scar Removal
One of the most compelling benefits of collagen induction therapy is that in just two to three short sessions it can remove certain types of scars. Most notably, it can be used for the effective removal of thermal burn scars, acne scars, and surgical scars. However, it is not ideal for other types of scars, like raised keloid scars.
While it takes multiple sessions for scars to be removed completely, once they’re gone, they won’t come back. In other words, in just 60 to 90 minutes of total treatment time, you will never have to worry about scar creams or makeup to semi-effectively conceal scars again. Even better, collagen induction therapy is far gentler on your skin than more aggressive skincare treatments, like deep chemical peels or laser scar removal.
Stretch Mark Removal
Another use for collagen induction therapy that is considered permanent is stretch mark removal. Like scar removal, you may need two to three sessions to see your skin completely smoothed and uniform in color with the skin around your stretch marks. However, the results are achievable.
Nevertheless, there is an important caveat that we must add. If you gain or lose over 10 pounds rapidly, you may find that your stretch marks “come back.” For example, collagen induction therapy will permanently remove abdominal stretch marks caused by gaining 15 pounds. Losing 15 pounds from your abdominal region quickly may cause new marks in the treated region.
Wrinkle “Relaxing”
While many people think that microneedling relaxes wrinkles like Dysport relaxes wrinkles, this is a misunderstanding. Dysport smooths away wrinkles that are caused by hyperactivity in the localized underlying muscles. Contrastingly, collagen induction therapy smooths away wrinkles that are caused by extensive collagen loss.
How long your previously wrinkled skin remains smooth depends on your skin’s collagen production deficit. If your skin is producing hardly any new collagen at all, you may need a follow-up session in roughly six months. If, however, your skin is still producing collagen at a fairly decent clip, you probably won’t need a follow-up session for approximately a year.
Improved Skin Tone
Unfortunately, the older you get, the more likely you are to suffer from melasma, a common skin condition characterized by gray skin. Since collagen growth encourages cellular turnover, old, gray skin cells are replaced with fresh, healthy new skin cells. Once all the old skin cells in the treatment area are replaced with new skin cells, you will notice a flawlessly bright, even, healthy skin tone.
As with wrinkle treatment, you can expect these results to last for as long as your collagen remains healthy. If you’re between the ages of 25 and 35, you will likely enjoy the benefits of treatment for approximately a year. If you’re 36 or older, the results of your treatment may only last around nine months. By the time you reach your 50s or 60s, you may need follow-up sessions semiannually.
Smaller Pores
If you have oily skin or combination skin, collagen induction therapy may be the perfect aesthetic service for you. It is often used to shrink enlarged pores on the cheeks, forehead, or nose. These enlarged pores aren’t just clearly noticeable: they are also likely to become congested with excess sebum and dirt, even when you wash your face and use anti-acne medication.
Depending on how thoroughly you wash your face and how much oil your skin produces, you may need follow-up treatments every two to three months. However, since treatment only lasts around half of an hour, investing in collagen induction therapy sessions will save you a great deal of time when you consider how much more effective it is than applying acne prevention medications daily.
Younger-Looking Skin
While it may seem counterintuitive, your skin is far more receptive to topical medications, like anti-acne medication and anti-aging creams when your pores are no longer enlarged. This is because they are freed from oil, dirt, and other debris. Since anti-aging creams are more effective after treatment, you may enjoy the anti-aging benefits of collagen induction therapy for well over a year after treatment with the regular application of anti-aging creams.
Keep in mind that anti-aging creams aren’t effective by themselves. While they help you maintain your youthful countenance when your superficial layers are made up of young cells, they will not magically make your outer layer of skin cells younger. It is crucial that you receive collagen induction therapy before you use anti-aging creams so the visible layer of your skin is young.
Reversed Sun Damage
With so many sun protection products on the market, there is no reason why you should not go outside without sunscreen. It has been common knowledge for years that unprotected exposure to UV rays causes, among other cosmetic and medical concerns, sun spots, wrinkles and an increased risk of melanoma. If you don’t like the smell of sunscreen, you can apply a powder to protect your skin from the sun.
However, if you’ve spent years under the Texas sun riding horses without sunscreen, you need a way to reverse the damage already done. Collagen, among other crucial roles in supporting healthy skin, regulates melanin production. First, your sunspots are treated when your darkened skin cells are replaced by healthy skin cells. These results are permanent when combined with adequate sun protection. Then, your risk of future sunspots is mitigated for approximately a year as your skin’s melanin production is better regulated.
What’s the Importance of Collagen?
Collagen is one of the primary supporting structures of your skin. While it’s technically a protein, it doesn’t look like muscle fibers do under a microscope. It looks, and acts, more like a lacrosse net. When it’s healthy, it’s springy and keeps your skin taut and smooth. However, when it’s unhealthy, it sags and your skin sags. You may also notice significant volume loss.
For example, you may notice that your cheeks look sunken even though you haven’t lost a significant amount of weight due to dietary changes or illness. You may also notice that wrinkles have formed around your mouth, on your chest, or on the backs of your hands due to localized volume loss.
How to Extend the Durability of Your Treatment Results
To extend the longevity of your treatment results, it’s important that you understand the cause of your cosmetic concerns. The cause of sunspots (extensive UV ray damage) is obvious. However, the cause of your wrinkles, sunken cheeks, or thin lips may be less obvious.
If your cosmetic concerns are caused by age-related collagen loss, you can extend the longevity of your treatment results by protecting the health of your collagen. If, however, your wrinkles are caused by lifestyle choices, such as smoking or poor diet, those factors will need to be addressed to ensure the longevity of your results.
General Collagen Health
Your skin starts to produce collagen at a significantly reduced rate at the age of 25. By the time you are 30, the compounding effects of this reduction usually result in noticeable wrinkles and dull skin. It can also result in enlarged pores, frequent acne breakouts, hyperpigmentation, melasma, and other skin concerns. Inadequate collagen may also result in stretch marks following significant weight loss or gain.
To take care of the health of your collagen, it’s crucial that you wear sunscreen appropriately. In other words, you need to wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 55 and reapply it as directed on the bottle. If you don’t choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen, you’re not doing yourself any favors, because it’s the UVC rays that damage your collagen.
Diet
Regardless of your age, it’s advisable to stick to a diet that is conducive to collagen health. For example, you should minimize your consumption of sugars, particularly those found in processed foods and beverages. If collagen is a lacrosse net, then sugar is a lacrosse ball that gets caught inside the mesh of the net and drags it down, causing it to sag.
The older you get, the more care you should take to eat foods that keep your collagen strong and healthy. For example, you should make a point to consume your recommended daily allowance (RDA) of protein every day and choose protein sources that are as lean, bioavailable, and close to nature as possible. For instance, tuna is a better choice than a heavily processed protein shake.
Lifestyle Choices
Have you ever known a smoker who looks a lot older than their biological age? This doesn’t happen because everyone else you know looks younger than their biological age: this occurs because nicotine, a chemical compound found in cigarettes, is devastating to your collagen’s health, nevermind your skin’s ability to produce it.
If you’re serious about looking younger than you do now and maintaining your youthful countenance for long after your treatment, you must get serious about your skin health. If you consume any form of nicotine, stop. Physical withdrawals will be uncomfortable for about three days, but then the challenge will be all mental. Furthermore, do not consume over one unit of alcohol daily if you’re a woman or two units of alcohol daily if you’re a man.
Learn More About Collagen Induction Therapy Today
If you’re ready to improve the health and aesthetic of your skin, microneedling may be just the treatment for you. It can be used to address such cosmetic concerns as scars and stretch marks permanently. Other skin concerns, like wrinkles, can be treated for up to a year. If you want to learn more about how long this treatment will resolve specific cosmetic conditions, how you can extend the durability of your results, or find out if you’re a good candidate, we can help.
Contact us now at Soza Clinic in Richardson, TX to schedule your initial consultation. If we discover that this is not the best treatment to achieve your aesthetic goals, we are more than happy to work with you to find alternative treatments that better meet your needs. We can’t wait to hear from you soon!
