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Think Twice About the New Ellacor Micro-Coring

Dr. Irwin
April 19, 2023
This new technology is being marketed as a mini facelift; a 30 minute procedure with little discomfort and a 4 day healing period. Here's the truth.

Bottom Line:  Not yet ready for prime time, avoid it for now.

Ellacor is being hyped as the latest and greatest technology to allow skin tightening and a mini facelift like effect. It is a micro-coring device which means it uses a needle instead of using a microscopic laser wave to damage old collagen, get it to slough off (think aerating your lawn), and then new collagen growing in. This needle is small, but visible and takes a chunk out of your skin in tiny increments. Each treatment removes about 5-7% and then skin tightening is the desired effect. As it turns out, that’s not quite the whole story.

Problems with Ellacor micro-coring:

  • Leaves “track marks” on the skin up to 2 months and sometimes longer
  • Redness persists longer than many lasers
  • Hyperpigmentation – brown areas – persist even if double layering high zinc sunscreen
  • Odd line of demarcation in the middle of the cheek because current protocols require this placement
  • Skin tenderness and sensitivity can persist for several months.

Marketing versus Reality

  1. 30 min procedure  –  I was there for 2.5 hours which included check in, photos, injectable numbing (some topical would have been nice prior), procedure and check out.
  2. Healing in 4 days –  At 2 months I still had visible marks, especially across the mid-cheek that were difficult to cover with makeup. Please see our Instagram at drbrandith_skin for the photo series of me healing.
  3. Little discomfort – this procedure requires injectable numbing and still was not very comfortable due to incomplete anesthesia. A dental block for the perioral area would have helped, as would have some prior topical numbing.
  4. Little or no bruising.  A considerable amount of bleeding and bruising, especially around the mouth and mid-cheek, most likely due to the injectable numbing.
  5. Puffiness lasted the predicted 3-4 days.
  6. Improvement right away.   You may see no effects at 40 days but this response can be variable.

 

I Hope this Helps,

Dr. Brandith Irwin, MD
Founder of SkinTour & MadisonMD Skincare
Follow my skin tips and travels on Instagram!

Dr. Brandith Irwin, MD

Ask me your skincare question!

Hi, I’m Dr. Irwin. I believe that consumers deserve a medically trained and unbiased skin care advocate.

  • All our content is written and researched by myself.
  • My medical office in Seattle has treated thousands of patients for 15+ years.
  • This site is not affiliated or financially tied to any product, treatment or device.
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