What about the Skin Pen?

Here are my thoughts on Skin Pen and other microneedling techniques.  Notice though that the “science” that I’ve seen on all the sites and devices looked at ………is just a general description of a wound healing response.   It is NOT a description of any science done with their particular device in human skin.   I still see many unanswered questions with these like:

• How are the companies making sure they aren’t selling these to untrained people?
• When you puncture skin you greatly increase infection risks.  How is this being addressed?
• The depth of the puncture matters –  for the “epidermal” pens (about 1 mm), why not just use epidermal peels?    A well done peel provides a much more uniform result and with less discomfort and risk?
• For the “dermal” pens (1-2 mm), how is anesthesia being provided.  Any time you are in the dermis with a needle, it hurts.
• For the “dermal” pens, how are they ensuring that the width of the needle (fairly large)  doesn’t leave visible small scars, since there are hundreds of punctures generally needed to get a result?
• How are they addressing the issue of post inflammatory hyperpigmentation in darker skin types (always a risk if there’s a wound healing response)?

I think you see what I’m saying.  I’d just like to see more care taken with these before they are marketed to consumers as an inexpensive way to get results.   Remember to never believe before and after photos –  they are too easy to change with lighting, head position, distance from the camera and photoshopping.  Read about a reader’s problems with this.

Hope this helps,  Dr. I