I needled one scar last friday (so five and a half days ago) to test how my skin would react. So actually I'm not in a position to say anything, as it's still healing. I was quite thorough and used a thin medical lancet, with a stopper so that it could only penetrate 2mm. Afterwards I just swabbed it with alcohol and put some vaseline on it. It looked red and swollen for around three days, after that it's been the same size as before and redness has gone down somewhat, but it is still red (or hyperpigmented). I'll see how long it's going to take until it goes back to skin colour, but it seems like at least a week. I'm slightly surprised it's taking this long, to be honest. I've kept the area moist with vaseline or Terproline professional, so there was no scab and I think this has made a difference. I've needled a couple of my scars once or twice a long time ago and let them scab (or rather, I didn't keep the area moisturized, but I kept rinsing the wound with alcohol until the bleeding stopped and ended up with a very thin minuscule scab a couple days later). Those scars looked just the same as pre-needling by day 5. It is quite curious, since I would think that the shorter the recovery, the better the chances of the scar remodeling in a positive way (as long as the treatment was effective enough). And I've read in many places that keeping the area moist and preventing scabbing would improve healing, but so far it seems like the recovery is taking much longer this way. I'm a little hesitant to try this again, to be honest. I'll see how it looks once it's healed. It doesn't look bad now, to be fair, but still I was expecting it to be more or less back to normal by now. I guess that was a bit unrealistic of me.

What is your aftercare like, ForeverAndPatience? Do you keep the area moist to prevent scabbing? What other products do you use?

I've also used leds, but I don't know how effective they are. Would be interesting to test them more. I can't say whether the age of the scar would affect recovery, since I haven't been experimenting with more than one scar yet. I would think it does make a difference though.

Austra, thanks for the reply! It's good to hear your trying. Don't give up! It's true, it does take time. After needling, supposedly it takes six months to really see anything, change wise, because collagen has to form. Slooooowwwllllyyy

But yes, keeping any wound moist is of utmost importance. In fact, I think my most recent scar, self inflicted...(well, picking... I know, big no no) would have been much worse if I hadn't kept it mois when the wound was healing. I kept it bandage up ( I looked ridiculous) and covered it in honey (...and smelt like I was trying to attract a bear) hehe

I also used chapstick and vaseline on other occasions.

As for my after-needling...after care, I use Palmer's Cocoa Butter. (I don't have the money for anything expensive, like the topicals that are said to help aid in collagen production)

The cocoa butter is great for softening skin, and I've heard its good to massage into scars. I use a little on my scars ever so often, massage in a circular motion.

For the redness/ inflammation I take some aspirin. I either use lemon juice (not directly after needling, that burns!) or milk, which is also said to help with redness. Or some aloe vera. Not all at the same time of course. I just use whatever I feel like dealing with at the time.

I feel I've seen some improvements (my scars are shallow, and I'm s young), however; I've only needled a couple times with a months time inbetween each with my 1mm roller.

I don't self-treat but after each of my professional treatments with the 1.5mm Dermaroller my face is both red raw and swollen. The redness lasts about 4 days for me and the microswelling lasts around 7-14 days, give or take a few days. On the third day my face feels a bit rough and then flakes over the next week (in patches, never evenly, d'oh!).

The inflammation is actually a good thing as it indicates that your body is repairing cells. Prolonged inflammation however is not a good thing. Right now it has been 6 days since my last treatment and my face is still a tad swollen but there is no redness, so all is going well. With aftercare lotions I use a vitamin B serum and a calming lotion that contains plant steroids (weird I know but it's nice stuff); all good for collagen production. What's more important in my opinion, is what I take internally during the first few weeks after needling.

Two things to keep in mind when needling:

• It takes longer than one month for collagen to build properly. If you needle your skin while new collagen is forming it may alter the process and/or cause your next needling session to do bugger all. It's advised that you wait between 6-8 weeks between treatments.

   

• Vitamin intake is really important, and awesome. Your body can build collagen much faster and your skin will be much healthier if you have a daily intake of vitamin C and zinc. I love this product: http://www.swisse.com/products/body-beauty/swisse-ultiboost-hair-skin-nails but if you can't get something like that then make sure you just get good old vitamin C, every day, without fail! It is essential!

   

I really hope you see awesome results.