Got RF microneedling by a top doctor in the US 7 weeks ago and it caused a lot of PIH, Erythema, wrinkles, grind/stamp marks, and potentially more scarring? The pigmentation faded to some degree but my face overall just looks worse than before. The scars look worse too for whatever reason. My face is wrinkly! Does anyone have a similar experience? I know they say it takes 3 months for collagen to form so I'm trying to be optimistic but I cannot be certain I will improve. The anxiety of not knowing if I've permanently caused some damage is awful. Trying to maintain hope but if this is part of the recovery, it's extremely slow. I'm so fed up with acne scar treatments why does it seem like nothing works or makes my skin worse?
UPDATE:
PHOTOS 10 WEEKS POST OP: tons of wrinkles???
Rf microneedling has very bad reviews here, many people believe they dont simply work. For instance microneedling is more like skin dot cuts whereas a laser does the same but the difference is it evaporates the skin when it hits. Your body is forced to modify the skin tissue. In microneedling after damagethe body connects the tissue back like a cut that is why people see the least difference in results from microneedling compared to lasers.
here is some information by dr h consult on rf needling
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CUicoqPgdeO/?utm_medium=copy_link
hey Xanger1 which RF microneedling did you go with? (e.g. Genius vivace?)
sorry that happened to you, i hope things get better soon
I'm also set up to go through a rf session (genius) pretty soon, but am having second thoughts due to potential side effects. I also scar very easily (east asian skin). do you mind if i ask you what ethnicity u are / skin type you have?
On 1/29/2022 at 11:02 PM, Xanger1 said:Got RF microneedling by a top doctor in the US 7 weeks ago and it caused a lot of PIH, Erythema, wrinkles, grind/stamp marks, and potentially more scarring? The pigmentation faded to some degree but my face overalljust looks worse than before. The scars look worse too for whatever reason.My face is wrinkly! Does anyone have a similar experience? I know they say it takes 3 months for collagen to form so I'm trying to be optimistic but I cannot be certain I will improve. The anxiety of not knowing if I've permanently caused some damage is awful. Trying to maintain hope but if this is part of the recovery, it's extremely slow. I'm so fed up with acne scar treatments why does it seem like nothing works or makes my skin worse?
I had a similar reaction but then my skin went back to normal. I don't think rf is effective tho
On 1/31/2022 at 8:28 PM, sadf1234 said:hey Xanger1 which RF microneedling did you go with? (e.g. Genius vivace?)
sorry that happened to you, i hope things get better soon
I'm also set up to go through a rf session (genius) pretty soon, but am having second thoughts due to potential side effects. I also scar very easily (east asian skin). do you mind if i ask you what ethnicity u are / skin type you have?
Hey, I got Genius RF. I expected 1 week of recovery time but I'm still recovering. The doctor did a very aggressive treatment. I am an east asian male skin type 4, light brownthat tans easily. While the majority of the PIH has gone, I feel like I have more tiny scars, wrinkles, sensitivity and just overall weird looking skin. The wrinkles I feel might be due to damage to the skin barrier. As difficult as this is, I am trying to maintain optimism thatit might take longer than 8 weeks to regenerate. I'm hoping at 12 weeks and 16 weeks, I'll be better. I've given up on the prospect of scar improvement from this procedure, and if I do get any down the road, that will just be extra.I just want my skin to return to it's pre-Genius state.
I can continue to update on my progress here. I used to be on a skincare regimen but I've decided to stop all products and just moisturize 5x a day.
On 1/31/2022 at 12:38 AM, getsmart121 said:Rf microneedling has very bad reviews here, many people believe they dont simply work. For instance microneedling is more like skin dot cuts whereas a laser does the same but the difference is it evaporates the skin when it hits. Your body is forced to modify the skin tissue. In microneedling after damagethe body connects the tissue back like a cut that is why people see the least difference in results from microneedling compared to lasers.
here is some information by dr h consult on rf needling
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CUicoqPgdeO/?utm_medium=copy_link
Hey man, I've actually seen that video and most of Dr. H's IG feed. Honestly though, if I reacted this bad from RF Microneedling, I can only imagine the damage a fully ablative laser would cause. I would tread with caution with ALL energy devices, unless my mind is changed in a month or 2 and I recover.
19 hours ago, dirigo39 said:I had a similar reaction but then my skin went back to normal. I don't think rf is effective tho
Can I ask how many months it took for your skin to go back to normal? it has been 8 weeks for me and not fully recovered. Did you experience tons of wrinkles? I'm a young guy and I don't remember ever having this many wrinkles.
On 1/29/2022 at 10:02 PM, Xanger1 said:Got RF microneedling by a top doctor in the US 7 weeks ago and it caused a lot of PIH, Erythema, wrinkles, grind/stamp marks, and potentially more scarring? The pigmentation faded to some degree but my face overalljust looks worse than before. The scars look worse too for whatever reason.My face is wrinkly! Does anyone have a similar experience? I know they say it takes 3 months for collagen to form so I'm trying to be optimistic but I cannot be certain I will improve. The anxiety of not knowing if I've permanently caused some damage is awful. Trying to maintain hope but if this is part of the recovery, it's extremely slow. I'm so fed up with acne scar treatments why does it seem like nothing works or makes my skin worse?
Yes, Xanger1. While I did not do RF Microneedling (I did regular microneedling), I feel like some scars are worse. I have also picked up several wrinkles and fine lines on my forehead and under my eyes. I have also scared easily and my face does not seem to heal from anything. It has been about 6 months. I am starting to regret every doing it because the esthetician also went to hard on my nose and left broken capillaries behind. Of course, I had to pay to get them removed with IPL so, so far, I have spent about $2,000 grand for these treatments and I am hardly happy with the results. Yeah, a couple scars along my jaw line aren't as deep. When I showed the before and after photos to reddit, basically no one commented because they didn't want to tell me the painful truth: my scars aren't any better. The only positive feedback I got was a reduction in redness. I really hope you find a treatment that helps and that are skin heals from this in time. It is such a bummer and now I currently looking for a dermatologist that I can trust in Wisconsin. Some just don't care and estheticians just want our money.
7 hours ago, loathing_mirrors said:Yes, Xanger1. While I did not do RF Microneedling (I did regular microneedling), I feel like some scars are worse. I have also picked up several wrinkles and fine lines on my forehead and under my eyes. I have also scared easily and my face does not seem to heal from anything. It has been about 6 months. I am starting to regret every doing it because the esthetician also went to hard on my nose and left broken capillaries behind. Of course, I had to pay to get them removed with IPL so, so far, I have spent about $2,000 grand for these treatments and I am hardly happy with the results. Yeah, a couple scars along my jaw line aren't as deep. When I showed the before and after photos to reddit, basically no one commented because they didn't want to tell me the painful truth: my scars aren't any better. The only positive feedback I got was a reduction in redness. I really hope you find a treatment that helps and that are skin heals from this in time. It is such a bummer and now I currently looking for a dermatologist that I can trust in Wisconsin. Some just don't care and estheticians just want our money.
Show your photos on here
On 2/18/2022 at 12:21 PM, dirigo39 said:Show your photos on here
Here they are. See all these fine lines and wrinkles on my front cheeks near my nose. I do have icepick scars in this area but never had these wrinkles lines. I'm 32 and those lines make me look 20 years older. This is 10 weeks post-op. Do you think they'll improve??! Anything I can do to help this?
41 minutes ago, Kay24 said:Were you on retinoid to prep the skin? I had the same appearance of lines but I attributed my case to tretinoin not rf.
I was not on tretinoin. I was however on a skincare regiment prior to RF consisting of BP and mandelic acid for acne control. I stopped this regimen a few days prior to RF and a week or two after RF to give my skin some time for recovery. I eventually dropped all products due to the irritation and fine lines. Now I'm only using moisturizer and Vaseline as an occlusive, which helped only to a degree, but the wrinkles remain. My theory is that my skin barrier got destroyed 
2 hours ago, Xanger1 said:I was not on tretinoin. I was however on a skincare regiment prior to RF consisting of BP and mandelic acid for acne control. I stopped this regimen a few days prior to RF and a week or two after RF to give my skin some time for recovery. I eventually dropped all products due to the irritation and fine lines. Now I'm only using moisturizer and Vaseline as an occlusive, which helped only to a degree, but the wrinkles remain. My theory is that my skin barrier got destroyed
I've seen this after minor steroid use. There may be a much higher risk of this for acne scar skin as the fibers or collagen are already weak for example, but it's under-studied or reported. I mean that's just my educated speculation. That's why in general I prefer procedures that "test" first in small spots, but also do things that logically make sense from a "full" healing perspective rather than "fractional" procedures.
It did get better somewhat after the 6 month mark through the 9 month mark. I would suggest using no harsh anything and possibly moisturize as possible if your face can handle that. The premise/thesis would be that if the skin turns over (ie collagen as you describe) the moisturizer might add elasticity to aid that over several months. Use only cream not lotion. I would suggest Cerave Moisturizing cream buy a big one on Amazon for $18 or so and use it every night, rub it generously like a barrier and just sleep with it on (it doesn't have to be fully rubbed in, it will absorb through the night) like a sleep mask. The premise would be to attempt to leave it on 8 hours, act as a barrier for 1/3rd of a day for months and drink a lot of liquids I guess. Kay's suggestion might also work.
The skin barrier, allegedly, heals itself and gets better over months of proper care. If you don't have the above, pure Vaseline might work but the reason I suggested Cerave moisturizing cream is because it sticks to the face, is not oily, absorbs well, doesn't irritate, whereas Vaseline will stick all over the place as you sleep even as you breathe it in.
Again though, I'm not sure it clears up completely or anything like that but I've personally seem symptom improvements after 6 months and not before. That's just my experience. Worst case if it really bothers you, you may have to do an ablative procedure and let's hope it doesn't come to that, trust me I know it sucks bud, I get it. Just hope for the best for now and do a makeshift barrier that gives elasticity and locks in moisture every night.
On 2/23/2022 at 1:59 PM, Kay24 said:Cicaplast balm, light skincare and no retinols/retinoid helped me. Took a long time for me, a year.
Just bought this because of your recommendation. hope it helps!
On 2/23/2022 at 7:19 PM, harmlessboy1441 said:I've seen this after minor steroid use. There may be a much higher risk of this for acne scar skin as the fibers or collagen are already weak for example, but it's under-studied or reported. I mean that's just my educated speculation. That's why in general I prefer procedures that "test" first in small spots, but also do things that logically make sense from a "full" healing perspective rather than "fractional" procedures.
It did get better somewhat after the 6 month mark through the 9 month mark. I would suggest using no harsh anything and possibly moisturize as possible if your face can handle that. The premise/thesis would be that if the skin turns over (ie collagen as you describe) the moisturizer might add elasticity to aid that over several months. Use only cream not lotion. I would suggest Cerave Moisturizing cream buy a big one on Amazon for $18 or so and use it every night, rub it generously like a barrier and just sleep with it on (it doesn't have to be fully rubbed in, it will absorb through the night) like a sleep mask. The premise would be to attempt to leave it on 8 hours, act as a barrier for 1/3rd of a day for months and drink a lot of liquids I guess. Kay's suggestion might also work.
The skin barrier, allegedly, heals itself and gets better over months of proper care. If you don't have the above, pure Vaseline might work but the reason I suggested Cerave moisturizing cream is because it sticks to the face, is not oily, absorbs well, doesn't irritate, whereas Vaseline will stick all over the place as you sleep even as you breathe it in.
Again though, I'm not sure it clears up completely or anything like that but I've personally seem symptom improvements after 6 months and not before. That's just my experience. Worst case if it really bothers you, you may have to do an ablative procedure and let's hope it doesn't come to that, trust me I know it sucks bud, I get it. Just hope for the best for now and do a makeshift barrier that gives elasticity and locks in moisture every night.
Thanks for your response. Forgive me if this is a dumb question but what do you mean by steroids? Topically on the face for acne? I orderedcerave cream. I was using the cerave lotion with vaseline for weeks. I also bought cicaplast b5 baume. Hoping to see some progress
On 2/24/2022 at 11:20 PM, Xanger1 said:Just bought this because of your recommendation. hope it helps!
Thanks for your response. Forgive me if this is a dumb question but what do you mean by steroids? Topically on the face for acne? I orderedcerave cream. I was using the cerave lotion with vaseline for weeks. I also bought cicaplast b5 baume. Hoping to see some progress
I've seen that same pattern of lines and what appears to be linear scars (in addition to weird coloration changes) after minor/moderate steroid use on the face for condition such as dermatitis etc. Meaning, I've seen it before and only saw it improve after 6 months and thereafter in the steroid case, but the pictures were generally identical. I don't know the ratio or % of the improvement only that it didn't improve for months initially. May have been 30%, 50% or just a better blending in general I am not sure. Considering you got it from needling and I saw it from steroids, both in scar patients, it's probably not a coincidence that trauma on weak barriers or scarred skin could cause this I guess.
Just one last suggestion, you may want to take a good multivitamin, calcium and vitamin C daily. This is good advice whenever, but if you're trying to aid turnover eating well but also nutrients are important. I use Naturelo "bone strength vegetable capsules" and Naturelo men's one daily and any Ester C brand and sports research fish oil. C, Calcium and lacked nutrients are all helpful in healing/appearance. Just my thoughts gl.
@xanger1 hi I got my last genius rf two weeks ago. I got 3 total. Man its intense. Did your skin go back to normal? Im seeing some stamp marks and Im not sure if I got them this last round, I got a new prescription and can see a lot more now lol.
@zoemartine im in the same boat, Got the genius microneedling 3 months ago and my skin texture is now very rough feels a little bit like sandpaper. Anyways, i searched the web and now im here. I have seen and read this post, and i Think that i might have pushed my skin barrier to the edge. After i Got the microneedling treatment i started to use: tretonoin 0.1% percent at night with azelaic acid 15%. I used vitamin C And also azelaic acid in the morning. I Think that my texture was damaged by the RF microneedling, but i do also Think that i made it worse by not reparing my skin barrier conpletely before i started using harsh actives.
My plan is now:
keep healing my skinbarrier for some months. And Then when im ready im gonna do a Series of medium depth TCA peels 20-30%. The peels Will hopefully gradually smooth the skintexture by bringing up new skin that hasnt been damaged by the needles. But hopefully im gonna se improvements if i just focus on reparing my skin barrier
hope this helps, and have you seen any improvements now?
@ehtlam1 hi there! Sorry youre in this boat too.
I agree, actives too soon after the RF can be irritating. I have come to a similar conclusion that I want to do series of TCA peels to try and help with the texture and pore size.
I have also been considering a fat transfer. I lost volume in my face 3-4 months after morpheus. I have done 2 PRF gel treatments which helped, but it cant replace all the places I lost fat like forehead, temples, cheeks, jaw ok basically everywhere lol.
Unfortunately I had RF MN on neck and chest in the same session. Texture and fat loss happened there too. Im considering doing my own shallow microneedling with exosomes to try and fix that area. What an ordeal
I will say the sandpaper skin has gotten better with time- it used to feel like sandpaper on my neck for awhile. Nothing would absorb, it didnt retain moisture at all. Finally it feels softer. One thing my skin has loved is castor oil! Good luck and keep me posted
@zoemartine hi!
yes - its a shame that we have to struggle so much mentalt just to achiveve normal skin (at least for me :). I personally have not noticed any fattloss, just the worsened texture (also i Got PIH one side of my face).
personally im done with any energydevices im too scared to do anything now that i know how my skin reacts.
i might look into jojoba Oil, and see What it might could do for me. My skin Will become red during the day, so i Think that my skin barrier is still recovering.
regarding the TCA peels, im plantning to do Them at Home its almost unheard of how cheap it is to do the peel at Home than in an office and you have the same grade TCA as in a office. I have dine alot og research that explains THe exact steps to achieve a safe TCA peel at Home.
well, i guess just time Will tell.
have a Nice day and goodluck