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I want to share with you my traumatic experience with the aftermath of microneedling. This happened a month ago.
I have sensitive skin and have several food allergies: nuts, gluten, seafood. Acne worsens when I eat these stuff so I avoid them like the plague ever since I was a teen. I'm 20 right now.
Microneedling day: I went to a skin clinic where I've done microneedling a few months before so I trusted these guys. I had zero active pimples. I only had a few whiteheads and blackheads on my T zone but the derm said it was ok because he was gonna do a facial first.
After microneedling: the usual effects. Bloody and red. I followed instructions and did not do anything to my face. Noticed a few breakouts starting to come out in the evening. This happened before and was no biggie
Day 2: Red as a tomato. More pustules popping up in the morning. In the evening, the pustules spread like crazy, my forehead, cheeks, chin, everywhere...so I contacted the clinic and they told me to come in the next morning. This happened even though I stayed home all day, applied sunblock all the time, used mild cleanser and moisturizer and applied steroid 2x a day as instructed.
Day 3: In the morning, pustules spread all over my face. It seemed like every hole from the needle filled up with pus. I was scared. Coz i was soooo close to finishing my acne journey when this happened. I didnt have much scarring and figured 2-3 sessions of microneedling would do the trick. The derm said I might have an allergic reaction or I was having STERILE PUSTULES which was very rare. Usual pustules have bacteria in them but these were sterile because he was very sure he followed sterile procedure properly. But he gave me antibiotic cream which
Didnt trust the derm so I went to another derm right after. And she gave me antibiotic tablets. She said most pustules have bacteria in them and i shouldnt use the cream because it would only worsen the pustules every time i apply them.
Day 4-8: face got dryer but less redness. Getting slightly better.
Day 9: Pustules are gone but I now have cystic acne from all the stress I put my face through.
So I'm back to zero right now. Thank God its over but now i have to get facials for acne and I dont ever want to do microneedling again.
Check out what the pustules look like.
Let me know if any of you had the same experience. Coz people say it notmal to purge but this was CRAZY!
This is not normal "purging" at all. It looks like unsanitary techniques were used during the procedure and this cased an infection to blossom and spread in the skin.
I have never heard of sterile pustules, but after a quick google search I found this article: "Palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) is a chronic skin disease characterized by infectious-like pustules on the palms and soles. These pustules are thought to be sterile because bacterial cultures obtained from the pustules are negative." (source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30281856/ )
Bacteria naturally resides in our skin so nothing on the skin surface is technically sterile. Kudos to you for getting a second opinion from a good doctor (the first one seemed like they were covering for their mistake). I'm leaning toward unsterile conditions since it's highly unlikely you suddenly developed a allergic reaction after 2 successful treatments prior.
I'm sorry you had to go through this, it must have been awful but I wish you the speediest of recoveries.
Oh it was awful. I cried during those days. Coz i felt that nobody understands the hard work we put in to make it go away. And I felt so betrayed by a MEDICAL DOCTOR, the one person who was supposed to help me.
The 2nd doctor whom I've been seeing told me that since the pustules responded to antibiotics, then its definitely not sterile (sterile means ZERO bacteria). She kept asking me questions about the procedure to find out the cause and here it is:
I was bleeding more than usual the day of microneedling. I remembered the doctor commented that I'm a bleeder but its fine. I think it was because I've been taking 2-3 caps omega 3 daily and too much of it can cause blood thinning. And when I bled, she used facial TISSUE to wipe it. My 2nd doctor said that she should've used sterile gauze.
I've been a silent reader here but when this happened, I decided to make a post to make people aware.
Update:
Lessened my omega 3 to once a day.
My face was full of hyperpigmentation after the ordeal since i have brown skin but most of the discoloration is gone now. I still have a few pimples and ice pick scars but its fine. And im feeling much better now
Oh honey, I am so sorry you had to go through this, my heart goes out to you.Please be careful with the oral medication and topical treatments in the future because that can definitely make a difference in your healing. I won't belabor the point, you lived through it and came out when more knowledge. I still think that scar treatment can be done if you're looking to do it. I would definitely go to another doctor, and it looks like you may benefit from laser/microneedling with subcision and filler. Maybe jsut give your skin time to heal for now. Best of luck and thanks for sharing your story.
Hi Jenny! Im so sorry you had to go through that. Im facing somewhat same situation. I recently got PRP microneedling done and on my 4th day my face is full of inflammation and bumps its so itchy but my derm keeps telling me its normal. How much time it took you to recover? Im so freaked out right now
Hi! Wanted to give update coz I have finally found a good dermatologist.
She made me do topicals first before any treatment. So antibacterial clinda, antifungal miconazole, exfoliating azelaic. That hits all the possible probs that cause acne.
Once my skin was better, she did extractions and laser. Extractions took care of the cysts and laser took care of the texture and mini pimples.
Then she did microneedling. I was so scared at first, but since my skin improved so much with her regimen, I decided to trust her.
Its so much better now. It took 7 months for this derm to work her magic. Notice how she starts from simple to extreme. The doctor that ruined my face started with the extreme even though my skin wasn't ready!!!