Microneedling Facial Treatment with PRP – Before and After

If you’re looking for a treatment to help smooth out the texture of your skin and fine lines, you might want to consider a Microneedling facial treatment with PRP.

It’s a fairly quick procedure with 3-5 days of downtime. I really loved my first treatment and want to share all the details to help you decide if it’s right for you.

As an ambassador for CosmetiCare, I was super lucky that I get to try out some of their treatments for free and share the process with you. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Some links in this post may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, I earn from qualifying purchases by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. I also participate in affiliate programs for other retailers. 

This post was originally posted in 2017 but has been updated to include more thoughts and details of the procedure.

Getting PRP with Microneedling for my Acne Scarring

I’ve always hated the texture of my skin. My cheeks and area around my chin are my real problem areas.

The acne that I had in college has left my skin scarred and not smooth. And I knew the marks were too deep for any at home treatment.

After looking into a few different procedures, I decided that microneedling was a great start!

And when they add the PRP facial with it, it’s even more effective!

I’m sharing the whole procedure, as well as before and after pictures, so you can see if you think this treatment might be right for you too. 

I thought I’d ease you into this post with a non-gross photo. I want to warn you, the photos in this post are not super pleasant – so just be warned! 

I also want to start off by sharing what my skin started out like before the treatment. I had it done when I was 40 years old.

I had acne, mostly in my college years, and it left me with scarred skin with terrible texture. 

As I started aging, I felt like the uneven texture was even more pronounced and decided it was time to do something about it.

I found some harsh light to take a before photo in so you can really see the texture I’m talking about.

Sometimes, in photos, my skin doesn’t look that bad.

But I have always been self-conscious about it.

Not only do I have acne scarring, but I have large pores and, ugh, fine lines and wrinkles.

Microneedling helps with all of these things which is why I thought it was a good first skin treatment to do with CosmetiCare.

Book a consultation

I had a consultation with the team at CosmetiCare and we decided that a series of microneedling appointments would be a great start for helping with my acne scarring.

The team at your med spa are the experts and know all the options and your goals. While you might have an idea of what you want to try, be open to their suggestions.

I loved getting Botox, but knew that to really make a difference with my skin, I’d need to do something a little stronger to help me look a little younger overall and smoother.

Day of treatment

I was pretty nervous when I arrived for my appointment.

There really isn’t too much prep work that needs to be done before you arrive at your appointment.

I stopped using any retinol creams about a week prior but they weren’t a regular part of my routine anyway so not much changed.

It’s a pretty non-invasive procedure which means you aren’t given any heavy drugs and can drive yourself to and from the appointment.

And who doesn’t love an office that plays Real Housewives of OC?!

CosmetiCare is the go-to office for plastic surgeries and skin treatments for some of your favorite local housewives.

But that’s just a fun side note. I also fully trust the staff, nurses and doctors.

This is the before photo taken right before my treatment started. I came with freshly washed skin without makeup.

Numbing cream

They start off by applying a numbing cream that sits for about 45 minutes.

You want this cream to work so don’t run late on the way to your appointment! 

Be sure to watch the video or read on for more details! It’s a long post with lots of details!

PRP is taken

If you are doing the micro needling with PRP, they draw your blood while the numbing cream does its thing.

They spin your blood to separate out the plasma so that it is ready for when your procedure starts.

PRP stands for platelet rich plasma. It is also known as collagen induction therapy.

I’m not going to get all science-y but basically, by using your own plasma, it helps generate new collagen to grow which helps to improve scars, etc.

I’ll explain how that fits into this microneedling facial in a minute.

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The microneedling procedure

I did my microneedling with a nurse, which means she is able to go a little bit deeper with her needling pen than an aesthetician can.

This is better for those with deep scars.

After wiping off all the numbing cream, Kat, my CosmetiCare RN, applied a serum to my face.

The tip of the device holds micro needles and she runs it over your skin. The needles cause tiny wounds which helps to stimulate your collagen to grow as the wounds heal.

The tiny holes also help to get the serum to sink in. The device does cause bleeding as you can see in the picture above.

For the areas with deeper scarring, she pulses the device up and down, kind of like a tapping motion.

But notice I’m smiling. It looks worse than it is!

(Note: My first microneedling treatment was tolerable and not too painful. The second and third were very painful. You should check out my final results post).

Your pain tolerance may fluctuate depending on your hormones. Y’all, it sucked. I love the final results but it did hurt! A lot!

I felt the treatment a lot more than I thought I would. But it was tolerable.

It hurt most when it was over an area with bone, but since she is moving the device, and not holding it one space specifically, the pain is very short.

After the first pass, she wiped down my skin. The bleeding stopped immediately and there is no scabbing at all.

Then it was time to use the PRP.

The plasma is put in a syringe, and its squeezed over the skin before the nurse does another pass with the needling device (watch the video to see all of that!).

Essentially, for this round, they are using your plasma in place of a serum.

The plasma is not “blood”-colored like people might think. It’s basically clear.

When she was done going over my skin for the second round with the needling pen, she used a small needle to inject the leftover plasma back into my cheeks where the scarring is the worst.

They call it liquid gold. It will not go to waste.

The whole procedure took about 45 minutes. Kat finished off by holding a cold compress on my face for about a minute.

It was a nice way to end. I wasn’t in any pain but my skin felt really hot so this was really soothing.

This is how my skin looked right after the treatment. My skin continued to feel hot for the rest of the day.

For the microneedling done with a nurse, the recovery is about 5 days (unlike 3 when done by an aesthetician, remember with an aesthetician they are limited to how deep they can go into the skin).

I was given a balm to put on twice a day for the five days, to help with healing.

I had made sure that my schedule for the week was open so I let it heal and didn’t wear makeup that whole week (although they told me I could wear makeup on day 2 and beyond if I wanted).

And the recovery is not painful at all. That’s the best type of recovery! 

Recovery From PRP Microneedling

This is a picture from day 3 but day 2 looked pretty similar, just a little bit redder. 

Here’s how the 5 days of recovery went:

• Day 1 – my face felt hot, a little bit like it was on fire but only mildly uncomfortable.
• Day 2 – my face felt itchy and was starting to dry out.
• Day 3 – I started peeling more in the areas where she went a little bit deeper (big peels on my chin).
• Day 4 – the rest of my face started peeling, but small and kind of all over the place.

Watch my video to get even more details on each day.

By day 5 most of the redness was gone and I finally put makeup on.

I would definitely plan on taking at least Day 1 – 4 off so that you don’t have to worry about makeup, but you totally could make it work if you had to.

I’m lucky to work from home and have that flexibility.

Multiple treatments work best

Having completed my first microneedling treatment, I’m totally ready to do the next 2!

They recommend several treatments, about 6 weeks apart to see the best results.

Results are slow

While I feel like my skin is a little bit smoother, the full results won’t be seen for about 6 months since you are waiting for your collagen to grow and repair your scars.

I feel like initially, you see minor improvement the way you might after some deep exfoliation from a facial.

It was a great way to get started on smoothing out my skin. New procedures are being developed all the time so be sure to book a consultation to make sure this is the best option for you.

I know that depending on some skin pigments, there are better treatments than others.

Other treatments I’ve done

• What is Coolsculpting? It’s freezing your fat and it’s pretty great.
• I Tried Under Eye Fillers! and didn’t know I would like the results so much!
• I did a CO2 Laser Treatment and loved it!

Pin This Info about Microneedling with PRP for Later!

If you aren’t happy with your uneven skin texture or acne scars, you definitely need to check out a microneedling facial treatment with PRP!

I’m happy with my results and think you will be too! Have you done any skin treatments before?