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There are a bunch of reasons influencing acne development including environmental factors, skin type, genetics, hormonal dysfunctions, etc. Some of the more painful and deeply located acne tend to leave some degree of scarring after they are gone, which is the result of the skin healing itself after being damaged.
Although scars can be slightly less noticeable while you’re still young, as the skin ages, it loses elasticity, which makes the same scars much more visible, causing higher degrees of discomfort.
Luckily, there are a number of effective methods that can be used to get rid of acne scars and they depend on your skin type, genetics and a variety of other factors. Among those, Dermapen, which is essentially a microneedling device, looks promising.
Today we take a detailed look at Dermapen, understand how it works, how it deals with acne scars and whether it’s worth a shot.
Acne scars, and all scars in general, are the result of poor (too little or too much) collagen formation. When an acne lesion ruptures inside the skin, its mass spills onto the surrounding skin tissue causing permanent damage.
As a response, your body produces collagen fibers at the injury site in an attempt to replace the dead skin cells with new, healthy ones. However, as with any other wound, sometimes, the formation of the collagen fibers is different and doesn’t have the same shape and alignment, resulting in various types of acne scars.
Microneedling for Acne Scars
Also known as collagen induction therapy, microneedling has been around for quite some time and has been used to treat a wide range of diseases in the past (Chinese acupuncture), however, utilizing microneedling as an acne scar treatment was introduced rather recently.
The needles in modern microneedling devices are made of high quality materials and work by creating hundreds of tiny, invisible puncture wounds in the chosen layers of the skin. The whole treatment is a minimal invasive therapy, meaning it’s essentially painless.
This mechanism of artificially damaging the skin makes it possible to utilize and stimulate the body’s own natural healing processes, specifically by inducing elastin and collagen production. In addition, microneedling is effective at restoring skin texture, shrinking pores, fixing, tightening and lifting the skin, and making it look younger.
The latest technological advancements have made it possible to create microneedling devices that use radio frequency to penetrate into the skin, which, according to experts, is the future of microneedling. Find out more here.
Why You Should Consider Dermapen?
First off, let’s get rid of some confusion.
Many people think that Dermapen is a name of a procedure that helps remove acne scars, wrinkles, as well as tighten the skin. While Dermapen is really being used to do all of those procedures, it’s not a separate procedure, but a microneedling device.
Dermapen is a small, pen-shaped device that is used to correct various skin issues and deliver tighter, rejuvenated, better looking and glowing skin. The device is used by over 6000 dermatologists and skin care professionals for handling common skin problems like stretch marks, aging, wrinkles, fine lines, hair loss, acne scars and hyperpigmentation. Also, Dermapen is effective not only for the face, but also other types of the body.
How Dermapen Works
When a scar is formed, your body regards that area as “repaired” even if it looks awful. Dermapen basically creates tiny injuries at the scarred site to grab your body’s attention and make it produce collagen to repair it again.
However, as opposed to acne, which usually damages skin tissue on different depths, levels and severities, Dermapen is designed to “damage” the skin equally in size, shape and depth, which results in better collagen formation and promotes skin rejuvenation.
The idea of Dermapen is based on traditional Chinese acupuncture with the exception of focusing on improving the skin’s appearance instead of lessening pain. A Dermapen device has 12 needles on its tip, which are used to puncture the skin with tiny wounds and stimulate the regenerative processes as they glides over the damaged/scarred areas.
Usually, Dermapen is positioned vertically to the skin and when turned on, the motor makes the 12 needles work back and forth at massive speed to penetrate into the skin. As a safety precaution, the needles are positioned in a way that won’t let them rotate or stir in any direction other than meant to, decreasing the chance to inflict an injury during the treatment procedure.
Here is a video showcasing the latest Dermapen device and its features:
How Many Sessions are Needed to Get Rid of Acne Scars?
I’d like to note that it’s important to consult a professional before undergoing any skincare procedure including microneedling with Dermapen. Since each person’s chemistry, genetics and skin type are different, the amount of sessions necessary to get optimal results can vary, but generally, a minimum of 5 sessions are required, going up to 8 or 10 total sessions based on the individual case.
The required number of sessions also depends on the severity of the case, the results you’d like to achieve, as well as the body part that is being treated. For instance, the skin on the face is gentler compared to the skin on the back, chest or arms, which means that it will take less time to produce desired results.
Note that for safety measures, and also to allow the skin to fully regenerate, all sessions are spaced 4-6 weeks apart. This means that a full treatment course can take around 6-9 months. After each procedure, redness, dryness and swelling may occur, which goes away after 3-5 days.
During the first two-three days after treatment, you’ll need to be careful of the sun, since in most cases, it is not advisable to use sunscreen during this period. Starting from day four, you can resume your usual skincare routine, including the use of sunscreen.
How Long Does it Take to Produce Noticeable Results?
The time needed to produce noticeable (though not final) results varies depending on a bunch of factors like individual chemistry, skin type and penetration level. Most commonly, you can see results after 3 days (when the redness and swelling is gone), however, your skin needs to undergo a whole cell renewal cycle to produce the final results of each session, which usually takes around 4-6 weeks.
The strongest results start becoming noticeable after a few sessions are completed, which takes around 3 months. Also, the deeper the penetration level, the better the final results will be, since that will stimulate not only superficial, but also deep skin layer renewal.
Dermapen Reviews for Acne Scars
On a large scale, reviewers have found Dermapen treatment to be pretty effective at dealing with acne scars after just one, two or three sessions. However, some reviewers have reported that Dermapen not only failed to improve the appearance of acne scars, but it also increased pores and made the whole thing look worse.
Here are two interesting Dermapen reviews:
You can follow hundreds of individuals and scroll through their self-written Dermapen diary on realself.com. All you need to do is register on the website to be able to view the photos.
Dermapen Before and After Images
I have also prepared a couple of before and after images for you to look at.
Final Thoughts
Overall, microneedling and Dermapen are effective treatment methods when trying to get rid of acne scars and while the results vary depending on the individual case, in the vast majority of cases this procedure is definitely worth a shot. Moreover, the procedures don’t cost a fortune (although it’s not exactly cheap either) and most importantly, don’t represent risky side effects.
If you are still unsure, my advice would be to at least consult a professional who will explain everything to you in detail, and give you realistic expectations based on knowledge and past experiences.
Finally, don’t ever give up. Compared to acne, acne scars are less painful to deal with. If you managed to get through the breakouts, there is nothing that can stop you from achieving the skin condition of your dreams.
Have you tried Dermapen to remove acne scars before? What are your thoughts about it? How long did it take to get rid of your scars? How soon did you start noticing results? Where there any side effects? Share your experience with all of us in the comments!
