After a microneedling session, you may be wondering when you can expect to see the results and how great those results may be. While red light therapy is a skincare treatment on its own, you can use it post-microneedling to maximize the results of microneedling, even helping your skin heal faster.
Microneedling is the use of tiny needles that penetrate the dermis and epidermis layers of your skin to damage it so that new and healthy skin grows back. It has anti-aging effects like reducing wrinkles and fine lines and improving overall skin appearance.
Red light therapy, on the other hand, is a treatment where the red light penetrates your skin and improves skin issues, like redness, inflammation, wound healing, and signs of aging. Using red light therapy post-microneedling can enhance the healing process and overall skin health after microneedling sessions.
In this article, we explore how red light therapy and microneedling help your skin and how you can utilize the two treatments together to maximize your results.
How Soon After Microneedling Can You Use Red Light Therapy?
According to this study, you can use red light therapy right after your microneedling treatment to help enhance the effects of microneedling, as well as provide healing properties.
While red light therapy can be performed in-office, it can also be done at home. Using an LED light therapy mask, like the Lumivisage LED mask, for 10 to 15 minutes, two to three times a week can enhance your skin’s overall appearance.
If you have any concerns based on the condition of your skin, check with your dermatologist or healthcare professional about using these treatments.
How Does Microneedling Help Your Skin?
Here are some ways in which microneedling can help your skin:
- Improves your skin’s appearance
- Reduces wrinkles
- Reduces stretch marks
- Evens out pigmentation
- Reduces acne or acne scars
- Reduces fine lines
- Absorbs skincare products and treatments more effectively
Microneedling involves tiny needles damaging the skin’s layers with microscopic, controlled punctures so that new, healthy skin grows back. Radiofrequency microneedling adds radiofrequency waves to its process to encourage healthy skin growth. Both cosmetic procedures improve skin conditions like acne scars, fine lines, and wrinkles.
Microneedling does come with some side effects, including, sunburned looking skin, redness, swelling, and skin flaking. LED treatment can help reduce those side effects and trigger your body’s healing response so that your skin heals faster.
How Does Red Light Therapy Help Your Skin?
Red light therapy helps your skin by:
- Stimulating collagen production for smoother, less blemished skin
- Reducing the appearance of wrinkles
- Providing anti-aging effects
- Helping heal your wounds
- Calming down inflammation
Red light (637 nm) and near-infrared light therapy (854 nm) penetrate your skin with their wavelengths of light causing a biological process to occur at the cellular level that increases collagen production and reduces wrinkles, fine lines, inflammation, and redness. Both red and near-infrared light therapy can increase elastin production as well as the production of hyaluronic acid. These elements increase your skin’s elasticity and hydration, resulting in improved skin tone.
Red light therapy can also be effective for wound healing because it speeds up the healing process by stimulating the mitochondria in your skin cells to encourage collagen production in the dermis, your skin’s thickest layer. Red light therapy furthers the healing process by reducing inflammation, increasing collagen production, and controlling cells responsible for tissue remodeling, all of which help to repair skin texture, tone, and other issues you have with your skin.
Talk to your dermatologist or esthetician about using at-home treatments after microneedling. Red light therapy does not have any side effects, but excessive use could cause irritation or redness, so ensure you use the treatment correctly, typically for a maximum of 10 to 15 minutes, two to three times a week. Lumivisage’s LED light therapy mask is FDA-cleared, so it’s a reliable at-home treatment you can use in combination with microneedling.
What Are the Benefits of Combining Red Light Therapy with Microneedling?
You can expect several added benefits from combining red light therapy with microneedling, including accelerating your skin’s healing process, boosting collagen production, and reducing redness and inflammation.
Fine Lines Appear Smoother
Red light therapy and microneedling increase the production of collagen. Collagen is typically lost over time, but microneedling can induce collagen synthesis by creating micro-injuries. Red light therapy enhances this effect at a cellular level by stimulating the mitochondria to build up collagen faster, helping to reduce the signs of aging and improve other skin concerns. According to a clinical study, using a microneedle roller followed by red light therapy resulted in fewer fine lines and skin rejuvenation.
Your Skin Heals Faster
The needles create purposeful, yet microscopic, skin injuries that build back healthier skin, while red light therapy reduces the time it takes for your skin to repair. Not only does the skin heal faster, but red light therapy effectively reduces the inflammation and redness that result from microneedling so that the look of your skin improves faster as well. Red light soothes the skin and reduces redness, while also helping to solidify the results of microneedling.
Pores Look Smaller
Your pores don’t open or close, but they can get bigger as you age due to the loss of collagen. Microneedling purposefully damages your skin to grow back healthier and produces additional collagen and elastin so that your skin looks smoother and your pores look smaller. Adding red light therapy after microneedling can enhance this effect. Red light stimulates the production of fibroblasts, cells responsible for producing collagen and elastin that lift and tighten your skin, making it soft, smooth, and firm.
How Long Does It Take to See the Results From Microneedling?
It takes a few weeks to see improvement and several months to see full results from this treatment as your skin needs time to produce more collagen. You may need multiple treatments spaced out between several weeks to see the results you want, although red LED light therapy may speed up the healing process so you might see results sooner.
Aftercare Tips to Enhance the Effects of Microneedling
After microneedling, avoid sweating or heat sources for 24 to 48 hours. Your skin may feel sunburned and sensitive for one to three days, so be gentle and use cool water and cleansers, as you may experience some swelling. If your skin peels within three to five days, do not rip it off or scratch it. Instead, keep it moisturized to help it heal.
Here are some tips for microneedling aftercare:
- Wash your hands before touching your face. You don’t want to run the risk of an infection on your already sensitive skin.
- Use a gentle cleaner and moisturizer. Harsh cleansers can irritate your skin and make it more red. Use a gentle cleanser to clean your face and pat it dry with a clean towel.
- Avoid harsh exfoliating products. With sensitive and red skin, harsh exfoliants, including serums and other topicals, will not only make the irritation worse but could damage your skin even more. Avoid these for at least a week.
- Stay out of the sun. Avoid the sun during the healing process so that no extra irritation or sun damage is caused. If you have to be out in the sun, use sunscreen and a hat to protect your face.
- Use the Lumivisage Red Light Therapy Mask. Wash your face and then use the Lumivisage LED red light therapy mask to give your skin optimal results. Talk to your esthetician, as you may be able to use the mask immediately after microneedling. You can also incorporate this mask easily into your skincare routine.
- Apply moisturizer. Red light therapy causes dry skin, so have a moisturizer on hand that you can use to combat swelling and redness.
- Resist the urge to apply makeup for 24 hours. Makeup can clog your pores and irritate your face more, so don’t use it for at least 24 hours after treatment.
Maximize Your Microneedling Results with Lumivisage’s Red Light Therapy Mask
You can achieve the skin of your dreams by combining microneedling with red light therapy. Lumivisage’s Red Light Therapy Mask is the perfect red light therapy device to use after microneedling, as it enhances the benefits you gain. Red light therapy can be done on your own at home with a simple face mask, like Lumivisage’s LED Light Mask. It has different colors you can choose from, includes eye protection, and is FDA-cleared, so you can safely use it on your own in your skincare routine.
