Treatment Overview
SkinPen® Microneedling with IlluminatePRP™
Collagen is the essential building block of healthy, youthful skin. By combining SkinPen® Microneedling with platelet-rich plasma (PRP), you can enhance your skin’s natural ability to regenerate collagen, delivering smoother, firmer, and more vibrant results.
SkinPen® Microneedling uses a specialized hand-held device with tiny needles to create controlled micro-channels in the skin. This process activates your body’s powerful healing response to generate fresh collagen and elastin. When paired with PRP—your body’s own concentrated growth factors—this healing process is accelerated and amplified, boosting collagen production even further.
Over time, your skin becomes fuller and more supple, with noticeable reduction in acne scars, fine lines, and uneven texture. Pores appear smaller, and your overall complexion improves with a healthy, luminous glow. Microneedling with PRP is an advanced, natural approach to rejuvenating your skin for long-lasting, transformative results.
SkinPen Microneedling with PRP
Targets
Fine lines, wrinkles, texture, enlarged pores, collagen building, acne scars, surgical scars, undereye hollows, jowls, nasolabial folds, neck, and areas with volume loss or dullness.
Overview
After age 20–25, we lose approximately 1% of our collagen each year. SkinPen® Microneedling with PRP enhances the benefits of microneedling by combining it with platelet-rich plasma (PRP), derived from your own blood. PRP is rich in natural growth factors that accelerate healing, stimulate deeper collagen and elastin production, and amplify your results for smoother, firmer, and more radiant skin.
During treatment, SkinPen® creates micro-channels in the skin to trigger your body’s natural healing response. When PRP is applied immediately after microneedling, it penetrates these channels, delivering concentrated regenerative factors directly into the skin to further boost new collagen formation and speed recovery. The result is healthier, more youthful-looking skin with reduced appearance of acne scars, fine lines, and uneven texture.
SkinPen® microneedling is the gold standard in microneedling devices, backed by the most robust clinical research on the market. Using 14 medical-grade stainless steel needle tips, the procedure creates approximately 2 million micro-channels in the skin over 20–30 minutes, inducing powerful neocollagenesis (new collagen production). Adding PRP to this process supercharges your body’s natural healing ability for even better outcomes.
Unlike superficial “micropenning,” which only affects the uppermost layers of skin, microneedling with PRP performed by a medical practitioner reaches precise depths to effectively trigger new collagen production, address fine lines and wrinkles, and significantly reduce acne and surgical scars.
Treatment Plan
For acne scars and skin rejuvenation: Treatments are typically performed in a series of three, spaced 4–6 weeks apart, with maintenance treatments every 4–6 months. The exact number and frequency of treatments will depend on your unique skin needs, treatment area, and goals. Results typically last 2–5 years.
For general skin maintenance: Treatments are often performed quarterly (every 3 months). Microneedling with PRP can also be paired with wrinkle relaxers like Dysport or Botox, based on your provider’s recommendation.
What To Expect
If it’s your first time receiving a SkinPen® Microneedling with PRP treatment, you’re in excellent hands. You’ll begin with a personalized consultation to discuss your goals and create a customized treatment plan.
On the day of your procedure:
- A topical numbing cream will be applied to the treatment area for approximately 30 minutes.
- A small amount of your blood will be drawn and processed in a specialized centrifuge to isolate the platelet-rich plasma (PRP).
- Your SkinPen® microneedling treatment will take 20–30 minutes, depending on the areas being treated.
- Immediately afterward, your PRP will be applied directly to the microneedled skin or injected into targeted areas to maximize penetration and rejuvenation.
Expect redness and mild swelling immediately after treatment, which typically resolves within 24–72 hours. Most patients notice an early glow within days, with optimal collagen-boosting results continuing to improve over the next 3–6 months.
Pre-Treatment Instructions
Two Weeks Prior To Treatment
- Avoid intentional tanning.
- Apply sunscreen daily to protect your skin before treatment.
Four Days Prior To Treatment
- Avoid taking ibuprofen, Aleve®, aspirin, vitamin E, ginkgo biloba, or any blood-thinning supplements to reduce your risk of bruising or bleeding.
- Avoid alcoholic beverages.
- Avoid topical retinoids, including retinol, Retin-A, or tretinoin cream.
- Avoid hair removal creams, waxing, tweezing, or bleaching the treatment area.
Two Days Prior To Treatment
- If you have a history of herpes/cold sores around the treatment area, talk with your provider about starting an antiviral medication two days before your appointment. Microneedling with PRP can also trigger cold sores in susceptible individuals.
Day of Treatment
- Arrive with clean skin—no lotions, makeup, or perfume on the treatment area.
- Eat a light meal and hydrate well before your appointment since your blood will be drawn for PRP preparation.
Aftercare & Recovery
- Results take time, with noticeable improvements typically appearing 4–6 weeks after your first treatment and continuing to build over several months as new collagen forms.
- Mild redness and swelling are common after treatment and usually last for 2–4 days. PRP may cause slight additional swelling, especially in treated areas.
- Avoid intense exercise and alcohol for 24 hours after treatment to help reduce swelling and support healing.
- Swelling around the eyes or treated areas may occur; sleeping with your head elevated on 2 pillows can help minimize swelling.
- Avoid applying makeup for at least 48 hours after treatment to allow the micro-channels to close and reduce infection risk.
- Avoid tanning, saunas, hot tubs, hot wax, or prolonged sun exposure until redness and swelling have resolved.
- Washing your face with a gentle cleanser is okay.
- Avoid active skincare ingredients such as retinol, tretinoin, glycolic acid, salicylic acid, and lactic acid until your skin has fully recovered.
- Continue applying sunscreen daily to protect your healing skin and maximize treatment results.
Side Effects
- Common side effects of SkinPen® Microneedling with PRP include redness (erythema) and swelling (edema) similar to a moderate sunburn. You may also experience skin tightness, mild bruising (especially in areas where PRP is injected), and sensitivity to touch.
- Some pinpoint bleeding may occur during treatment; this typically resolves quickly.
- Mild peeling or flaking can occur as your skin heals and regenerates.
Two Weeks Prior To Treatment
- Avoid intentional tanning.
- Apply sunscreen daily to protect your skin before treatment.
Four Days Prior To Treatment
- Avoid taking ibuprofen, Aleve®, aspirin, vitamin E, ginkgo biloba, or any blood-thinning supplements to reduce your risk of bruising or bleeding.
- Avoid alcoholic beverages.
- Avoid topical retinoids, including retinol, Retin-A, or tretinoin cream.
- Avoid hair removal creams, waxing, tweezing, or bleaching the treatment area.
Two Days Prior To Treatment
- If you have a history of herpes/cold sores around the treatment area, talk with your provider about starting an antiviral medication two days before your appointment. Microneedling with PRP can also trigger cold sores in susceptible individuals.
Day of Treatment
- Arrive with clean skin—no lotions, makeup, or perfume on the treatment area.
- Eat a light meal and hydrate well before your appointment since your blood will be drawn for PRP preparation.
Aftercare & Recovery
- Results take time, with noticeable improvements typically appearing 4–6 weeks after your first treatment and continuing to build over several months as new collagen forms.
- Mild redness and swelling are common after treatment and usually last for 2–4 days. PRP may cause slight additional swelling, especially in treated areas.
- Avoid intense exercise and alcohol for 24 hours after treatment to help reduce swelling and support healing.
- Swelling around the eyes or treated areas may occur; sleeping with your head elevated on 2 pillows can help minimize swelling.
- Avoid applying makeup for at least 48 hours after treatment to allow the micro-channels to close and reduce infection risk.
- Avoid tanning, saunas, hot tubs, hot wax, or prolonged sun exposure until redness and swelling have resolved.
- Washing your face with a gentle cleanser is okay.
- Avoid active skincare ingredients such as retinol, tretinoin, glycolic acid, salicylic acid, and lactic acid until your skin has fully recovered.
- Continue applying sunscreen daily to protect your healing skin and maximize treatment results.
Side Effects
- Common side effects of SkinPen® Microneedling with PRP include redness (erythema) and swelling (edema) similar to a moderate sunburn. You may also experience skin tightness, mild bruising (especially in areas where PRP is injected), and sensitivity to touch.
- Some pinpoint bleeding may occur during treatment; this typically resolves quickly.
- Mild peeling or flaking can occur as your skin heals and regenerates.
Our patients say it all
"I am hooked. My skin was glowing, so smooth and continues to glow post-treatment."
"I am somewhat of a beauty junkie, truth be told."
"Just had the pleasure of receiving a Hydrafacial treatment from Monica. "
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