Which treatment should be done first: IPL or microneedling?

"Prejuvenation"  or preventive skin maintenance for young people even in their early twenties has becoming increasingly popular in the past few years. Probably the most thoroughly studied prescription topicals for this purpose are the retinoids, such as Retin A. The alpha hydroxyacids, such as glycolic acid, have likewise been studied for the past nearly four decades. There has been much hype over peptides, topical stem cells and growth factors, etc., but unfortunately hard science is lacking for their efficacy. The same may be said for the use of IPL and other light and energy-based treatments whose marketing hype to the public far exceeds any hard scientific support for their benefits.  On the other hand, superficial chemical peels using high concentrations of glycolic or salicylic acid, Jessner's solution and low strength TCA have a proven track record for producing gratifying results that goes back over a half century. With over twenty years of experience to support it, medical microneedling has shown itself to be beneficial for treating enlarged, dilated pores, and very superficial color and textural irregularities. So, I believe that before inquiring which treatment, IPL or microneedling, is best for you, you might ask instead explore which relatively inexpensive, at-home and in-office treatments with tried and true track records would best address your preventive maintenance aims, and for this you would be wise to seek consultation and treatment with a board certified aesthetic dermatologist. Best of luck.

Such a great question, Thank you for asking. Our suggestion is to do them at separate visits for best results. It also gives us time to monitor how your skin is responding to the treatments. We suggest first getting IPL then waiting several weeks between appointments to do microneedling.  

I suggest doing them during separate appointments. The ingredients we use during the micro-needling can be effected from the heat of the IPL.  I suggest the IPL first and then a few weeks later doing the micro-needling.

Thanks for a nice softball questions. There are very few questions that there is one right answer - this is one of those times. In our office most people stack multiple treatments on the same day and you HAVE to get the order right.IPL or BBL (any brand of these treatments based on light - often called PhotoFacials). has to be done first. You have to carefully observe the skin, doing several rounds of test patches to get it right. If the skin is already pink or even bleeding from another treatment, you can't do this critical safety step.Next, BBL - at the beginning, before you've done anything else to disguise how the skin is reacting. For you, if you're only also doing MN, do that next. For other people who may be stacking more: smoothing of bumps and lines, eye treatments, no-downtime collagen boosters, fractional or even full resurfacing, if the physician does offer stacked treatments, they need to know the order for all the treatments they are doing with you. Best!

Hi There-- Microneedling and IPL can be done in one session with great results. We do microneedling first, ten IPL. The resulting redness is much less than with microneedling alone. 

It depends on what you are trying to address...if your concern is uneven complexion then going with the photofacial first.  If it is maintaining good collagen and elastin to prevent facial aging I would suggest microneedling.  
In my office we do a procedure called Fractora that combines microneedling with radio frequency and we have found that it addressess uneven complexion at the same time.  This may be something you want to see if a provider near you offers.  
Best wishes for beautiful skin!