I’m trying to decide between microneedling and Halo. Which would be better to smooth out my skin? (Photo)

Halo will give you a much better result over microneedling. We had microneedling many years ago, but it really didn't do much for texture or wrinkles. Halo is fantastic. However, you have pretty significant depressions that Halo will not fully correct. Combination treatments with filler, surgical shaves and several Halo laser treatments can make a very significant improvement though.

Andrew Campbell, M.D.
Quintessa

overall for your skin you need microneedling every 2-4 weeks all the time for skin glow, overall look; but lasers every 2-3 months with microneedling RF. for the individual scars you are showing fillers and subcision are needed, microneedling will not help.

at home peels like cosmelan, enlighten and aerify along with dermarolling (MTS roller with anteage MD ampules weekly) should be started now and used before and after lasers to enhance the results.

if you have post inflammatory hyperpigmentation/melasma/discoloration that needs cosmelan or enlighten peels at home which we can do virtually and send to your home along with aerify peels regularly, vivatia foam, restorsea 10x, faith essence serum, and cosmelan 2 cream.

Acne scar treatment needs a combination approach for improvement.  For the best results, one should target the acne scar type.  As everyone has a unique pattern of acne scarring, the best solution is a tailored one.  Typically you need fillers like bellafill and sculptra for atrophic indented type scars with or without subcision.  Subcision for depressed tethered scars.  Vascular lasers like yellow laser, aerolase, excel V or IPL for redness or thick scars. And lasers such as fraxel, erbium, co2 or fractional radiofrequency like venus viva, skinfinity, intensif or fractora microneedling RF for textural issues and superficial scarring.  Deep ice pick scars and narrow box car scars are best treated with TCA CROSS and punch excision.  All lasers are combined with microneedling and PRP to get even better results and improve healing times.   The majority of patients will have a collection of different scar types, and hence a tailored treatment plan is needed by an expert physician.  It is never about the laser or product that gives the results, its about the expert behind the equipment that gets you the outcome.  Scars cannot be cured and will need life-long treatments to maintain and build on the results.  For those at high risk for hyperpigmentation (darker skin types or asian or hispanic or mixed ethnicities) we already pre-treat the skin with cosmelan or enlighten lightening peels to prevent complications from energy-based or chemical-based treatments.  Best, Dr. Emer. 

Halo uses 2 different wavelengths to target the surface and deeper layers of the skin. Using both wavelengths will assist in smoothing the surface as well as stimulating collagen production deeper in the skin. Microneedling won't give as much of a smoothing as the Halo

Microneedling and Halo are both good options to smooth the skin, but I prefer Halo because you can see really good results after one or two treatments as opposed to 6-8 treatments typically necessary to achieve a noticeable improvement with microneedling. The Halo laser also gives you the added benefit of treating dyschromia which is uneven skin tone due to years of UV exposure. Halo can be used to target pigment, as well as scars for a multi-faceted approach in a single treatment modality.