How long should you avoid the sun before and after microneedling?

Hi, I’m Lauren, the aesthetic injector here at Colorado Plastic Surgery Center. It is best to avoid the sun a week before treatment, avoid direct exposure to the sun two weeks after treatment, and wear an SPF daily.

Our office has many different treatments for scars depending on the depth of atrophy or hypertrophy. Scars require a combination approach using our HI DEF protocol which uses a combination of lasers, topical scar modulation, and RF treatments to pixelate scars, improve contour, reduce hyperpigmentation, and improve the visibility of the scars so that they are no longer visible in ambient light. Everyone has a unique pattern of scarring and we employ our HIDEF technique to improve texture, color, contour, and topography. We often use a combination of treatments that begin with a careful examination to examine the micro texturing of the acne scars. Atrophic scars and indented scars can benefit from injectable fillers such as Radiesse, Sculptra, and Restylane with or without subcision to remove tethered scars and atrophic depression. Hyper-redness in scars can be improved with V beam laser, Excel V, BBL, IPL, and Venus RF to improve the redness and reduce the visibility of deep scars. Fractional Thulium laser and clear & brilliant can also reduce the inflammation and redness of the scar when combined with topical therapy. Fractional lasers such as Fraxel, erbium, and CO2 laser can be combined with radio frequency and also fractional RF to improve textual issues and microtopography. Subcision and TCA cross are also used for deep ice pick scars and narrow valley scars in order to improve the micro texture. Above all, our combination approach with our clinical nurses and board-certified plastic surgeons can improve the quality of your skin by using at home Melarase creams combined with PRP treatments in our office to improve your skin quality and tone. I recommend getting a formal evaluation with an experienced team of experts in order to reduce your scarring.

Finally, hyperpigmentation of scars can be improved with at-home Melarase AM, Melarase PM, and Melapads to help reduce active PIH and melanin deposition.

Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian
Realself100 Surgeon

Hi @sandrad12. This is an excellent question. I recommend avoiding the sun 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after microneedling. Make sure your sunscreen is broad spectrum meaning it protects from UVA/UVB rays. Best of luck, Dr. Nima!

You should always make sure you take extra care with the sun after a procedure like microneedling. USe plenty of sunscreen and keep out of direct sun for about a week or so. Check in with your dermatologist. Best, Dr. Emer

Hi and thank you for your question! As a general rule, we should always try to avoid/minimize unprotected sun exposure regardless of the treatment and just to maintain healthy skin. This being said, microneedling is considered a "color-blind" treatment meaning that it is not affected much by the skin typing and alike and hence, there are no specific sun avoidance recommendations, other than what you normally do to protect your skin from sun light. I hope it helps and good luck!

If you are getting any type of facial treatment done, sun exposure should always be limited before and after treatment to prevent possible hypo- or hyperpigmentation. While each provider will have a different policy for the exact number of days/weeks sun needs to be avoided before and after treatment, 2 weeks is a good rule of thumb. Wearing sunscreen and a hat are great ways to avoid unwanted sun exposure on the face during facial treatments.

Thank you for your question! We suggest avoiding the sun 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after microneedling. You should also just be conscientious of the sun longer than 2 weeks after so you can maintain your results and not undo them but aging prematurely from the sun. Make sure your sunscreen is a physical blocker (zinc and/or titanium dioxide) and protects from UVA/UVB and infrared. Hope this helps!