Is a medical esthetician qualified to perform microneedling?

An aesthetician is licensed to treat patients with a microneedling device. A dermatologist or a plastic surgeon do perform microneedling treatment in their practices but do not perform them an Aesthetician would perform the treatment.

Estheticians are licensed by a "Board of Cosmetology", not a Medical Board. I mention this because the term "Medical Esthetician" can be confusing to some. In some states they are permitted to microneedle, though their Board may technically limit the depth they treat to- for example they may be restricted to a depth of 1mm- which is often not sufficient to see a good collagen response. In some states the Board does not permit them to microneedle at all. You can check with your states Board of Cosmetology, Board of Barbering and Cosmetology, it will be called something like that.
Lisa Vuich, MD

Medical aestheticians are qualified to do microneedling if they work under the direct supervision of a physician.  That allows them to treat you a bit more aggressively (giving you better results), to apply lidocaine cream before the treatment (which makes you more comfortable) and ensures that you will have physician oversight if any complications do occur.  Make sure that you only get microneedling from a medical facility that combines it with PRP (protein rich plasma), since this has been shown to improve the results and speed up the healing time.