Will microneedling help reduce redness from acne scars?

Potentially could make your redness worse, as any procedure that has potential of collagen induction can also cause angiogenesis (blood vessel formation). This often goes hand in hand. Red acne scars should be targeted with vascular lasers or even simple old fashioned IPL. Micro needling can address other types of acne scars. Acne scar revision is a sub-specialised field. For the best results, one should target the acne scar type with ideal treatments and not just one device. The web reference below will take you to a resource to help you understand acne scar revision at a specialist level. I embedded all the videos in one page to help.

For example deep ice pick scars, and narrow box car scars can be treated with TCA CROSS peels, mixed scars, rolling, and atrophic scars treated with fractional devices such as Fraxel, fractional lasers, PRP and INFINI radiofrequency. Atrophic scars (depressions) can be treated with either fat grafts, or with HA dermal fillers. Tethered and anchored scars are best treated with surgical techniques such as subcision. Other surgical techniques that we use include punch elevation, surgical elevation, punch excision and traditional excision of focal scars.

The majority of patients will have a collection of different scar types, and hence a tailored treatment METHOD will be best. Careful examination, especially under angled lighting with scar mapping will give you an understanding of what are the best options for your scars. In the majority of patients its finding the correct combination that give you best results, and everyone is unique! All the best,

Dr Davin Lim. Acne scar dermatologist specialist. Brisbane, Australia.

I have extensive experience with Microneedling which you correctly referred to as “collagen induction therapy”, so I hope this helps. Microneedling in a nutshell is a safe and minimally invasive procedure, that creates a lot of microholes or intentional wounds on the epidermal or outmost layer of the skin to initiate what could be termed as a “cascade” of events that starts with releasing growth factors, creating a vascular network, migration of cells called fibroblasts and finally, collagen and elastin creation which reduces the depth of the acne dents.
Let’s break down your problem into its two components, acne scars and redness. Numerous studies confirmed what we had proven in practice: microneedling is great for the so-called rolling scars which are often are numerous, shallow to medium in depth and with sloped edges. It is not effective on pinprick scars which are small but very deep, box car scars with defined edges and hypertrophic scars. It’s main advantages over laser (if the scars are not deep)  are:
Shorter downtime (wounds are safe because these are superficial and close immediately);Safe for all types of skin color;Smoothly “blends” with untreated areas (no demarcation lines);Safe to use around the eyes and Does not cause photosensitivity because area affected is superficial. And did I mention cheaper?
Since, the appearance bothered you enough to write RealSelf, I can only assume that the redness, your other aesthetic concern, is prominent and had not faded over time. However, though microneedling, your treatment of choice, does wonders for scars and can help even out skin tone, it is not an effective treatment for any condition that involves erythema or redness from any cause, including old acne scars. This is why we would recommend BBL, a non ablative laser therapy that we have successfully used in our practice to treat redness resulting from acne scars. Both microneedling and laser (photo) therapy takes three or more sessions. Because the skin is being repaired at the cellular level, the skin continues to improve 3-6 months after the last session. Now, that is something to smile about!
For scars that are still unsightly after the combination treatment, consult your dermatologist or trusted provider about dermal fillers like Juvederm or Restylane. Last but not least, to avoid future breakouts (and more scarring), follow the skin care regimen recommended for you.
All the best,
Justin Harper, MD.