Eclipse Micropen Micro-needling for Acne Scars. Phoenix, AZ

I had my first Micro-needling treatment on Wednesday for my old acne scars. The treatment costs $300/session and I'd most likely need 2-3 treatments. My appointment was probably an hour or so. The nurse first applied numbing cream for about 20 minutes prior to starting the actual micro-needling. The PA-C started with the most painful area first--the forehead--and had a lower setting for that area. She did increase to the highest setting on my cheeks where my acne scarring was the worst, and she went over those areas 3 times. I am not going to lie this procedure was pretty painful, but I guess I tolerated it because I wanted the maximum benefit. I was pretty red and bruised after...felt like a bad sunburn. I didn't take anything for the discomfort. My face felt very warm and swollen. Washing it with a gentle cleanser felt like sand paper going over my face!! Day 2: My face looked worse...I was so swollen, literally looked like I was beat up. There was still a lot of discomfort with washing my face and even applying moisturizer stung. I was a bit itchy also. I couldn't leave the house looking like this!! Day 3: My face still looked bruised, red, dry and quite swollen and now it itched so bad...it was really hard not to scratch it (which I was advised not to). Day 4: My face is still swollen but not as bad as the previous days. Redness is starting to go away. The itching and dryness is the worst!! I'm waiting for the swelling to go down before I decide if the treatment was worth it, but I must say I do already see improvement. My next appointment is scheduled in May. I'm beyond ready to get rid of my acne scars!!

I am now 1 week post treatment. My skin is still a bit red not sure if you can see this in the picture or not, but it's definitely there...and my skin is still super dry and still a bit itchy. I didn't think I'd still have these symptoms this long. As far as the results, I can tell on one side of my face got better results than on the other side. So I'm a bit disappointed in that, but I knew I'd need more treatments....I will stay positive because it takes weeks to months for collagen to regenerate so I should see more improvement with time. My scarring looked great with all the swelling....if only it stayed that way!! :( But I knew it would change so I was prepared for it. And I will say that I did notice with makeup my face looks a lot more smooth than before! So I'm happy with that as well. I'm just ready for the day I don't need any makeup at all. I'm back to using my old cleanser and moisturizer and it no longer stings when I put it on. Yay!! I'm debating on whether to get the CO2 laser in May and follow up the a micro needling treatment in June and July. I do like the results of the needling ...even if it's a small improvement. But I think I still need to get rid of as many layers of skin with the laser to make the scars look less deep and then go back to the needling.