My First Experience with Microneedling + PRP (with aftercare and results)

I went to Jeune MedSpa in Cerritos for my first Microneedling with PRP session, booked through ClassPass. Regular pricing for this service runs $300, which is lower than at my dermatologist office ($600). The RN and owner of the med spa is Jenny, who was did my microneedling.

Preparing for Microneedling

About 5 days before my appointment, I stopped using the following:

• Retinol
• Vitamin C serum
• Admirazol cream (topical antibiotic that contains Niacinamide, Dapsone, and Spironolactone as actives)
• Thiamidol (Eucerin)
• Red light therapy mask
• Exfoliating clay masks

My appointment was on a Thursday at 3pm, and I was able to work remotely the next day!

When I arrived, I filled out some consent and medical history forms, then I was led to a comfy room to get my face prepped. An assistant came to cleanse and apply numbing cream while Jenny drew blood for the PRP. She covered my face with some plastic wrap and left me on my own for the next 30 minutes to let the numbing cream sink in.

The Procedure

After wiping off the numbing cream, Jenny took a syringe with the PRP, applied it carefully over my left cheek, and turned on the microneedling pen at 1.6mm depth. What came next was a surprise to me – Jenny began moving the pen over my cheek in a quick circular motion. She was going a lot faster than I thought and was so patient in answering my questions. I definitely should have watched a video beforehand on what to expect!

After my left cheek, Jenny moved on to my chin, forehead, nose and upper lip, and finally my right cheek. Each time, she would apply more PRP before using the pen. I asked her to do my right cheek last since I had some active acne there. By that point, the numbing cream was starting to wear off – I felt more sensitive to the pen and my face was throbbing slightly. Once my whole face was complete, Jenny grabbed a cold face mask and let me enjoy that for about 10 minutes.

Overall, microneedling was painless and kind of fun! Immediately afterwards my face was red and tingly, still rather numb, and I had a teeniest bit of blood from my right cheek with the active acne. On the drive home, I wore a hat and made sure no sunlight got on me. My face remained a bit red and warm to the touch for the rest of the day and my skin felt tight from the PRP dryness.

Aftercare

I was instructed not to wash my face until the next morning and to use a gentle cleanser. I bought a serum from the med spa that would help with collagen production and dryness from the PRP. I used that periodically throughout the day for the next 7 days, along with moisturizer if I felt dry. The moisturizer I used was La Roche Posay’s Cicaplast Baume and sunscreen was BoJ’s Relief Sun Aqua.

I also washed 3 pillowcases when I got back from my appointment, so I had a fresh clean pillowcase for the next few nights.

24 Hours Later

The day after, my skin wasn’t as red, and the most noticeable difference in redness was near my jawline. I could have totally went back to the office the next day, though I’m glad I didn’t! In the morning, the products I used stung my face a little, but Jenny reassured me that was normal. When gently rubbing in my moisturizer, I felt general roughness on my cheeks, kind of like worn sandpaper. Those were the little micro tears in my skin from the microneedling. My face also felt warm and itchy in random spots, so I had to be careful to tap with my fingernail only after I’ve washed my hands.

2 Days Later

My products didn’t sting at all when I applied them, and my face wasn’t as dry! I noticed the minor acne I had prior to my appointment healed up quickly too. You could not tell now that I had any skin procedure done as most of the redness was gone. If I went out, I made sure to put on sunscreen and wear a hat. I knew that for the next 2 weeks, even when I think my skin was all healed, I would still avoid the sun whenever possible so as not to get more hyperpigmentation.

3 Days Later

The very corner of my jawline still has a faint line to show where the microneedling pen went over my skin, but with my hair down it’s not noticeable at all.

I’m super excited for the full results in a couple weeks, and have committed to my second session about 5 weeks later. Jenny recommended I do RF (radiofrequency) microneedling with PRP to really target acne and also do some skin tightening.

1 Week Later

Maybe it was the lighting of the previous photo but I don’t appear as dark anymore. I have a few tiny spots of pimples here and there but nothing major. I started reintroducing my actives back into my routine, starting with my admirazol cream. I was warned that I may break out a bit a week later, and so far with the admirazol cream and azelaic acid

2 Weeks Later

I’m really enjoying the blemish-free skin! Super excited for the next microneeding session.

xx Sam