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Considering microneedling and botox?

If you are ready for a more youthful and energized appearance, you can combine these two treatments for a full overhaul and healthy, beautiful skin.

But what order? And can I get botox right after microneedling? Find out in this post.

What is microneedling?

Microneedling is a minimally invasive cosmetic procedure that results in healthy new skin.

It has become one of the most popular anti-aging treatments and aesthetic treatments because it treats so many conditions! Microneedling treatment consists of putting tiny needles into the surface of your skin. 

I know a lot of people are put off by this! But the needles are literally just millimeters long. You feel them, but it’s not like getting a shot. 

Unlike fillers or plastic surgery, these tiny wounds harness your body’s natural ability to heal, and it’s an effective way to create healthy new skin. Healing leads to the production of collagen and firm, youthful skin. (The medical name for this is ‘collagen induction therapy’!)

Because it’s a natural healing process, microneedling treatment can heal a ton of skin concerns, including:

• Facial scars or body scars,including pitted acne scarring
• Loose skin or skin laxity
• Sun damage or dark spots from sun exposure
• Skin texture or large pores 
• Stretch marks
• Appearance of fine lines or deep facial lines 

Lately, skin needling has combined in treatment sessions with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or platelet-rich fibrin (PRF), taken from the patient’s blood, to supercharge the healing process. I have not done this yet, but I’m very interested in trying PRF for my undereyes since dermal filler injections seem to be so hit or miss in this area. 

Can I do microneedling?

Out of all the professional skincare procedures, skin needling is one of the most forgiving and will work for the most people. 

It is safe and effective for people with darker skin tones who might be at risk of burning from laser treatments, and far less disruptive than the more invasive cosmetic procedures like a deep chemical peel.

With that said: if you tend to get keloids when you get an injury, you’re probably not a good candidate for microneedling. The potential side effects are not worth it for you. If you’re really curious, just talk to a professional before booking any treatment sessions and tell them about your medical history!

What about microneedling for anti-aging?

If you’re reading this post, you’re probably interested in the nicroneedling process and Botox for anti-aging to treat or prevent the appearance of wrinkles! So here’s how that works:

The microneedling treatment is not necessary if you do not have early signs of aging or some kind of skin texture issue like the appearance of scars. If you are just looking to prevent the signs of aging, or if you have lines in your forehead that go away when you relax your face, just get the Botox, and reconsider microneedling in a few years. 

If you have some signs of aging on the surface of the skin like lines that are still visible when you don’t have a facial expression, microneedling will help that and you should consider combining it with Botox! (Or, if you don’t like the idea of Botox, microneedling will do a lot to decrease those lines. 

After a micro needling treatment, the skin cells that got all those microscopic punctures will start their healing process, speeding up collagen production and elastin production. The full effect of the treatment takes six weeks! So your skin will continue to heal up and improve over that time. 

Immediately after treatment, you’ll experience some skin irritation. This isn’t a lunchtime treatment for most people. But I am typically fine to go to work the next day. 

Most people will do more than one microneedling treatment. Typically they will be spaced about a month apart, so the results of each treatment build on each other. 

After a microneedling treatment, remember that your skin is full of tiny open wounds! Keep your skin clean with a gentle cleanser to prevent skin infections. If you are prone to rosacea or skin redness AT ALL, limit strenuous exercise for 48 hours and shower with cool water to avoid flushing and leaving visible blood vessels.

What is Botox? 

Botox is also a cosmetic treatment aimed at preventing skin aging! Unlike microneedling, it’s not focused on just the skin, but on the facial muscles beneath. Botox injections (it stands for ‘botulinum toxin’) will weaken or paralyze the facial muscle in the treatment area. This prevents those specific muscles from contracting and creating wrinkles. 

Treated area options for anti-aging botox include 

• Forehead wrinkles/frown lines
• crow’s feet (in the outer corners of your eyes)
• “Elevens” (lines in between your eyebrows, above your nose)

There are a lot of other uses for Botox – people will use it for migraines, to reduce their lip lift when they smile, to relax their trap muscles, and even for excessive sweating.

Toxins will treat dynamic wrinkles, which are the ones that appear when you raise your eyebrows, frown, or smile. If you have fine lines when your face is at rest, you may find that they disappear completely with botox alone. 

BTW, ‘Botox’ is a brand name – Dysport, Xeomin, and Daxxify are all basically the same thing (and you can learn the differences here!). They are sold in different “units”, so if you choose Dysport over Botox it seems like it’s going to be a lot cheaper, but you end up requiring more units. Which product you choose should be talked over with the person administering the toxin. 

Is microneedling or botox better for forehead wrinkles?

Really, they just do different things! Microneedling fills out creases in the skin, and firms and plumps aging skin. Botox freezes the muscles that are creating those creases and lines, preventing them from coming back. 

Some people feel strongly that they don’t want one or the other, and that’s understandable. You can get along with just one or the other. 

If you want to avoid Botox, you can do just microneedling and work to actively prevent static wrinkles from forming while maintaining full movement in your face. This is probably the more cost-effective way to go, especially if you can do your microneedling at home. (I went to a medspa the first three times, about ten years ago. When that package was up I bought a microneedling device and have saved a ton of money doing it myself.) Botox can cost thousands of dollars per year depending on how large an area you do. 

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If you don’t like the idea of microneedling and want to just do Botox, the trick is to start as soon as you have fine lines when your face is at rest. For most people, this will be somewhere in their late 20s. If you’re getting Botox earlier than this, I think it’s a waste of money. If you wait too long, you’ll end up with static forehead lines that are still visible with your Botox (which you can always treat with microneedling!). 

Botox is a treatment that needs to be constantly maintained (somewhere between every 3 months and every 5 months). A microneedling procedure will have lasting results, but as you continue to age you will probably want to do it again eventually. 

Can you combine Botox and microneedling?

Yes! There are two basic ways to combine Botox and microneedling. 

One way is pretty new — it’s called the Botox facial or ‘micro-Botox’.

A micro-botox treatment involves getting a regular microneedling treatment and then treating the skin with botulinum toxin type A mixed with hyaluronic acid. In the same way a Botox injection freezes the muscles, micro-botox freezes all the tiny little muscles that open and close your pores, resulting in even, poreless-looking skin. It’ll last 3-4 months, just like injected Botox. If you have only fine lines and fear the injections, this may be enough for the anti-aging results you’re looking for, all in one treatment. (I haven’t done this yet but I want to!)

The other way is the typical way that you think of (and that you were probably searching for when you found this post) — where you want to get a microneedling treatment and Botox injection treatment, each for their anti-aging benefits in different ways. These two facial treatments combine beautifully — however, you shouldn’t do them at the same time. 

Botox and Microneedling: Which order? 

So you may still be wondering, can I get Botox right after microneedling?

If you want to get both of these treatments done, know that you shouldn’t do them in the same session. The microneedling process puts so many holes in your skin, and if you then add the botox injections, they can spread unpredictably and potentially prevent you from getting the best results. 

A high quality clinic will make sure that you wait until the swelling has gone down (not just until the redness has gone away!), which in my experience is usually five days. Most high-quality clinic or medspas will tell you to wait two weeks.  

If your injector is pushing you to do them in the same session, get a different injector. Remember, this is your face! It’s better to go back for a follow-up treatment of Botox than to have the product migrate weirdly and leave you with a droopy eyebrow for three months. 

 For me, personally, I always choose to do Botox after I’ve finished a round of microneedling, not before–it seems to me that since microneedling is causing my skin to refresh and renew so much of the old material, it makes sense that it would “eat” a little bit of the Botox too. I researched and couldn’t find any peer-reviewed evidence to support this, but since I don’t keep to a hard schedule with Botox anyway I just wait til I’m done. I feel that since I’m paying so very much for the Botox, I want to be sure to get optimal results. 

If you want to learn more about Botox aftercare, I wrote about it here: Can I Eat After Botox? Toxin Aftercare to Maximize Results

So, now that you know– are you getting microneedling, Botox, or both? Let me know in the comments!

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