In this exclusive MedPage Today video from the American Academy of Dermatology's recent annual meeting, Tina Alster, MD, founding director of the Washington Institute of Dermatologic Laser Surgery and clinical professor of dermatology at Georgetown University Medical Center, discusses microneedling and laser treatment.
Following is a transcript of her remarks:
I'd like to talk about microneedling. In fact, I've been talking a lot [about] this through meetings throughout the year, along with PRP or platelet-rich plasma injections for the scalp to reverse the signs of androgenic alopecia.
When I talk about microneedling, I tend to tell people that while I'm known as a laser user and abuser, I now incorporate microneedling into my daily practice usually for such things as perioral rhydity, atrophic scars from acne, enlarged pores on the nose, stretch marks, and also just traumatic scars on any body location. I often will use the microneedling alone or in combination with laser treatment.
I typically tell people to undergo microneedling sessions on a monthly basis, and that gives enough time for the skin to heal as well as to show the final clinical effect. That's similar to the PRP injections that I tell people to use for hair growth. After a series of four monthly treatments, people usually will see two things happening. One is that they lose less hair and #2, they start showing some early hair growth. I have found this to be like Miracle-Gro for the hair follicles. My patients have really jumped on board with these treatments. Then they maintain the effect by undergoing treatments as much as four times a year, but at least at every six-month intervals.