What to Expect: RF Microneedling —
Depth Decided Before The Needles

Dr SY looks at your skin type, scar types, pore pattern, any laxity and how readily your skin darkens after injury. RF microneedling suits rolling and shallow boxcar scars, the kind that flatten out when the skin is stretched. Scars that are tied down, and deep ice-pick tracts, are usually treated first, with subcision or TCA CROSS, and inflamed acne is treated before any scar work.

Tell him about keloid scarring, cold sores, pregnancy, melasma, recent isotretinoin, blood-thinning medicines, recent injectables or resurfacing in the area, and any pacemaker, metal implant or implanted electronic device. Any of these can change the plan or its timing, or rule the treatment out. Never stop a prescribed medicine on your own; that decision belongs to the doctor who prescribed it.

A fresh tan means the session waits; daily broad-spectrum sunscreen starts before the first visit, and retinoids, acids and scrubs are paused when Dr SY advises. Photographs are taken with your consent, for your medical record only, and are never published. You leave with a written plan: zones, needles, staging, follow-up, and the option of no treatment.

1. Readiness check. Dr SY looks at the skin again. If a cold sore or new inflammation has appeared in the area, the session is moved rather than adapted.
2. Numbing. After cleansing, numbing cream goes on the planned zones for around half an hour.
3. Clean skin. The cream is removed completely and the skin is cleaned again.
4. Depth by zone. Passes of around half a millimetre treat texture; two millimetres or more reach the level of scar tethering and dermal thinning. The needles go deeper over the cheeks and jaw and are kept gentler near the eyes and where skin lies over bone, and several depths are often combined in one session.
5. The passes. The handpiece rests flat, insulated needles enter to the set depth, radiofrequency is released at their tips for a fraction of a second, and the needles withdraw. The handpiece moves on until the map is complete.
6. Blotting. Pinpoint bleeding is expected, blotted away as he works, and stops quickly.
7. Finish. If your plan includes it, an exosome preparation is applied while the channels are open. A bland moisturiser goes on, and you receive written aftercare.

The visit takes forty to sixty minutes, numbing included.

Numbing takes the edge off the needles going in, but it does not block the warmth of the radiofrequency. Most people describe pressure, warmth and a brief sting at each placement, and the face generally tolerates it well, though comfort varies from person to person. The jawline, forehead and temples are more sensitive than the cheeks.

Tell Dr SY how it feels as he goes; depth, energy and pace are adjusted to what you report. By the end the skin is red, warm and tight, rather like sunburn.

What to do in the first day and week, and the signs to report, is in RF microneedling aftercare.

How your skin is likely to look day by day, and when work and events can resume, is in RF microneedling downtime.