Less is More?

This has been a favourite with some skin needling marketing over the last few years. The theory goes something like this. Wider needles are more painful and do more damage to the skin while thinner micro needles are gentler kinder to the skin and by some extension higher quality.

The most important myth to dispel here is the idea that thinner micro needles are in fact less painful. This is also the easiest part as there has been a direct scientific study on this subject.

This study was directly on how patients perceive pain form micro needling. It is referenced below and it showed that neither increasing micro needle width or thickness by 3 fold actually increased pain perception (1).

This is fairly obvious proof that the thinner micro needles are not less painful. IN fact quite the opposite can be true. The problem is thinner micro needles are much more likely to bend or become blunt due to their more fragile nature. A bent needle definitely does cause more pain and can infect tear up the surface of the skin which is counter productive as it is micro trauma down in the dermis of the skin that causes collagen induction.

The simple fact is that wider needles of about 0.3 gauge are often less painful than thinner microneedles and are also more durable and less likely to unnecessarily damage the surface of the skin.

You can learn more about Quality dermarollers by clicking here.

Next time we will discuss the myth of using titanium derma rollers

1. Gill, H. S., Denson, D., Burris, B. A. & Prausnitz, M. R. (2008). Effect of microneedle design on pain in human subjects. Clin J Pain. 24(7). 585-594.