Microneedling decayed, thinned and discolored the surface of skin in human skin specimens


I am re-doing the microneedling experiment previously written about here because the effect of microneedling on human skin samples destroyed the skin badly. So badly that I was not able to properly complete the experiment.

I want to conclusively show what dermarolling/microneedling does to the skin so I am redoing the experiment.

Here I will catalogue the experiment as each stage progresses, so please follow along with me as I carry out the study.

Experimental Outline:

The present study will examine the effects of microneedling on the skin, and it will also comparitively look at skin treated with deionized water (control) and OUMERE Skin Care .

Skin samples will be treated with a daily treatment of:

Deionized water swabbed on the surface: Control

One session of dermarolling/microneedling: Experimental 1

One session of OUMERE skin care regimen of No. 9, UVR Concentrate, Advancement Concentrate and Serum Bioluminelle: Experimental 2

The treatment stage will go on for 7 days. Currently I am on day 4 of 7.

After the treatment stage is complete, the tissue samples will be fixed, dehydrated and then embedded in epoxy resin. These steps are to prepare the specimens for sectioning and then for their observation under the microscope.

 

Current Observations:

After the first treatment sessions the control and OUMERE-treated samples looked very good. The tissue looked healthy and robust and showed no signs of damage or decay. The OUMERE sample is currently maintaining its firmness and the skin care treatment appears to be preserving the structure and appearance of the skin specimen.

However, the microneedled sample had a severely pockmarked appearance after one treatment. Despite the dermarolling being very light, the micro-needling procedure resulted in the creation of numerous minuscule punctures or perforations across the surface of the human skin specimen, resembling an array of tiny holes. These punctures exhibited a pattern of small, distinct openings, reminiscent of mesh or pumice stone. 

Microneedled sample shows greying/darkening appearance, pockmarks in a crosshatching pattern, and overall thinned appearance. 

 

I find this to be concerning as it means that even after one round of dermarolling, human skin experienced significant damage.

What made matters worse is that the skin seems to be getting worse with each treatment, despite the growth medium allowing for the tissue to repair itself. The tissue seems to be unable to recover and shows signs of rapid decay.

Specifically the dermarolled sample became much thinner, less resilient and grey compared to the control and OUMERE-treated samples.

The findings indicate that not only can one dermarolling session destroy the epidermal layers, but it also affects the underlying layers of collagen, muscle and fat, in addition to affecting the pigment of skin. All of which contribute to an aged appearance.

I believe these findings show that dermarolling has the ability to age the skin by up to one year from a single session.

 

Next steps:

At the end of the week I will fix the tissue in Bouin's fixative and then move on to the dehydration steps.