Why Your Skin Barrier Breaks Down After Microneedling And How to Preve – O U M E R E

No Trends, No Damage

I wrote one of the first, if not the first article exploring the permanent skin damaging effects of microneedling back several years ago. I decided to write the article after a massive influx of e-mails and in-person consultations were focused on fixing a clients skin after microneedling damaged it.

Microneedling since the article came out has become a $1.1 billion industry because social media plaforms like TikTok, Instagram and Youtube promote it in addition to what many perceive to be places of authority: Dermatology offices and med spas.

People use microneedling based on claims that it will increase skin collagen, firm the skin, shrink pores and create a glow. But the forums of users tells a different story: worsening skin texture, chronic irritation, sensitivity and skin wounds that seem permanent.

As a biologist I know healthy collagen only is created once in a skin's life cycle: upon creation of the ECM, and when it secretes it any other time, that is scar tissue forming. And when you stab your skin this causes inflammation (which may be mistaken for firmer skin with a glow but its not.)

At its core, microneedling and its hype is the result of a fundamental misunderstanding of skin biology.

What Microneedling Actually Does to Your Skin

Microneedling punctures the skin thousands of times, creating micro-wounds. The goal is controlled damage: trigger the body to rush in collagen and healing factors. The bad part is that wound healing is a biological gamble. If the skin doesn’t receive the right conditions, it won’t heal correctly. The result is a weakened barrier, increased transepidermal water loss, inflammation, and susceptibility to pathogens and aging.

The Real Reason Your Skin Looks Worse Months Later Many assume microneedling damage, if any, will be instant and if you do not see anything within a week you're safe.

The thing to be truly scared about microneedling is that the damage often will not show up for weeks or months, often after many more sessions of microneedling as occurred, causing the damage to accumulate, aging to accelerate and little chance for recovery.

Additional use of products can also make the damage worse:

Using vitamin C, acids, or retinoids post-treatment
Exposing the skin to essential oils and fragrance
Poor post-procedure hygiene
Lack of true barrier repair support

How to Know If Your Barrier Is Broken

Skin stings with plain water
Constant dryness despite moisturizing
Redness, shininess, or flakiness that doesn’t subside
New breakouts and inflammation

The Correct Way to Heal Your Skin After Microneedling

If you’re serious about results, its time to have patience, invest in your health, stop listening to every charlatan on a message board or on a TikTok video and begin respecting biology. Healing takes time, silence, and the right environment. Not more products.

I devised the below protocol when a friend of mine and actress had a well known Gala to attend. I had been telling her for months to not do the microneedling thing, but was going through a period of insecurity from a mix of having a child and not being seen as "young Hollywood" anymore. After one treatment with an alleged celebrity Esthetician, her face was completely red, swollen, with pock marks and some skin peeling.

I spent a while making her skin care individually and coming up with the right routine to fix the damage, we only had two weeks to the event so it needed to work but not be harsh to do more damage.

The routine worked very well and her skin improved a lot in a short period of time, a lot quicker than I had anticipated. I based the routine on a regimen I devised for myself after getting an equestrian-related injury on my face that I wrote about here.

By the time of the event her skin was still a little red and sensitive, but it was something that the makeup was able to cover and the cameras did not pick up. Below is that routine:

The OUMERE Protocol for Post-Microneedling Recovery:

First 72 Hours:
- Dilute Advancement and a few drops of Bioluminelle.
Days 3-7:
- AM: Dilute UV-R, Advancement and sparing Bioluminelle
- PM: Oil Dissolution Theory, Eye serum on darkened spots and spots that showed signs of wounds from the microneedling. Advancement II and a few drops of Bioluminelle
Week 2 Onward:
- AM: Dilute No. 9 for only a minute before going to the next step, UV-R, Advancement and Bioluminelle
- Oil Dissolution Theory, Eye serum on darkened spots and spots that showed signs of wounds from the microneedling. Advancement II and a few drops of Bioluminelle
Long-Term:
- Maintain skin health with a minimal, non-aggressive regimen
- No fads, no lasers, no estheticians. Prioritize support and correction with skin care.