There’s a new beauty treatment that’s been growing in popularity over the past year. You can make at an appointment at a beauty clinic to have it done, or buy your own tools and do your own treatments at home. You can use the tools alone or use them with products to increase penetration and effectiveness. As with all things, you can do it well or badly. It’s time to take a look at Derma Rolling: what it is, how to use a derma roller, and what it can do for you!

What is Derma Rolling?

Also known as micro-needling, derma rolling is the practise of using a derma roller (a tool like a small paint roller, covered in a tiny needles) to prick and puncture the skin in the area you want to treat. This has two effects: firstly that recovering from this micro-wounds helps your skin by stimulating collagen production as part of the healing process, and secondly it helps treatments and products penetrate the epidermis to a level of skin where they can do the most good.

How Do You Use a Derma Roller?

If you simply buy a derma roller in a shop, you might it doesn’t come with full instructions – and as you’re expected to use it stick lots of needles into your skin, you really want to feel confident you’re using it properly!

Here are our top tips:

• Hygiene first: nothing is more important than this. Clean it after you’re finished, and disinfect it before you use it each time. Also, don’t share your derma roller. Breaking these golden rules means you could make your roller a danger to you rather than an essential bit of beauty kit!
• Avoid use on irritated, or infected skin, and on active skin conditions like moles, warts, acne or spots. Disturbing these areas can do more harm than good – it’s also wise to roll no higher than cheekbone level: you don’t want to get too close to your eyes.
• After washing your hands, the derma roller and your skin, hold the skin taught with one hand and roll the roller over the chosen area 8-10 times in both directions. Lift the roller after each roll to make sure you’re treading a different path, rather going over the same punctures.

What’s the Advantage of Going to a Clinic?

While you can buy your own derma roller direct, there are lots of advantages to going to a clinic or aesthetician at least for your first treatment. For one thing, they can make fit the derma-roller to precisely what you want to achieve: a roller for firming and filling out wrinkles doesn’t need to go as deep as one for repairing acne scars, so it makes sense to get the correct tool for the job.

They can also make sure you know how to use a derma roller safely, and get the most out of one, so it’s well worth making an appointment!