What is Micro-needling?

Micro-needling is a general term for a process that involves moving a special device over your skin that has a roller with many tiny (usually metal) needles embedded in it. There are different kinds of micro-needling devices with different product names. One is the manual version of micro-needling called a Dermaroller. There are also motorized devices such as the Dermapen or Dermastamp. For the most part, these micro-needling devices have reasonable science behind them indicating they may help in reducing the appearance of scars, but there’s far less support for their ability to address wrinkles or for their ability to help anti-aging ingredients absorb better into skin. Here are the various options:

Dermarollers resemble small paint rollers you would use to get into tight spots. They act as miniature aerators, like something you’d use on your lawn. They have a round, rotating cylinder with at least 200 tiny needles protruding from it, and a handle for moving it around your face. And that’s exactly what you’re supposed to do with it: You roll this quasi-aerator over your skin with some amount of pressure, puncturing hundreds of tiny holes along the way.

Dermapens look exactly like a pen, with a circular head studded with tiny needles. The head and needles are motorized. The motor-driven needles move in and out of the skin in a stamping motion, piercing it with thousands of tiny punctures.

Dermastamps resemble Dermapens but have a larger head with more needles protruding from the device. Dermastamps may be motorized or manual, and work exactly as the name implies: Rather than rolling needles over the skin or being moved over skin by a motor, you stamp the needles into skin. It’s a bit like a tattooing machine, but with many needles puncturing skin all at once rather than a single needle (and obviously minus the ink deposit).