Dr. Naissan Wesley
- 10 Sepetember 2019
- Beauty
Ask Dr.Wesley
Board-certified and Fellowship-trained Cosmetic, Medical, and Surgical Dermatologist Dr. Naissan
Wesley answers all of your questions about the latest skin care fad: skin rollers.
Do skin rollers work? What are they really supposed to do?
At home skin rollers may be beneficial by their cooling effect and if rolled in the proper way they
may also help lymphatics drain. Lymphatics transport lymph fluid that contain our immune cells and
help rid the body of toxins and waste.
Do they reduce wrinkles?
There is no data currently available to show whether skin rollers alone actually reduce wrinkles.
However, some microneedling devices, which sometimes come in the form as rollers, may help
improve texture of the skin (including fine lines, wrinkles, stretch marks, and acne scars) by inducing
collagen remodeling. This has only been shown however for in-office microneedling devices that go
deeper than the at home microneedling devices. At home microneedling devices can only have
needle lengths of 0.15-0.5mm, whereas in-office devices used in the doctor’s office use needles of
1.0-2.5mm in depth to have more of an effect. It’s also important to know that in office
microneedling procedures are done with a sterile technique, the needle tips should be disposable for
one-time only use, and there is healing time afterwards. Caution should be taken for any devices that
do not use needles for one-time use, including for at home devices, as there is concern that infection
could be introduced and needles will get dull and be ineffective.
If I do purchase a roller, which one is best the quartz or the one with needles?
The quartz skin rollers feel nice for their cooling effects on the skin. For needles, I recommend in-
office microneedling over home microneedling for reasons of sterility and effectiveness.
How often should you use it?
At home (quartz) skin rollers would have to be used regularly (daily to weekly) to maintain any
benefits given from it.
In office microneedling has a healing time of about a week. Treatments are usually performed 1
month apart for face (longer for body), and take between 1-6 treatments depending on the condition
and body part we are treating.
