This one does not resurface your skin. It rebuilds it.
Almost everything else we do works on the surface. Peels lift it, light treats what is in it, and topicals support it.
Skin needling is the treatment that goes underneath and asks your skin to build something new.
It is also the treatment people most often have done badly, either at too shallow a depth to achieve anything, or without the sequencing that makes it work, or on skin that should not have been treated at all. Done properly it is one of the most versatile things we offer. Done carelessly it is an expensive nothing.
Skin needling does two entirely different things at once, and most descriptions only cover the first.
Fine, controlled micro-channels are created through the epidermis and into the dermis. Your body registers these as injury and initiates a genuine wound-healing cascade.
Day zero. Micro-channels created. The trigger.
Days one to three. The inflammatory phase. Immune cells arrive to protect and clear the area. This is normal and necessary rather than a side effect.
Weeks one to six. Proliferation. Fibroblasts are activated and begin producing new type III collagen and elastin. New blood vessels form. The skin becomes measurably stronger and more hydrated.
Months three to six. Remodelling. That newly laid type III collagen matures and reorganises into stronger, more structured type I collagen.
That last phase is why the result you see at your final appointment is not your final result. Collagen remodelling continues for months after we stop, which is also why we want the last treatment well before any event rather than close to it.
Nothing topical does this. A cream cannot trigger a wound-healing cascade, and that is not a marketing distinction, it is a physiological one.
The same micro-channels temporarily bypass the stratum corneum, which is the barrier that stops most actives reaching any useful depth.
An ingredient applied to intact skin and the same ingredient delivered through open channels are not the same treatment. This is the entire basis of our Tier Two, and it is where a needling treatment stops being generic and starts being specific to you.
Both tiers were designed in-house, and comfort was a genuine design consideration rather than an afterthought. For most people the skin stays red or lightly pink for no more than forty-eight hours.
Skin needling with a hyaluronic acid glide, paired with LED or a peel.
A complete, results-driven treatment in its own right, and where most people begin.
What it includes:
Who it suits. First-time needling. General skin quality, texture and early textural change. Anyone building toward more advanced work. And anyone who wants the collagen benefit without the additional investment of a bespoke infusion.
Everything in Tier One, plus a medical booster infusion formulated to your presenting concern.
This is where our clinical expertise genuinely comes into play, and where the treatment stops being standard.
Rather than a single generic serum applied to everyone, we formulate a bespoke medical-grade infusion protocol matched to what we are actually treating. Whether that is early laxity, pigmentation, redness, dehydration, scarring, or post-acne skin, we select and combine actives that address the specific mechanism driving your concern, delivered directly through the channels created during your treatment.
This is regenerative, biostimulatory skin work at a considered clinical level. It is personalised, it is intentional, and it is designed for meaningful long-term change rather than a temporary result.
We want to be careful in this section, because it is an area where marketing has run considerably ahead of the research. Below is what we use, what the evidence actually shows, and how strong that evidence genuinely is.
Polynucleotides and PDRN. Polydeoxyribonucleotide, derived from salmon or trout DNA, used both as a standalone infusion including Rejuran and within Byryzn Opuluxe V.
The mechanism is well described. PDRN acts on adenosine A2A receptors, reducing inflammatory signalling and promoting angiogenesis through upregulation of VEGF, while also supplying nucleotides that fibroblasts use directly through the salvage pathway. The angiogenic effect is measurable, with experimental wound models showing significant increases in VEGF expression against control at p less than 0.001.
Several clinical studies, predominantly from Korea, report better outcomes from PDRN combined with microneedling than from microneedling alone.
We will also tell you what a 2026 narrative review of PDRN in aesthetic recovery stated plainly about this field: a shortage of randomised controlled trials in human aesthetic cohorts, small sample sizes, variability between formulations, and little long-term follow-up. The mechanistic case is strong and the clinical evidence is still developing. We think it is a reasonable and biologically sound addition. We are not going to tell you it is proven.
Byryzn Opuluxe V. A Korean-formulated eight-active booster brought into Australia by Hugel, combining PLLA, trout DNA PDRN, hyaluronic acid, glutathione, sphingomonas ferment extract, adenosine, an amino acid complex and a vitamin complex. We use it where the presentation needs several things at once rather than one concern in isolation, which describes a great deal of skin.
PLLA. Poly-L-lactic acid, a biostimulator. Rather than filling or hydrating, it provokes a low-grade fibroblast response that builds collagen gradually across months. Useful where skin has lost structural quality rather than developed discrete faults.
Exosomes. Used for cellular signalling and repair. An area of considerable interest and genuinely early evidence, and we will say so rather than overselling it.
Tranexamic acid. The best-evidenced active in this group, though most of that evidence sits in melasma. It acts on plasmin-driven inflammatory and pigment signalling, which makes it directly relevant to post-inflammatory pigmentation, particularly in olive and deeper skin tones where marking is more persistent.
Niacinamide. Well supported and unusually well tolerated. Reduces inflammation, supports barrier recovery, helps regulate sebum, and interrupts the transfer of pigment from melanocytes into surrounding cells.
Ascorbic acid. Antioxidant protection and tyrosinase inhibition, plus a genuine role as an essential cofactor in collagen synthesis. Delivered through channels rather than across an intact barrier, which is where the formulation limitations of topical vitamin C stop applying.
Glutathione. An antioxidant with a role in shifting melanin synthesis toward the lighter pigment pathway. Worth being honest that the evidence here is weaker than the enthusiasm around it, and we use it as a supporting active rather than a primary one.
Hyaluronic acid. Deep hydration and plumping, and the foundation of most infusions.
Peptides and growth factors. Collagen signalling support.
Amino acids and targeted skin vitamins. The raw materials for repair.
Each of these is selected and combined intentionally, never at random, and always based on what your skin actually needs on the day.
Skin texture. Roughness, unevenness and general loss of refinement.
Acne scarring. Particularly boxcar scars and general textural change. Rolling scars usually need releasing first, which we cover on our acne scarring page.
Post-acne skin. Where breakouts are controlled and what remains is the aftermath.
Pigmentation. Especially post-inflammatory marking, using tranexamic acid, niacinamide and ascorbic acid delivered directly.
Redness. Carefully, and not in active rosacea.
Fine lines and early laxity. Collagen and elastin production, which is structural rather than superficial.
Enlarged pore appearance. By improving the collagen support surrounding the follicle.
And overall skin quality, meaning radiance, firmness, hydration and glow, which is the reason a great many people book it without any specific fault to correct.
We do not needle over active inflammatory acne. Doing so risks spreading bacteria and worsening inflammation, and inflammation produces both the scarring and the pigment we are trying to prevent. Active acne is controlled first, and that sequencing is not us being slow, it is us protecting your result.
We do not needle a compromised barrier. If your skin is reactive, sensitised or over-treated, we will tell you and we will rebuild the barrier first.
We do not needle over active infection, open skin, or uncontrolled inflammatory skin disease.
We observe a waiting period after oral prescription acne treatment. Tell us if you have taken any, currently or recently, and we will plan accordingly.
And we will tell you when it is the wrong treatment. If your primary concern is ice pick scarring, established vascular marking, or discrete sun damage, needling is not the tool and we would rather say so than sell you a course.
During. Topical anaesthetic is applied beforehand and left to take effect, so the treatment itself is comfortable for the large majority of people. Most describe a light scratching or prickling sensation. The bonier areas are more noticeable than the cheeks.
Immediately after. Skin looks flushed, similar to moderate sunburn, and feels warm and tight. This is expected and it is the point.
Twenty-four to forty-eight hours. For most people, redness settles within this window. Some people are pink for a little longer, particularly after Tier Two or at greater depths.
Days two to five. Some tightness, dryness and light flaking as the skin turns over. Do not exfoliate it.
Then. Skin quality improves progressively across the following weeks, with collagen remodelling continuing for months.
Before. We will ask you to pause retinoids and exfoliating actives for a period beforehand, avoid sun exposure, and come in without makeup. If you are prone to cold sores, tell us, as needling can trigger a recurrence and prophylaxis may be appropriate.
Immediately after. Nothing on the skin except what we give you. No makeup for twenty-four hours. No touching.
The first forty-eight hours. No exercise, no sweating, no saunas, no hot showers, no swimming. Heat drives inflammation and, in pigment-prone skin, pigment.
The first week. Gentle cleansing, barrier support, and no actives at all until we tell you. iS Clinical SHEALD Recovery Balm and Dermaceutic K Ceutic, which repairs and protects at SPF 50 in one step, are both frequent recommendations here.
Sun protection, absolutely. Freshly needled skin is more vulnerable to UV and this is where post-inflammatory pigmentation comes from.
You will leave with written aftercare and take-home post-care products rather than a verbal briefing you are expected to remember.
A course of three to six treatments spaced four to six weeks apart is typical for meaningful change, and more where scarring is significant.
The interval matters. Four to six weeks allows the proliferative phase to complete before the next stimulus. Treating more frequently does not accelerate the result and does increase the inflammatory load.
Maintenance afterwards, typically every three to six months depending on your concern and your age.
Before an event, the last treatment should be no closer than eight weeks. Redness settles in days, but collagen remodelling continues for months and we want that working for you rather than still in progress.
Needling builds. It does not resurface, it does not treat vessels, and it does not lift pigment directly.
Alongside peels, which handle surface and epidermal work while needling handles the dermis. The two are complementary and neither substitutes for the other.
Alongside IPL, which addresses vascular marking and discrete pigment that needling will not touch.
After subcision, where scarring is tethered. Release first, then build. Sequenced that way, the needling works considerably harder than the same needling would have done first.
Before resurfacing, in a staged scarring plan.
With LED, which we add at the end of the same appointment. Faster resolution of inflammation means less pigment risk and a better result.
Suitable for most skin types and tones. Needling is genuinely one of the safer options in deeper skin tones compared with heat-based treatments, because it does not target melanin. It still requires careful technique, appropriate depth and disciplined aftercare, because post-inflammatory pigmentation remains the main risk.
Not suitable during pregnancy in its standard form, over active acne or infection, on a compromised barrier, in uncontrolled inflammatory skin disease, with a history of keloid scarring, or where certain medications or conditions affect healing.
A note on pregnancy. An adapted version is available in some circumstances, performed without topical anaesthetic and using Tier One with a standard hyaluronic acid glide only. PDRN, PLLA and glutathione are not appropriate during pregnancy. This is discussed with your dermal clinician and we would encourage you to raise it with your obstetrician or midwife as well.
Tell us about any medications, bleeding disorders, blood-thinning medication, recent treatments elsewhere, and any history of cold sores or keloid scarring.
Microneedling has a reasonable and growing evidence base, and a 2025 systematic review of microneedling across dermatologic conditions found meaningful clinical benefit, particularly where it was combined with adjunct actives rather than performed alone.
That combination finding is worth sitting with, because it is the argument for our Tier Two.
Where the evidence is strongest is atrophic acne scarring and general skin quality.
Where it is developing is the booster actives, as set out above. Strong mechanistic reasoning, promising early clinical work, and a literature that is smaller and more variable than the marketing implies.
We use these treatments because the biology is sound and the clinical results in our hands are consistent. We are not going to present emerging evidence as settled.
Tier One and Tier Two are priced differently, reflecting the bespoke infusion in Tier Two.
We recommend a course rather than a single treatment, and we offer packages accordingly.
Our packages can include your preparation and aftercare products as well as the treatments themselves. That is deliberate rather than a bundling exercise. Priming the skin beforehand measurably improves the outcome and reduces the risk of post-inflammatory pigmentation, and proper aftercare is what protects the result you have just paid for. Both are part of the treatment rather than optional extras, and including them means nobody arrives unprepared or leaves without what their skin needs for the following week.
Packages are built during your consultation, around your skin, your concern and your plan, rather than chosen from a fixed menu beforehand. You will receive an itemised plan covering the full sequence, including products, so you can see the total before committing to anything.
If your budget is a consideration, tell us. It changes what we recommend rather than whether we help.
Cosmetic and dermal treatments do not attract a Medicare rebate.
Does it hurt?
Less than people expect. Topical anaesthetic is applied beforehand and left to work properly, and most people describe a light scratching or prickling rather than pain. Both our tiers were designed in-house with comfort as a genuine priority, because a treatment you dread is a treatment you do not complete.
How long will I be red for?
For most people, no more than forty-eight hours. Some are pink slightly longer, particularly after Tier Two. Plan a quiet evening afterwards. Most people are back to normal by the following day and wearing makeup the day after that.
Do your packages include products?
They can, and we usually recommend it. Skin preparation beforehand improves the result and reduces the risk of marking, and correct aftercare protects what you have just invested in. Including both means the plan is complete rather than partly delivered. What is included is discussed and personalised in clinic.
Which tier should I choose?
Tier One if you are new to needling, if your concern is general skin quality, or if you are building toward more advanced work. Tier Two where there is a specific mechanism to target, which includes scarring, pigmentation, significant textural change and early laxity. We will tell you which at consultation rather than leaving you to guess.
How is this different from a dermaroller at home?
Depth, control, sterility and what goes in afterwards. Home rollers work at a depth that does not reach the dermis in any meaningful way, they cannot be adequately sterilised, and they create channels that then receive whatever you happen to apply. That last point is the genuinely risky part.
Can I have it while pregnant?
An adapted version is available in some circumstances. See the suitability section above, and raise it with your obstetrician or midwife.
Is it safe for darker skin tones?
Yes, and it is one of the safer options because it does not target melanin the way heat-based treatments do. Technique, depth and aftercare still matter, and post-inflammatory pigmentation remains the main risk to manage.
How soon will I see results?
Immediate plumpness and glow within days, largely from hydration and circulation. Genuine textural change becomes apparent from around four to six weeks, and it continues developing for months afterwards.
Can I have it before my wedding?
Yes, with the last treatment no closer than eight weeks before. Collagen remodelling should be working for you by then rather than still in progress.
Whether needling is right for you, which tier, what goes into the infusion and where it sits in your sequence are all decisions we make with your skin in front of us.
There is no cost and no obligation.
Book online, or call or text us on 0478 844 048
Plump Aesthetic Clinic
525 Chapel Street, South Yarra
www.plumpaestheticclinic.com.au
Caitlin King, Registered Nurse, Founder and Clinical Director.
Belinda, Senior Dermal Clinician. Bachelor of Dermal Science.
Sammi, Senior Dermal Clinician. Bachelor of Dermal Science.
Last reviewed: [month, year]
Important information: All treatments require an individual consultation with a qualified practitioner to determine suitability. Results vary between individuals and depend on skin type, concern, number of treatments completed and aftercare compliance. No result is guaranteed. Skin needling carries risks including redness, swelling, bruising, infection, cold sore reactivation and post-inflammatory pigmentation, all of which will be explained to you in full before you proceed. This information is general in nature and is not a substitute for individual medical advice.
