Acne and Rosacea Charity Training Manual

Needling Devices (dermal rollers and automated needling devices)
The Medical Dermal roller and the newer automated needling devices work on the principle of needling. The needles are fine acupuncture
needles which are too thin to leave a permanent mark on the skin but when pushed into the skin will induce a healing response with the
induction of new collagen which will fill the scar and stretch the skin.
Dermarollers
Dermal rollers were developed in Germany and were introduced to the UK by myself in 2009 – prior to that, patients
travelled to Germany to have treatment. The whole affected area is treated i.e. the whole face or back or chest, not just
the scars. The skin is first treated with EMLA cream for 1 hour under occlusion then cleaned and swabbed with alcohol.
The skin treated is with 4 repetitions in 3 different directions – horizontal, vertical and diagonal to optimize the number
of individual piercings that occur. Medical Dermal Roller will produce 250 channels/cm2. The Medical Dermal Roller
comes in a range of fixed needle lengths from 0.5 to 2mm. For acne scarring you need to use 1.5mm needle length.
Treatment will lead to pinpoint bleeding and may be painful. After treatment, clean the skin with sterile normal saline, apply clean gauze and a cold pack
for 10 minutes. After this, any serous exudate will have dried up and the patients can be allowed home. Light moisturizer can be use that night and the
patients can go back to a normal regime the next day. The skin will remain red for up to 4 days.