In a recent conversation with my friend and colleague, Pati Pavlik, we discussed, Dry Needling…it’s uses and it’s risks. Pati came out with the funniest comment and it totally prompted me to write this article. She said, “yeh, some of these gals just go…I’ve got this needle, now what else can I do with it?”
When I stopped laughing, we realized we agreed on all points and particularly on the over-promising that we hear with this technique. With the fillers we have today as well as the use of Botox, I would not want to risk scarring someone when there are better solutions for getting rid of lines and wrinkles. If you dry needle the peri-oral vertical lines surrounding the mouth on a very fair woman, these lines can heal white and shiny. The idea of dry needling is to stimulate collagen to fill out a wrinkle but since we would be working from the outside in, we take on certain risks, like scarring. It is best to fill out the wrinkle from inside, thereby pushing the wrinkle out. This can only be done with a filler.
Aside from the fact, dry needling will not give our client the much needed volume in this area that will reduce these lines most effectively.
On a woman with a darker complexion, (Fitzpatrick 4 – 6) dry needling can cause hyper-pigmentation. Why would I risk these results when I can send her to a plastic surgeon or dermatologist’s office that can administer the appropriate filler to eliminate these lines from under the skin without these risks? These fillers can also help to create some collagen response and prevent the lines from returning with the initial intensity. It serves us well to have relationships with these surgeons and doctors to refer to and in turn, they will often refer permanent make up clients to us.
Your clients may complain that they can’t afford fillers and they don’t want to get started with them since they have to be maintained. However, I tell them, so does permanent make up. I explain to my clients the incredible youthful appearance of reducing or removing vertical lines from their face such as the nasal labial folds (lines alongside the nose), the frown lines in the center of the forehead that resemble a number 11 and the marionette lines that jut down vertically from the corners of the mouth. I explain that fillers and Botox are not for the wealthy, just like permanent make up isn’t just for the wealthy. I tell them how affordable fillers have become. I kiddingly tell them they will willingly skip a meal a day if they have to, in order to pay for their fillers once they see how good they look. There is no way I can achieve these results for my client with dry needling.
Another example of over-promising results would be to dry needle horizontal or vertical lines in a forehead. We can not keep someone from continuing to move their forehead and deepening these lines. This is muscular, and dry needling can again create either white, shiny lines or hyper-pigmentation. Botox will prevent these lines from deepening or perhaps, this client needs a brow lift? If she meets with a plastic surgeon she can become informed of other affordable solutions and make informed decisions. As Pati stated, we cannot cure all ills with our needles. I liken it to giving the client with severe ptosis a wide eyeliner. What is the point? She needs what I cannot give her with just my needle and that is a Blepharoplasty. I tell her how affordable a Bleph truly is and give her some plastic surgeons cards so she can consult with them and decide.
Where do I believe dry needling has a place? Dry needling relaxes scars and can be most effective in smoothing out banded and uneven areas of scar tissue, especially from burns. I find it useful on Breast Augmentation scars, Mastopexy scars, and sometimes when tattooing banded areola grafts following Mastectomies. If a scar is bumpy and uneven, it often returns much smoother.
I recently consulted with a client (Fitzpatrick 1-2) that was severely burned across her entire brow line by hot wax. I was stunned that a brow waxing could ever pose this degree of risk. First, I will tattoo her eyebrows, since her follicles were destroyed and then will continue to work on the bumpy areas with dry needling to smooth them out.
I have attempted to dry needle Indian and Middle-Eastern complexions to restore or stimulate melanin for Vitiligo. This is a very difficult skin color to match due to its even and creamy finish. I have not had success with dry needling and Vitiligo so I have always had to tattoo the areas with color. It is worth the try.
I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Pati Pavlik about dry needling techniques.
Warmest regards,
Rose Marie Beauchemin
Owner, Beau Institute