Microneedling

Microneedling for skin texture improvement, fine line reduction, pore refinement, and mild acne scar correction, offered by Northwestern Plastic Surgery's licensed aesthetician and aesthetics team at the Streeterville clinic. The treatment uses a device with fine needles to create micro-channels in the skin surface, triggering a controlled wound-healing response that stimulates collagen and elastin production over subsequent weeks.

Microneedling at Northwestern Plastic Surgery is offered as part of the practice's physician-supervised non-surgical aesthetics service, performed by the in-house aesthetics team led by licensed aesthetician Ariana De Jesus under the oversight of the attending plastic surgeons. The microneedling device uses an array of fine stainless-steel needles — typically 0.5 to 2.5 mm in depth depending on the treatment area and concern being addressed — to create controlled microinjuries to the skin surface, penetrating the stratum corneum and epidermis and reaching the superficial papillary dermis. These micro-channels trigger the skin's natural wound-healing cascade: platelet-derived growth factors, transforming growth factor-beta, and other mediators recruit fibroblasts to the treatment zone, where they synthesise new collagen (primarily type III collagen initially, remodelling to type I over months) and elastin. The result over four to six weeks following each session is progressive improvement in skin firmness, texture, pore size, and the superficial depth of fine lines and mild acne scars. A course of three to six sessions spaced four weeks apart is typically planned to achieve optimal results, with individual sessions producing incremental improvement. Because microneedling creates micro-channels in the skin surface, it also enhances the penetration of topical serums applied immediately following the procedure — peptide, growth factor, or hyaluronic acid serums are commonly applied at the end of the treatment session. Microneedling is suitable for all Fitzpatrick skin types with a low risk of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation compared to ablative laser or chemical peel approaches, making it an accessible maintenance treatment in the Northwestern Plastic Surgery aesthetic programme.