Banu before treatment

I had always heard about Dermaroller treatment but never actually tried it before.

I knew how it is done and how it works and always knew that it would be really good for me as I suffer from acne scarring. I am really a chicken with needles as I do have a needle phobia. Me and needles don’t really go along well. When we launched Dermaroller Microneedling at Riverbanks I decided to try it. It took me couple of days to put courage into it as it looks and sounds terrifying, a roller with needles! Aughhh!

I was really nervous before the treatment I must admit, terrified!. Ann ( our nurse) applied anaesthetics cream to start with, and I waited about 45 minutes with the cream and she was topping it up every 15 min. It normally is 30 min but being a chicken I waited 45 min to make sure I numbed up well. She cleaned the cream off my face to start the treatment. Until then I didn’t realise how numb my face had gone as I keep telling her that the cream doesn’t work.

She started with my forehead. As soon as I felt how it feels I was relieved. Surprisingly it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Also I think you do get used to it as well. The forehead and the sides were the most uncomfortable areas to my experience due to the areas being bony. While she was doing the passes on my forehead my eyes went really watery. I wasn’t crying but it seemed like I was as tears rolled down my cheeks. Ann did mention before the treatment that this may happen. When she moved down to my cheeks I really didn’t feel anything, they were easy. At that moment I was chatting away all relaxed. When she said she is going to do the dermaroller right underneath my eyes and on my eyelids so I should keep my eyes closed I was back to the nervous mode. Believe it or not I didn’t feel a thing! She was moving gently on and around my eyes and it felt fairly comfortable.

Banu Day 0 - right after treatment

The other area I thought may be uncomfortable was the upper lip, but I didn’t feel a thing on the actual upper lip, although it was a bit uncomfortable for a few seconds when the needles caught the edge of the nose as it is rolled.

She finished off with my chin which was piece of cake.

After the treatment I realised that it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Actually really tolerable. I would say to my experience the forehead was the most uncomfortable then the rest was really nothing. Once it was over I remember saying, “as a chicken if I can have it done anybody and everybody can have it”. As I said before, it seems and sounds scary as a concept but really it is nothing. I was very impressed with it and never thought I would say this but I may even have overcome my needle phobia, may be nice to take some credit for myself.

Ann explained to me that after the treatment my face will be slightly red and feel tight and hot due to the needle stimulation and the heat from skin reacting to the needles. I was red like a tomato for the rest of the day and my skin felt hot for the next couple of hours and calmed down nicely. I could feel my skin really tight. Towards the end of the day the redness massively calmed down as well only left me with rosy cheeks. I can actually see an immediate radiant result so I enjoyed it over a nice dinner same evening.

Banu on Day 5

The next morning all the redness and the rosy cheeks had vanished and nobody would think I had anything done. My skin still felt tight and really smooth. The following day I couldn’t believe when I looked at the mirror 6 am in the morning how healthy my skin looked keep in mind I was still half asleep. I was really impressed and loved my face. When I came to the clinic that day everyone including our clients did mention my skin looks really nice and rejuvenated. It felt really smooth when you touch it as well.

I also realised that the milia I used to have underneath my eyes has dramatically improved as well as the dark circles. I am really impressed with the results. And also I only had my first one there are two more treatments to go to complete my course.

I absolutely loved the treatment, can’t believe I am actually saying this but I can’t wait for my second treatment which will be 6 weeks apart from the first one.

I am actually looking forward to be needled!

I would recommend Dermaroller Microneedling from Riverbanks Clinic to anyone with acne scarring or blemishes as it really does work!

Banu Roe
Clinic Manager to the multi award-winning Riverbanks Clinic
Voted ‘Best New Clinic’ and ‘Best Business Development’ by Aesthetic Medicine 2009

Acne scars can stick around forever, and make people very selfconscious – and sometimes no matter how much makeup you use, they’re still not covered.

But there is no need to suffer – at Riverbanks Clinic we have the perfect way to get rid of acne scars for good- Dermaroller microneedling.

Dermaroller treatments use micro-medical skin-needling to roll away the imperfections and stimulate your own collagen to regenerate and repair your skin naturally.

Compared with other similar treatments you’ll experience only slight redness on the first day and then your skin is back to normal, so there’s no need to take time out for recovery; downtime is at a minimum.

The results really are amazing – see our before and after acne scar pictures below:

Imagine what it will be like to remove those  imperfections and to smooth away the signs of acne.  Radiant, resilient skin will shed the years and your friends and family will only notice that you’re looking really fabulous!

So what do I do now?

All you need to do is to make an appointment with Dr Jain and you’ll be on the way to a smoother, brighter and clearer skin.

Call 01582 762 877 or Request an Appointment

Smartxide DOT laser can now be used successfully to treat active Acne as well as smooth out acne scarring. Just three treatments of smartxide are required to make a significant improvement in acne, often removing all signs of the condition.

Dr Ravi Jain was specially invited by DEKA Lasers, manufacturers of SmartXide to attend a meeting of Smartxide users, in London on 31st January 2009. This was the first meeting of its kind in the world, and Smartxide experts discussed treatments and protocols for this amazing technology. For more information on Smartxide please read on or make an appointment with Dr Jain.

A lot of people search the internet for a particular technology which they feel will suit their needs. Sometimes a product will have bad press and this may put people off it. I have received numerous questions through the Ask Dr Jain a question section, and a lot of them are about using Pixel for acne scarring. They have often been along the lines of…

“I have had 4 sessions of pixel and my scars are no better…. why is that?”

Obviously it is hard to comment accurately without full details of the treatment and history, but its my guess that the treatment protocols used were inadequate. Let me explain…

Pixel has been around for about 2-3 years now and uses fractional laser technology to effectively resurface the skin, and is used for acne scarring as well as skin rejuvenation among other uses. Like with most technologies, when they first emerged, the protocols were very conservative, and therefore patients were less impressed with the results. However, over the last 2 years, good doctors have developed the protocols in their own clinics which have started to deliver excellent results for the patient.

I have used Pixel in London for 2 years now and with the current protocols, results are good, particularly with acne scarring. These protocols have been painstakingly developed through communication between like-minded doctors (British Association of Cosmetic Doctors) who treat cosmetic medicine as any other speciality and are constantly trying to advance our knowledge, understanding and treatments, all for the benefit of our patients.

So you may ask, why do I not offer Pixel at Riverbanks Clinic? Since Pixel, along with advancing protocols, there has been advances in laser technology too. The CO² laser has always been the most effective resurfacing laser in the world, but because of its severe effects, has been restricted to surgical use only and brave people who were prepared for several weeks of healing. Modern techniques allow the SmartXide DOT laser to use a fractional CO² laser which has very similar effects to normal ablative lasers, but the strength can be taoilored to suit a patients needs and how much time they are prepared to look red for! Most treatments cause between 2-3 days of redness, but stronger ones can take 10-14 days to recover from, with the benefit of faster results. Its all down to you!

I use Pixel for Courthouse Clinics on Wimpole Street on Tuesdays and Smartxide at Riverbanks Clinc the rest of the week.

So, please do remember that just because a clinic offers a certain technology do not assume that they are skilled to get the best results out of it! Its what you do with it that counts!