A medical professional should provide all the aftercare instructions and answer any questions you might have. However, if you opt for the at-home microneedling route, make sure you're equally informed about the dos and don'ts of caring for your skin in its recovery phase.
If your skincare routine involves an active ingredient, you shouldn't use it in the first few days post-treatment. "An active ingredient is something that should make a change in your skin, and it can be delivered any way," Deirdre Hooper, co-founder of Audubon Dermatology, explains for Today. According to Smita R. Ramanadham, MD, a double board-certified plastic surgeon, you should steer clear of AHAs and BHAs, as well as vitamin C and retinoids of any kind, including retinol (via Byrdie).
Active ingredients are too harsh after a treatment like microneedling and can further stress your skin out, causing inflammatory reactions. You should give your skin a break in every way possible. "For the rest of the day [after microneedling], don't wash the skin, expose it to high heat, or sweat too much (that means no sun, no gym, no hot yoga)," Yale clinical professor and dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD, tells Elle.
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