A first step into needling
Microneedling with hyaluronic acid is the entry-level microneedling treatment at our Arlington Heights office, for texture, pores, fine lines, and dull skin, with no blood draw. We use the same pen as our PRP version, with a sterile hyaluronic acid serum instead of your platelets. It’s the one we suggest if you’ve never had a needle-based treatment.
$347
per session
At a glance
Microneedling- Appointment
- 45 to 60 minutes, numbing included
- Downtime
- Pink for 24 to 48 hours, light flaking by day 3 to 5
- First results
- Hydration and glow within days
- Full results
- Texture at 4 to 6 weeks, collagen at 3 months
- Sessions
- 1 for glow, 3 to 6 for lines and scars
- Cost
- From $347. About $87 per payment across 4
What to expect
What the appointment is like
Plan on about 45 to 60 minutes, and about half of that is numbing time. The numbing cream stays on for 20 to 30 minutes, followed by 20 to 30 minutes with the pen. There’s no blood draw and no injections. Most people feel a vibrating, scratching sensation rather than pain.
Consult
We’ll look at your skin in daylight and explain what a single session will and won’t change. You’ll leave with a written plan.
Numbing
We cleanse your skin, then apply numbing cream for 20 to 30 minutes.
Treatment
The serum goes on and the pen passes over each area at its own depth, shallow on the forehead and deeper on the cheeks. You’ll feel a vibrating, scratching sensation.
Before you leave
We’ll finish with a second layer of hyaluronic acid and sunscreen, give you written aftercare, and book your next date. You can drive yourself home.
Results
A predictable timeline
You’ll see hydration and glow within days, which is why a single session two or three days before an event works well. Texture and pores improve over four to six weeks as the surface renews. Collagen takes the longest, maturing about three months after a series.
Days 0 to 1
Pink and warm
Pink, warm, and a little tight, like a mild sunburn. Use only the products we send you home with; makeup is fine from 24 hours.
Days 3 to 5
Light flaking
Some light flaking, then smooth and bright as the skin finishes healing.
Weeks 4 to 6
Finer texture
Pores and texture look visibly finer. Time for session two if you’re doing a series.
Month 3+
Judge, then maintain
Collagen has matured, so it’s a good time to judge lines and scars. Every 1 to 3 months for glow, or 6 to 12 months after a scar series.
What it costs
Clear pricing, planned by the visit
A few things shape your cost: the number of sessions, the areas (face alone, or face plus neck, chest, or hands), the serum used, and whether it’s bundled with a facial or a peel in the same visit. Unlike some treatments, a single session is worthwhile on its own for glow and hydration.
- The number of sessions
- Face alone, or face plus neck, chest, or hands
- The serum used
- Whether it’s bundled with a facial or peel
With hyaluronic acid
Microneedling
$347
per session
- For glow
- A single session works
- For lines and scars
- 3 to 6 sessions, ~4 weeks apart
- Consultation
- $50
- Financing
- Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna
If scars are your main goal, a PRP series costs more per visit but has the stronger scar evidence, worth choosing the right version before you start.
Book your Microneedling appointmentSimilar purpose, different options
Microneedling or something else?
Two related treatments on our menu are worth comparing: the same needling with your own platelets, and a chemical peel with no needling at all.
| Microneedling with hyaluronic acid | Microneedling with PRP | Chemical peel | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it works | Needles plus a sterile hydrating serum | Needles plus your own platelets | Acid loosens the surface layers |
| Best for | Glow, hydration, pores, first-timers | Acne scars, texture, a series | Tone, sun spots, dullness |
| Downtime | 1 to 2 days pink | 1 to 2 days red | Red 1 to 7 days, then flaking 3 to 7 days |
| Makeup | After 24 hours | After 24 hours | Usually the next day |
| Blood draw | No | Yes | No |
| Cost tier | Lowest | Middle | Low |
How it works
- Microneedling with hyaluronic acid
- Needles plus a sterile hydrating serum
- Microneedling with PRP
- Needles plus your own platelets
- Chemical peel
- Acid loosens the surface layers
Best for
- Microneedling with hyaluronic acid
- Glow, hydration, pores, first-timers
- Microneedling with PRP
- Acne scars, texture, a series
- Chemical peel
- Tone, sun spots, dullness
Downtime
- Microneedling with hyaluronic acid
- 1 to 2 days pink
- Microneedling with PRP
- 1 to 2 days red
- Chemical peel
- Red 1 to 7 days, then flaking 3 to 7 days
Makeup
- Microneedling with hyaluronic acid
- After 24 hours
- Microneedling with PRP
- After 24 hours
- Chemical peel
- Usually the next day
Blood draw
- Microneedling with hyaluronic acid
- No
- Microneedling with PRP
- Yes
- Chemical peel
- No
Cost tier
- Microneedling with hyaluronic acid
- Lowest
- Microneedling with PRP
- Middle
- Chemical peel
- Low
Microneedling with PRP uses the same pen and the same channels, with your own platelet-rich plasma in them instead of serum. It costs more and adds a blood draw, but it has controlled-trial evidence for acne scars that the hyaluronic acid version doesn’t. If you’re doing a series, that’s the one we’d suggest.
Chemical peels work on the surface rather than in the dermis. A superficial peel gives faster results on tone and spots, with more visible peeling days, and the two combine well for scars. Peels and microneedling both call for sun avoidance, so both are best scheduled in fall and winter, when sun exposure is lower.
Is it right for me?
Who it’s for, and who it isn’t
It’s a good fit for first-timers, for anyone who wants pre-event skin without downtime, and for people who can’t have blood drawn or would rather not have PRP. It works on all skin types, including darker skin, because there’s no heat and nothing that targets pigment.
A good fit for
- First-timers and pre-event glow
- Enlarged pores, early texture, and dull skin
- Flat pink or brown marks left after breakouts
- Anyone who can’t have blood drawn or would rather skip PRP
Not recommended
- Sagging skin or a jawline that needs lifting (try Morpheus8)
- Deep pitted scars (the PRP version is the better tool)
- Active breakouts, an infection, or a keloid history
- During pregnancy, a HydraFacial is the usual stand-in
Only sterile, needle-safe products belong on freshly needled skin. Ordinary skincare pushed into open channels has caused granulomas, so for the first few days please use only what we send you home with.
In detail
What it treats
The most common concerns are enlarged pores across the nose and cheeks, early texture, the marks left after breakouts, and dull skin. A single session before an event works well for these, and a short series can do more than topical products alone.
At your consult, we’ll distinguish between two kinds of acne marks. The flat pink or brown marks a breakout leaves behind respond well here. Pitted scars, the ones you can feel with a fingertip, need a different approach, and our PRP version is the better tool for those.
It can also help with fine lines around the eyes and mouth and uneven tone. If laxity is your main concern, we’ll recommend Morpheus8, which adds the heat that tightens.
Crepey skin on the neck and chest, and the backs of the hands, can be treated in the same visit too. The neck and chest often show sun damage and dryness early.
Microneedling doesn’t tighten, lift, or remove pigment, and topical hyaluronic acid doesn’t fill lines the way injected filler does.
How it works
A motorized microneedling pen with a sterile, single-use cartridge makes thousands of controlled micro-channels in the skin. The surface stays mostly intact, and the healing response builds new collagen over the following weeks, which is why the older name for this is collagen induction therapy, per Alster and Graham in Dermatologic Surgery. The FDA has cleared microneedling pens “to improve the appearance of facial acne scars, facial wrinkles, and abdominal scars in patients aged 22 years or older,” per its microneedling devices page. We can tell you which pen we use.
The hyaluronic acid is a sterile topical serum, not a filler, and it isn’t injected. It gives the pen a smooth glide, and we apply it again afterward, while the channels are open. The evidence for that part is a randomized, investigator-blinded split-face study of 24 women in which a topical crosslinked hyaluronic acid serum started two days after the procedure gave “statistically significant improvements in skin surface topography and hydration,” with better blinded scores for moisture, texture, and radiance at 14 and 28 days and no adverse events, per Sundaram and colleagues. It was a small study, but it supports using hyaluronic acid for hydration and glow. We can also tell you which serum we use.
For acne scars, a 2024 network analysis of 24 randomized trials found microneedling with hyaluronic acid beat plain microneedling but ranked below the PRP and chemical-peel combinations, per Li and colleagues. In short: hyaluronic acid for hydration and glow, and PRP when scars are the goal.
Afterwards
Downtime and aftercare
Day 0: pink to red, warm, and a little tight, similar to a mild sunburn. It’s best to skip makeup tonight.
Day 1: pink and dry. Most people go to work with a plain moisturizer and sunscreen.
Days 2 to 3: dry and tight, though makeup is fine from 24 hours on. It’s best to skip anything active for now.
Days 3 to 5: some light flaking as the skin finishes healing.
For aftercare: no makeup for 24 hours, no retinoids, acids, or vitamin C for 3 to 5 days, sunscreen every morning, no hot workouts, pools, or saunas for 24 to 48 hours, and only the products we send you home with on your skin for the first few days. That last point is important. Ordinary skincare pushed into open needle channels has caused granulomas, so we only want sterile, needle-safe products on a freshly needled face, per Alster and Graham.
Why here
Why Arlington Heights
Our Arlington Heights office is open weekdays 10 to 6, and the appointment takes under an hour, so microneedling is easy to fit into a weekday. We’re a block and a half south of Buffalo Grove High School, in the single-story brown brick building at 3375 N Arlington Heights Rd, Suite C, just south of Dundee Road. Parking is free in the lot right outside.
January through March is a good time to start. Forced-air heat leaves skin dull and dry, and lower sun exposure makes aftercare easier. We also see patients from Palatine and Schaumburg. When you book at our Arlington Heights office, our medical esthetician will assess your skin before recommending a series.
Questions
Common questions, answered
With numbing cream on for 20 to 30 minutes, most people feel vibration and a light scratching rather than pain. The forehead and the skin over bone can feel sharper than the cheeks. Microneedling was ranked the most tolerable acne-scar treatment for pain in a network analysis of 68 randomized trials.
We recommend waiting 24 hours. The needle channels need that long to close, and makeup pushed into open channels can cause irritation or, rarely, granulomas. After 24 hours, mineral makeup over sunscreen is fine. It’s also best to skip retinoids, acids, and vitamin C for 3 to 5 days.
Yes, when done with a sterile single-use cartridge by a trained provider on suitable skin. The FDA has cleared microneedling pens for facial acne scars, wrinkles, and abdominal scars in adults 22 and older. It’s safe for all skin types because there’s no heat. We don’t offer it if you have active breakouts, a keloid history, or a bleeding disorder, or during pregnancy.
Enlarged pores, rough texture, fine lines, dullness, mild acne marks, and crepey skin on the neck, chest, and hands. With hyaluronic acid it adds hydration and glow. With PRP it treats acne scars. It doesn’t tighten loose skin, remove pigment, or fill deep folds, but other treatments on our menu do.
Microdermabrasion polishes the surface layer and doesn’t work below it. Microneedling reaches the dermis and builds collagen, so it changes pores and lines as well as texture, rather than just brightening. We don’t offer microdermabrasion by that name at Skinovatio Arlington Heights. HydraFacial and dermaplaning are our surface-only options.
Glow and hydration last a few weeks. Texture and pore improvements from a series hold for months, with a maintenance session every 6 to 12 months. No result is permanent, simply because skin keeps aging. For glow-focused clients, every one to three months is the usual rhythm. Individual results vary.
It adds hydration and glow. In a randomized split-face study, a topical hyaluronic acid serum after microneedling gave measurably better hydration and surface texture at 14 and 28 days. It isn’t a filler and isn’t injected. It doesn’t plump lines the way injected filler does, and it has less scar evidence than PRP.
One session is enough for glow and hydration before an event. For fine lines, pores, or mild scars, plan on three to six, about four weeks apart, because collagen builds on the previous session. If scars are your main goal, a PRP series is usually the better choice.
We don’t offer it during pregnancy. There’s no safety data, and the FDA lists pregnancy among the reasons a person may not be a candidate. While breastfeeding, we’ll discuss it with you first, since there’s no data either way. In the meantime, a HydraFacial is the usual stand-in.
Start with microneedling if your concern is texture, pores, glow, or mild scars. Morpheus8 is the better first step if your concern is jowls, a soft neck, or deep scars, because it adds the heat that tightens. Many people do a microneedling series first and Morpheus8 years later. You’ll find the full comparison in Morpheus8 vs microneedling.
There’s nothing to undo. It’s your own skin healing, the effect is gradual, and if it isn’t doing enough for you, we’ll recommend a different treatment rather than a correction.
Keep exploring
Related treatments
Related priorities
Microneedling with PRP
$499 / sessionMicroneedling paired with your own platelet-rich plasma for acne scars, texture, pores, and tone.
Learn more
Chemical peels
From $275 / peelLight and medium peels that lift sun spots, melasma, acne marks, and dull, rough texture.
Learn more
HydraFacial
From $299 / visitA 30-minute device facial that cleanses, exfoliates, extracts, and hydrates, with no downtime.
Learn more
Start with a consult
Tell us what you’d like to work on. We’ll assess your skin and goals, walk you through your Microneedling options, and give you a clear plan and price before anything begins.
Afterpay and Klarna available at checkout for eligible treatments.