Mesotherapy and Needling

By Andrew Hansford

Are we confused?
Do we think they are the same?
Can they be done together?
Is Meso Needling a thing?

Mesotherapy and Needling are stand alone treatments. Individual in their approach and independently effective for their chosen outcomes. However there is a grey area, a confusion, a cross over that is often not related to either treatment; let me explain:

Mesotherapy

Recent histological, biochemical and biomolecular evidence has broadened our understanding of skin cell function in relation to the aging process. In relation to intermolecular transport and communication Mesotherapy is pure skin health, maintenance and support, it is supporting our internal matrix by placing the product in exactly the right area to be treated, sometimes referred to as construction materials or baby bio for the skin.

Mesotherapy has no protocols like you find with product companies, i.e., oily, t-zone, dry or sensitive (doesn’t exist) as we are helping restore the skin at a cellular level. Ergo, skin functioning correctly these concerns will not be there. The stratum corneum will not allow anything through that it does not recognise as an inherent part of us. Meaning all the powerful actives needed for regeneration need to be placed in the skin as well as proven actives like vitamin a on top, it’s pointless otherwise. However, the depth of application is the most important component of this procedure.

The ingredients will kick start cellular regeneration at a cellular level by building a working relationship with the epidermal growth factors that are responsible for communicating to the deeper layers, i.e., dermal growth factors. This will allow the cells with receptors ready to accept the given ingredient to bring them into the cell so it can carry on its work in regeneration, maintenance, and communication. The key player in communication is the cytokine. Cytokines are signalling peptides that are secreted by cells of the body and the skin to command a specific response. Biological messengers, or conductors, they control how our skin looks, behaves, heals and repairs after an injury, this injury could be from an in clinic treatment or from an external environmental factor like the sun. So in essence we need to make sure these guys are happy, communicating well and are not overly stressed by inflammatory procedures.

The right injectable product will keep our matrix and pathway of communication as happy as possible. I think of it like a whispering wall, just like St Pauls Cathedral has whispering gallery, if one person whispers into the wall it will travel around the gallery, if someone speaks whilst it is travelling the communication stops. Or have ever played that game where you have a lot of people in a row and one person whisper into the next persons ear, by the time it gets to the end of the row of people the message is totally different.

Mesotherapy tries to keep these messaging pathways clear, keep our matrix fed with all the ingredients that is needed.

The subject is incredibly well studied with an enormous number of clinical trials and papers to read. This makes it not only effective but clinically but safe.

Needling:

Needling is arguably the one best ‘anti-aging’ treatment, as it comes from a treatment called subcision, which is medically led and has been performed for years.

In simple terms; create a wound – collagen is produced, simple right?

No its not! It is completed related to the following:

• The epidermis cannot be compromised (as is the case with the aggressive use of rollers)
• The target depth for each protocol must be reached
• The time frame between treatments but be maintained
• Topical use of products, mostly unnecessary
• And not all devices are created equal

Needling was the first protocol I started training people in as I loved the idea of treating difficult concerns like stretch marks and scars. Which is where I learnt the most originally.

It is a clinical treatment and in my humble opinion has been cheapened with so many ‘options’ or combination methods attached to it.

We really need to understand the incredibly complicated wound healing response to get the best results, we also do not want to interrupt it by flooding it with topicals that are; 1, not registered for injection and 2, can interrupt the cascade, leading to problems down the road.

As I am sure we are all aware that needling is regenerative, meaning that if a treatment is done too aggressively the negative results won’t be seen for a few months.

This is in fact what changed the protocols to a shorter time frame and depth, relying on the natural occurring growth factors released when we are wounded to follow the path they would take naturally. Dependent on the wound depth is the time frame for rejuvenation and that does not mean, blood, trauma and downtime. Plus, we don’t want the skin to go into any form of inflammatory response (unless needed)
Both of these treatments are amazing, and I stand by them being stand along.

The caveat is that you need a glide for most devices, so then you would use a CE marked for injection product whether that be HA or a mesotherapy cocktail. This will help support the superficial tissue and interact with the growth factors without compromising the wound response.

These are far as I am concerned are the two, go to treatments as they are not age dependent and span the spectrum of protocols.