Key takeaways
- AAD says to wait 24 hours before applying makeup.
- Redness and swelling can last up to five days, per Cleveland Clinic; AAD says a few days to a week.
- Stay out of the sun until your skin has healed.
- No published source sets timing for exercise, face washing or restarting retinol; follow your provider's sheet.
- Call your provider if bleeding lasts longer than 24 hours, the area blisters, or swelling lasts longer than a week.
What should you do in the first 24 hours?
Microneedling devices are FDA-authorized through the De Novo and 510(k) pathways — not FDA-approved — for improving the appearance of facial acne scars, facial wrinkles and abdominal scars in people aged 22 or older.
The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) describes the treatment itself as minimally invasive and says it works by stimulating collagen in a process it calls collagen induction therapy.
Aftercare is everything that happens to that skin once the needles are done.
The first day is about leaving the skin alone.
AAD describes the immediate aftermath: skin may look red on lighter skin or darker on darker skin and feel sunburned, with discomfort, burning or swelling that usually clears in a few days to a week.
AAD says people can return to work or school right away.
In SkinPen's FDA study, the responses researchers logged were temporary: redness, itching, peeling, discomfort or tenderness in 31% of subjects lasting 1 to 3 days, dryness in 12% lasting 1 to 6 days, burning in 9%, rough skin in 7% and tightness in 4%, with no serious adverse events recorded in the study.
AAD also notes that results fade as the body loses collagen and that sun protection and not smoking help them last.
The sun instruction covers day one too: Cleveland Clinic says to stay out of the sun until the skin has healed.
Temporary responses in SkinPen's FDA study
| Response | Share of subjects | Lasted |
|---|---|---|
| Redness, itching, peeling, discomfort or tenderness | 31% | 1–3 days |
| Dryness | 12% | 1–6 days |
| Burning | 9% | 1–3 days |
| Rough skin | 7% | 1–2 days |
| Tightness | 4% | 1–2 days |
- Follow your provider's written aftercare sheet over anything you read online, including this page.
- Keep the skin moisturized if it turns dry and flaky; Cleveland Clinic notes that dryness improves with moisturizer.
- Stay out of the sun until your skin has healed.
- Wait 24 hours before applying any makeup.
- Ask your provider before adding any product to treated skin.
New to the treatment itself?
Our microneedling guide covers what it is, what it costs, what the studies show and how to find a provider.
When can you wear makeup, exercise or wash your face?
Makeup has a sourced answer: AAD says to wait 24 hours before applying it.
The wait lines up with FDA's risk list, which includes stinging and itching when cosmetics are applied.
AAD calls the overall downtime minimal; minimal is not the same as none, and the first 24 hours are exactly when that difference shows.
Exercise and face washing have no sourced answer.
We could not find a published guideline or clinical study that sets how long to wait before exercising or washing your face after microneedling, so there is no number we can responsibly print.
The aftercare plan your provider sends home with you is the one to follow.
Has a sourced answer
- Makeup: AAD says wait 24 hours
- Work or school: AAD says you can return right away
No sourced answer
- When to exercise
- When to wash your face
- Your provider's aftercare plan sets the timing
Which skincare to avoid and for how long (retinol, acids)?
On retinol and acids, the honest answer is that no published source we could find sets how long to wait after microneedling before restarting them.
The sourced guidance in AAD's material runs the other direction: it describes pre-treatment routines that may stop retinoids such as retinol and tretinoin for a few days before the session, not a restart clock afterward.
Your provider sets the restart date for your skin.
The documented caution is about delivery: FDA says microneedling devices are not approved for delivering cosmetics, topical medications, vitamin solutions, drugs or blood products such as platelet-rich plasma into the skin.
That covers what goes through the device during a session — it is not a sourced list of which products may touch your skin afterward.
FDA also states that the risks of off-label uses, of combining microneedling devices with other products, and of products FDA has not evaluated are not known.
And the authorized-use list is short — facial acne scars, facial wrinkles and abdominal scars in adults 22 and older — so a session aimed at anything else runs outside the uses FDA has authorized.
A 2014 JAMA Dermatology case series described facial foreign-body granulomas after topical products were pushed into the skin during microneedling: three women, two of whom had a vitamin C serum applied during treatment. A case series of three shows what can happen, not how often. Ask your provider before adding any product to treated skin.
Find microneedling providers near you
Compare Google ratings, reviews and posted prices at med spas in your city.
Is breaking out after microneedling normal?
We could not find a published source that says whether breakouts after microneedling are normal, so we will not tell you they are expected; that claim has no study behind it that we could locate.
What the record does show is which reactions are documented.
The common ones in SkinPen's FDA study were redness, itching, peeling, discomfort or tenderness, dryness, burning, rough skin and tightness, with none recorded as lasting more than 6 days.
FDA's less common risk list includes infection, cold sore (herpes) reactivation and swollen lymph nodes.
Common (SkinPen FDA study)
- Redness, itching or peeling
- Discomfort or tenderness
- Dryness
- Burning
- Rough skin
- Tightness
Less common (FDA risk list)
- Infection
- Cold sore (herpes) reactivation
- Swollen lymph nodes
That documented list is the practical reference point.
A reaction that is not on it, or one that keeps getting worse instead of better, is a question for the licensed provider who treated you rather than something to self-diagnose from a search page.
When should you call your provider?
Know what is on FDA's less common risk list after microneedling: pigment changes, with skin turning darker or lighter, lines on the face, cold sore reactivation, swollen lymph nodes and infection.
FDA also notes that some side effects may be permanent, while most occur shortly after a treatment and resolve.
If healing is on schedule, redness and swelling fade across the first days; if it is not, the thresholds below are the ones with a source behind them.
Cleveland Clinic advises contacting a provider if the treated area bleeds for longer than 24 hours, blisters, or stays swollen for longer than a week. Those are the call-now thresholds we could source. For anything else that worries you, call the practice that treated you; no page, including this one, replaces that call.
Frequently asked questions
How long after microneedling can I wear makeup?
The American Academy of Dermatology says to wait 24 hours before applying makeup after microneedling.
The wait lines up with FDA's risk list, which includes stinging and itching when cosmetics are applied, and with Cleveland Clinic's note that skin can stay red and swollen for up to five days.
If your skin still looks or feels irritated at the 24-hour mark, ask your provider before putting anything on it.
Can I exercise after microneedling?
We could not find a published guideline or clinical study that sets how long to wait before exercising after microneedling, so there is no sourced number to give.
The aftercare plan your provider sends home with you is the timing to follow, and it is a fair question to ask before you book.
How long does redness last after microneedling?
The American Academy of Dermatology says redness, burning or swelling usually clears in a few days to a week.
Cleveland Clinic puts redness and swelling at up to five days.
In SkinPen's FDA study, redness, itching, peeling, discomfort or tenderness was logged in 31% of subjects and lasted 1 to 3 days.
Cleveland Clinic advises contacting your provider if swelling lasts longer than a week.
What should you not put on your face after microneedling?
The sourced rules are narrow: the American Academy of Dermatology says to wait 24 hours before makeup, and FDA says microneedling devices are not approved for delivering cosmetics or topical medications into the skin.
A 2014 case series reported granulomas after topicals, including a vitamin C serum, were applied during treatment.
Beyond that, your provider's product list and restart dates govern.
Sources
Every number on this page comes from one of these sources and was checked against it.
- Microneedling Devices · U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- accessdata.fda.gov · U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- Microneedling can fade scars, uneven skin tone, and more · American Academy of Dermatology
- Microneedling: What It Is, Uses, Benefits & Results · Cleveland Clinic
- Facial allergic granulomatous reaction and systemic hypersensitivity associated with microneedle therapy for skin rejuvenation · Soltani-Arabshahi et al., JAMA Dermatol, 2014
Medical disclaimer. MedSpaStandard is for education only and is not medical advice. Talk to a licensed provider about your own health, and check any provider's license with your state board.