Comparison

Dermaplaning vs Microneedling

Dermaplaning is blade exfoliation of the surface and does not reach the dermis or build collagen. Microneedling creates controlled injury up to about 2.5 mm deep, with real downtime and a different purpose.

Written & medically reviewed by the Dermapedia team

At a Glance

These two are not in the same weight class, and the honest comparison starts there. Dermaplaning is surface exfoliation with a blade. Microneedling is a controlled injury to the living layer beneath.

Dermaplaning scrapes away dead cells from the very top of the skin, along with the fine vellus hair. It does not enter the dermis, so it does not set off the wound-healing response that produces new collagen. Nothing about that makes it a bad treatment - it just is not a collagen treatment.

Microneedling drives fine needles up to about 2.5 mm into the skin. The channels trigger fibroblast activity, new collagen and elastin remodelling. SkinPen, the device that created the category through a De Novo authorisation in March 2018, is authorised to improve the appearance of facial acne scars in all skin types and neck wrinkles in Fitzpatrick II-IV.

So they change different things. Dermaplaning changes how the surface looks and feels today. Microneedling attempts to change the structure underneath over months. One is a finish; the other is a course of treatment.

Dermaplaning

manual blade, surface only

Microneedling

needles into the dermis

What it is

A sterile blade drawn across the skin at an angle

It is a manual technique, not a device with an FDA cosmetic indication attached to it.

A motorised pen of fine needles making microscopic vertical channels

A regulated device category - 21 CFR 878.4430, product code QAI - created by SkinPen's De Novo, DEN160029.

How it works

Physical removal of dead surface cells and vellus hair

Nothing is injured and nothing is stimulated. The effect is subtraction.

Controlled micro-injury, then healing

No energy source is involved; the entire effect is mechanical trauma plus the body's repair response.

Both

This is the whole difference. One removes material from the surface. The other wounds the layer underneath on purpose.

How deep it goes

The outermost dead layer only

It does not reach the dermis.

Up to about 2.5 mm, adjustable

SkinPen's needle protrusion is adjustable from 0 to 2.5 mm; its pivotal study used a 2.5 mm maximum.

What it is best at

Immediate smoothness, removing peach fuzz, a cleaner makeup finish

It does what it does well. It just does not build collagen.

Atrophic acne scars, texture, fine lines, the look of large pores

It does not tighten lax skin and does not reach or heat fat, so it has no contouring effect.

What it is cleared to treat

Nothing - there is no FDA cosmetic indication to cite

Dermaplaning is a technique performed with a blade, not a cleared aesthetic device, so the usual regulatory comparison does not apply. There is very little published research on dermaplaning. What follows describes the technique and its mechanism; it is not drawn from trials, and no clinical figure for dermaplaning is quoted anywhere on this page.

Facial acne scars, all skin types; neck wrinkles, Fitzpatrick II-IV only

That is SkinPen's exact wording (K202243, April 2021). Dermapen 4's clearance covers facial acne scars in Fitzpatrick I-V and has no neck indication.

Both

An authorisation is not proof of benefit either way. It means an indication was reviewed - and for dermaplaning there is simply nothing of that kind to review.

Downtime

None to speak of

Some redness or sensitivity for a short time afterwards.

Redness like a moderate sunburn, roughly 24-72 hours

Mild swelling and pinpoint bleeding on the day. Clinical convention, not a labelled figure.

Sessions

Repeated as often as the skin renews, as maintenance

It is a top-up, not a course with an endpoint.

Commonly 3 to 6, about 4 weeks apart

Clinical convention, not a labelled figure.

Who tends to be happy with it

Best for

Someone who wants smoother skin and a better makeup finish today, with no recovery and a small spend.

The mindset

Maintenance, like a haircut.

Best for

Someone with acne scarring or textural change who is willing to be red for a day or two, several times, for a change that builds over months.

The mindset

A course of treatment with a slow payoff.

What each one can and cannot change

Dermaplaning can make skin feel smoother, remove vellus hair, and let makeup sit flatter. It cannot remodel a scar, soften a line that lives in the dermis, or tighten anything, because it never reaches the tissue where those things happen.

Microneedling can improve atrophic acne scars and texture - a network meta-analysis of 24 randomised trials in 1,546 people found microneedling performs better when combined with another treatment such as a chemical peel than it does alone (Li 2024). It cannot meaningfully tighten lax skin, and it will not give you a smoother surface on the day; the first few days are the opposite.

Why they cost differently

Dermaplaning is quick, needs no consumable beyond a blade, and requires no recovery, so it sits at the low end of clinic pricing. Microneedling is a longer appointment, uses a single-use sterile needle cartridge, and is sold as a course rather than a single visit.

There is no reliable published price for either treatment, so treat any number you are quoted as that clinic's price in that market, not as an average.

Before you book microneedling

Microneedling opens thousands of channels in the skin. Dermaplaning does not, which is why the precautions below apply mainly to one side of this comparison.

If you get cold sores, say so at booking, not on the day. Antiviral medicine is started in advance. There is no published cold-sore data specific to microneedling devices; the precaution comes from laser resurfacing practice.
Be cautious about serums applied into freshly needled skin. A systematic review of granulomatous reactions after microneedling found topical vitamin C implicated in most of the 15 reported cases, and those reactions did not reliably clear with treatment.
Neither treatment should be done over active infection or broken skin in the area. Active inflamed acne is different: it is usually a reason to get the acne under control first and treat the scarring afterwards, rather than a reason to rule microneedling out. Microneedling has itself been studied as an acne treatment.

Get emergency help now

Fever, spreading redness that expands hour by hour, or pus from the treated skin after microneedling - these are signs of infection that need urgent care.

Call your provider if

Redness, swelling or pain is increasing after day three instead of settling
A cluster of small painful blisters appears after microneedling - a cold sore flare needs prompt treatment
Skin blisters, crusts or scabs more than you were told to expect
A cut from dermaplaning is deeper than a nick, will not stop bleeding, or becomes red and sore over the following days
New raised or persistent bumps appear at treated sites and do not settle

Questions people ask+

Is dermaplaning just shaving my face?Mechanically it is close - a blade removes dead surface cells and fine vellus hair. The differences are the tool, the angle and the setting, not the depth. Neither reaches the dermis.

Does dermaplaning build collagen?No. It removes material from the surface and does not create the controlled injury in the dermis that drives new collagen. If collagen is the goal, it is the wrong treatment to compare against microneedling.

Does the hair grow back thicker after dermaplaning?Cutting a hair does not change the follicle it grew from, so the same hair returns - though a blunt-cut end can feel coarser at first. That is how it works in principle — we could not find a study that measured it.

Which one helps acne scars?Microneedling. Facial acne scars are named in SkinPen's FDA authorisation, and the treatment has been studied for scarring in randomised trials. Dermaplaning works only at the surface and cannot remodel a scar.

Can I have both?They are different in kind rather than in competition, and clinics often use dermaplaning as a maintenance step between other treatments. Timing matters, though - dermaplaning over freshly microneedled skin is not the same as dermaplaning over settled skin, so ask the person treating you.

Which has more downtime?Microneedling, by a wide margin. Expect redness like a moderate sunburn for roughly one to three days. Dermaplaning has essentially no recovery beyond brief redness or sensitivity.

If dermaplaning does so little, why do people like it?Because the thing it does, it does immediately and reliably: skin feels smoother, peach fuzz is gone, and makeup sits flatter. Being modest is not the same as being useless - it is just not a collagen treatment.