Our Services

Steroid Injection

*This treatment is performed by Singapore Medical Council (SMC) registered doctors.

Steroid Injection
  • Procedure Type

    Procedure Type

    Injection

  • Results

    Results

    [Acne]: Reduced swelling, redness and scarring
    [Scars/Uneven Texture]: Softer, flatter scar

  • Downtime

    Downtime

    Mild redness

  • Where

    Where

    [Acne]: Face
    [Scars/Uneven Texture]: Face, body

  • Procedure Time

    Procedure Time

    Less than 5 minutes

Who is this For?

Steroid injections

Steroid Injection is a focused anti-inflammatory treatment. A dose of carefully calibrated steroid is injected into huge painful acne cysts to speed up their healing and recovery. Inflammation and swelling can start to decrease in as quickly as 4 hours, and sores continue to heal and flatten over the next few short days. The quantity of steroid injected is very minimal; and as an intradermal treatment, possible side effects of oral steroids like increased hunger, weight gain or mood swings are avoided.

Steroid injections for faster healing are not just about looks; it alleviates the painful soreness and decreases the risk and severity of scarring from the inflamed acne. This aspect is specifically vital if you are susceptible to scarring or hyperpigmentation.

You may wish to consult your aesthetic doctor about a steroid injection in these situations:

  1. When you have persistent huge, swollen acne that stays inflamed for months without recovering
  2. The acne is a more acute problem but is big, inflamed, and painful.
  3. You’ve got an important occasion coming up (like a graduation ceremony, wedding or that vital interview ) and you’ve just met with your ” Godzilla” of acne.

Intralesional steroid injections might seem like a magic spell where it helps recovery of massive acne inflammation settle rapidly. However, these injections still need to be administered with care by a qualified doctor, as there could be side effects.

The most typical is known as depressed scars, and it can happen when too much or too strong steroid is injected. The skin around the injected acne can shrivel, leaving a depressed dent. Depressed scars can heal, but it can take a long time, as long as 6 months. In all fairness, acne scars can occur in acne cases with or without steroid injections as can be seen from cases of extreme breakouts which frequently trigger depressed or pitted acne scars. Dermal fillers or Rejuran might offer more benefits in these cases.

Steroid Injections may also leave a lighter spot or white area on the skin (called hypopigmentation) particularly for individuals with medium to dark skin tones. This side effect is short-term and resolves over time.

Other possible side effects of steroid injections are:

  1. Thinning of the epidermis layer
  2. Small blood vessels appearing on treated areas
  3. Skin tone turns lighter than usual.

Steroid injections are administered only as an emergency fix-it or the occasional relief for persistent cysts and blemishes. It is not a solution with prevalent acne, blackheads and whiteheads and does not change your particular skin type. In these situations, proper long-term care and treatment with our Medical Facials are necessary.

Another function of steroid injections is in treatment of hypertrophic and keloid scars, helping to reorganise and flatten these scar tissues.

Short-term Use

Steroid injections have lots of advantages, but there is one thing they cannot do—clear up your acne. This treatment helps big breakouts resolve rapidly, but they cannot stop more breakouts from forming. It also does not clarify oily skin, which may be the bottom-line problem that needs treatment.

Your doctor first needs to identify the type and severity of acne to prescribe a day-to-day acne treatment like suitable cleansing and topical medication. Medical facials with Laser programs are better options if one would like to avoid possible side effects of recurrent steroid injections and oral medications.

Proper sleep, water, adequate diet, exercise and nutrition is also crucial to a good complexion.

 

Our therapist cleanses your face and ices the pimple to prepare it for injection. During injection, you will feed a pin-prick sensation as the needle is carefully inserted into the pimple. You may also experience a mild sting when the steroid is injected.  

This procedure is performed by our doctors who are registered with the Singapore Medical Council.

 

The affected pimple will flatten in the next 2 – 3 days, redness will subside around the inflamed area. Acne treated this way is less likely to leave a scar.

There will be mild swelling and redness immediately after treatment.

We recommend steroid injections only for serious inflammatory/nodulocystic acne. To address comedonal and other types of acne, we recommend our range of Medical Facials and laser treatments (Acne Red Mark Laser, Laser Rejuvenation and Clear & Smooth Laser).