Adverse Effects

Complications from microdermabrasion are few and avoidable with a proper patient history. Unlike traditional dermabrasion, the risk for scarring and hyperpigmentation is quite low. Reviewing 2 years of microdermabrasion treatments involving 126 patients, Freeman reported that there were no instances of hypopigmentation, scarring, or postoperative wound infections. In 2 referred cases, the same author reported abrasive injuries from treatments thought to be due to impurities in the aluminum oxide crystals. These injuries resulted in a detectable groove upon healing [89]. Because microdermabrasion breaks in the integrity of the skin barrier, many physicians preoperatively treat patients prophylactically with antiviral medication to avoid flaring of quiescent HSV [90].

Although a very well-tolerated procedure, the noncutaneous complications of microdermabrasion warrant precautions. The risk of eye irritation and corneal abrasion [82] from the crystals has many technicians and patients using protective eye wear during the procedure. Pulmonary fibrosis and tracheal and laryngeal papillomas have been linked to aluminum oxide dust exposure [91]. The presence of aluminum in the brain senile plaques of Alzheimer’s patients has raised the question of the risk of chronic exposure to aerosolized aluminum oxide, which places patients and technicians at increased risk of cognitive impairment in the future. The particle size of the aluminum oxide crystals used for microdermabrasion are significantly larger than those for dental use (100–120 µm versus 24–50 µm), and the smaller particles used for dental air abrasion have not been found to pose a significant health hazard [92]. The larger particles used in microdermabrasion are inert and too heavy to become aerosolized and are not likely to pose a risk to the respiratory or cognitive systems [82].