Comedy of the Week - Ria Lina Gets Forensic: Microneedling

Episode Date: September 29, 2025

Former-forensic-scientist-turned-stand-up-comedian Ria Lina examines the gap between the science we’re sold by the wellness industry and the science that’s done in a lab – particularly when it comes to treatments that boast anti-aging effects. This episode, she’s joined by comedian Geoff Norcott to see if Microneedling can make their faces look any younger.Featuring Ria Lina and Geoff Norcott Written by Ria Lina and Steve N Allen Produced by Ben WalkerA DLT Entertainment production for BBC Radio 4

Hello, I'm Rialina, and I'm here to get forensic on the gap between the science we're sold by the wellness industry and the science that's done in a lab, because they are very often not the same thing. Back in the lab, if you started glowing, they'd evacuate the building. In the wellness industry, they'd charge you 200 pounds and call it revitalizing. Spas and clinics say they can turn back time, but what they don't tell you is it's only by five minutes, and you spend most of that filling out the consent form. I'm particularly interested in the science of something that affects us all, getting older.

Each episode, I look at one procedure that promises to help us in this eternal struggle, and today, that procedure is microneedling. If you're one of those people who isn't good with needles, then look away now. Oh, no, actually, that's not going to help this is radio. Also, don't get fooled by the micro-prefix. There are a lot of needles, like eager in-cells at an Andrew-Tenel. tape book signing, just a load of little pricks. Micronedilers claim it can reduce the appearance of skin concerns, including

acne scars, stretch marks, wrinkles, dark spots, large paws, melasma, sagging skin, and uneven skin texture. And all these things interest me because of the pressure to look youthful. Remember when you were younger how much easier it was to look young? And then you get older and it gets much much hard. I really am pushing the boundaries of science with this. We live in a time when science keeps us alive for longer than ever. But as women, the media tells us we're useless after 25.

And by the media, I mean Leonardo DiCaprio. A comprehensive study in early 2025 by the Gina Davis Institute found there was a sharp decline in major roles for women as they age. That's right. That Gina Davis. That's how bad gendered ageism is. Gina had to set up an entire institute to try and get work. Meanwhile, they're carting Robert De Niro out in a wheelbarrow. Society often expects women to age without showing signs of aging,

leading to a paradox where women are encouraged to undergo cosmetic procedures but are criticized if the results are noticeable. So how can I de-age my face but without any tell-tale facelift scars or conspicuous shiny Botox forehead? Well, microneedling could be one possible solution, or so microneedlers would claim. As the name suggests, it uses thin needles to puncture the skin. So far, so good.

It sounds not unlike acupuncture. But acupuncture is done by a calming practitioner wielding one needle at a time, whereas micrannadling is done using a motorized spring-loaded pen armed with multiple needles that machine-gun your face over and over again. So it's more like getting a tattoo, but less forever and with fewer spelling mistakes. Those micropunctures induce a healing response in the skin, much like when you microtere your muscles at the gym, and they heal back bigger and stronger.

But if you're thinking of doing this, please don't try lifting barbells with your face. I have to say this. It's public service broadcasting. So I went along to get me some microneedling, and I decided who better to share the experience with than someone who really doesn't need it. Not because he looks young.

Heaven's no, no, because he's a man. stand-up comedian, author and self-confirmed bloke, Jeff Norcott. Jeff, thank you so much for joining me. You're the only man in the series, and I'm so pleased that we're doing microneedling today. I'm the only man that I know that's ever been in a place like this. If you hadn't asked me to do this, I think I've got my whole life without ever entering an establishment such as this. Well, what do you think of it so far? How's it feel? Do you feel relaxed?

No. I feel some of the similar feelings I feel when I go for a spa day. And I'm going to say, and I'll get pushed back on this, but I feel like it's a girly thing to do. Every part of my conditioning is like, this isn't your place. No, and that's fair enough, because the beauty standards for men and women are very different in society. I mean, you're aging beautifully. Thank you. You don't mind me saying so. So is it easier, in your opinion, for women to age or men to age?

I think it's easier for men to age. There are a lot of ideas of like salt and pepper is celebrated. In men. Whereas women, the moment they go grey, it's witch, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, it's which. One thing I would say, though, is obviously I'm sensitive to the pressure that women are under in terms of ageing. In terms of appearance for blokes, though,

there are certain things like height, jawline, hairline that we are under pressure for, but are actually less easy to change, you know? My hair is receded, my hair line is high, people mention it online, I get a lot of stick about the size of my spam. The size of your spam? Size of my spam.

Is that your spam? You not heard that word? No. How long have you lived in Britain? Listen, I'm Filipino. We eat it out of a tin. Yeah, that is still also spam, but spam is your forehead, essentially.

Oh, right. And so stuff women do, like, If you look at the primary things that men are attracted to, hair, lips, boobs, all that sort of stuff. Women can't enhance them. I can't get taller. All right. Well, we're here to do microneedling.

What do you know about it? Have you heard of it? Yes. I also know that there's a trend where you put micro in front of anything and it sounds cooler. You know, microbrewery, microdosing. Not micro penis, probably. But micrneedling. So I'm guessing it stimulates the skin with a series of minor incisions or something.

Incisions. You know what? That makes it sound worse than it is. is, I think, incisions. So what do you hope in the outcomes of your treatment today will be? Honestly, I hope it doesn't work, because every sort of thing that I do needs to be sustainable on an ongoing basis. And that's my suspicion about all these treatments, is that once you have them, the way you are straight afterwards, then when you go back to your normal self, you feel less than. It'd be like me spending a day being six foot. And then having to go

right back down to five. So you want this to not work. I don't want to like the outcome particularly. So armed with the knowledge that Jeff was actively hoping to find the whole experience disappointing, we met with our microneedling practitioner, or facial assailant as I was tending to think of her, Isabella. Hi, Isabella. Hi, how are you? I'm nervous because we're here to do microneedling, and I'm not a fan of the word needle, but I'm excited for the possibility of amazing results. So talk to me about microneedling.

What can I expect from this? So microneedling, it's resolved-driven treatment. and we do work with tongue needles, anything from zero. Oh, Jeff's here too. Hi, Jeff. Jeff is allergic to micronedaling, apparently. And we do work with the needles, anything from 0.25 to 2.5.

That's millimeters. Yes. Micronetting can be used as a standalone treatment, so you really don't need to use an mesotherapy solution. So you mean, like, if we just stab our face with needles, that in itself is going to produce... It's a treatment. It encourages the skin to create a healing process.

Healing, collagen. With production of collagen, there will be more elastic as well. So every injury... Which reduces wrinkles and that sort of thing. Well, reduces wrinkles, soften the lines, I would say... Softens the line. I wouldn't promise, you know, ironing their lines because it's unrealistic. One thing is interesting is the science stuff, I'm not thinking about any of that.

All I'm thinking is, like, I've got a gig tonight, is there a chance that my face might flare up? Your skin will not flare up, but after micro-needling treatment, you will be slightly pinkish by the end of the day and maybe low level of redness tomorrow. Okay, right. Because what I can't have is on stage people thinking I've had, like, fillers or... Why not? Well, because it's not who I am.

This is very outside the box for me. The show that I'm doing is called Basic Bloke. It's about being very basic. So if I'm coming on looking all glowing, it doesn't really play very well. I think you will be surprised how many basic blocs come through the door of our cleaning and most of them you would never think that they have anything done.

They're all doing it on the slide. You see? You see, they're not as basic as you make them out to be. So we're going to look a little bit red but could we argue, could it look like we just got sunburned? Yeah, this is what is my always explanation. You will like you are sunburned

a couple of hours too long on the sun without SPF. Okay, well, yeah, that's plausible. Perfect, yeah. Right. Shall we go and get needles post? into our face. So what happened? Both of us were very good girls and lay very still while she first cleansed and exfoliated our faces,

before applying a topical serum whose sole purpose was to fill the holes the needles left behind with nutritional goodness. It's like spiking your lawn, but please don't use a lawn spiker on your face. Again, this is public service broadcasting. Once injured via the procedure, the skin heals in three main phases. The first is inflammation, where the body responds to the microinjuries by increasing blood flow. Basically, you look like you've just been slapped, or tried to leave without paying. The next phase is proliferation. New tissue forms comprising elastin and collagen to repair the damage.

Elastin allows the skin to stretch and recoil, while collagen provides strength and support. So imagine a pair of underwear. If elastin is the waistband, then collagen is the gusset. As we age, our bodies produce less of these proteins, leading to wrinkles and sagging skin. So now imagine your favorite pair of period pants that you've had for years and can't bring yourself to get rid of. Well, that's your face if you don't microneedle. The final phase is remodeling, where this new tissue refines over weeks to months, improving skin texture and firmness. Don't overestimate the word remodeling, though.

You won't end up looking like a model unless you started out looking like a model. In terms of research, there are many studies that look into the effects of microneedling on scars, including stretch marks, burns, acne scarring, and other conditions such as alopecia. And they show that microneedling is a safe, effective treatment for all of these conditions, plus the condition I went for, vanity. So there was a solid body of evidence that microneedling works, which is bad news for my guest, Jeff Norcott, who was desperately hoping that it wouldn't. I checked in with him a week after the treatment to see what affected it had.

I feel like I should tell you that it revolutionised my life, but I think for the first day I really noticed it and then I just stopped thinking about it really. So perhaps the benefits have been there, but I haven't thought about it that much. So your wife hasn't mentioned anything? She hasn't said, Jeff, you suddenly look younger or come join me in the bedroom. Well, she thinks that she definitely didn't say the second thing, but she thinks that my skin has improved.

She didn't use superlatives, wasn't drastic, or radical, but she thinks it improves. If your wife has noticed, then it's definitely had a difference. I have to say I did notice a massive difference. It took a few days for all to calm down because it's like sunburn on your face, and then it's a bit dry, and then, I don't know, suddenly I woke up a couple days later and went,

oh, that worked. On the night, so I had to do a gig that night, and it did, as promised, just looked like, basically an English football fan that had stayed out in the sun without any... Is it SPF, UBF? Sunscreens. Some of these are sounding like Irish militant groups, but yeah, UBA, UVF, whatever.

I didn't have any of that one. Okay, well then the big question is, given that a difference was noticed, and you do intellectually know it's good for your skin, would you do it again? In terms of the experience, I thought, didn't take that long, so that was a plus point, was more painful than I expected. I was surprised because it's less painful than I was expecting, which I think is. It's a gender divide in terms of how much pain we are willing to accept for our vanity. There is an outside chance.

If I had a big TV thing coming up, and that's such a big gift, I might think, right, how can I look my best for this particular thing? It might cross my mind, I'll be honest. But the kicker for me is price. I could just think a better way to spend my money. I hear that. I think a lot of the price point was the serum that they put on. So I think you can get microneedling, which is just the...

Stop in a needle pusher, Ria. Do you sound like a drug dealer now? You're trying to push needles. on me? Yeah, because you look great. It's taken six months a year off your face. I don't want to gush, because that's unhygienic, but I really liked this treatment. It was definitely uncomfortable, sometimes mildly painful, and I say this as a woman who was given birth, but the results were noticeable. Perhaps the scientist in me was also swayed by the fact that the science makes sense. Create a wound, then leave the body to do its thing and heal itself, but better.

If that doesn't convince you, think of scar tissue. It's always far more robust than the skin it replaced. And what is scar tissue made from? Collagen. Your scars are literally younger than you, which is why they attract so much more attention, you gorgeous thing you. I know that a lot of people will be listening, thinking,

what's wrong with just growing old gracefully? Well, everything, according to the society we currently live in. But I would argue that unlike procedures such as fillers and Botox, this could be seen as a way of achieving graceful aging because ultimately it's just a little workout for the skin's healing capabilities. You're making things worse in the short term to reap the rewards in the long term,

like a facial Brexit. So after all is said and done, if microneedling interests you, I'd say, why not give it a stab? Rialina Gets Forensic features me, Rialina, and my guest, Jeff Norkot, The script was written by myself and Steve N. Allen. And the producer is Ben Walker for DLT Entertainment for BBC Radio 4.

Hi, it's Rialina here. And if you enjoyed that, you can listen to the whole series on BBC Sounds. Just search for Realina Gets Forensic. And you'll find all five episodes there. Hello, I'm Brian Cox. I'm Robinin's and we're back for a new series of the Infinite Monkey Cage. We have our 201st extravaganza, where we're going to talk about how, animals in moat went around trains and tunnels, or something like that, I'm not entirely sure.

You're doing one on potatoes? Of course we're doing one on potatoes. You love potatoes. I know, but... Yeah, you love chips, you love mash. I'll only enjoy it if it's got curry sauce on it. We've got techno fossils, moths versus butterflies, and a history of light. That'll do, won't it? Listen first on BBC Sounds.