May an esthetician or laser technician perform microneedling in Illinois?
Oversight · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
No — IDFPR names microneedling as the practice of medicine and outside the scope of a cosmetologist or esthetician, with no depth line that makes it lawful; anyone doing it under physician delegation may not hold out as an esthetician while doing so.
✅ Illinois names microneedling as the practice of medicine, and sets no depth that makes it lawful. idfpr has stated that the following are the practice of medicine and outside the scope of a cosmetologist or esthetician: botulinum toxin, chemical peels other than superficial peels, collagen injections, colonics, liposuction, microblading, microneedling and radiofrequency. Unlike the states that draw a depth line, Illinois puts the procedure itself on the far side of the license.
IDFPR Statement on Prohibited Practices (IDFPR/IDPH med spa memo) · verified Sep 2, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
Related Illinois rules
The use of a Class 3b or Class 4 laser, an intense pulsed-light device, a radiofrequency device or a medical microwave device for dermatologic conditions or cosmetic procedures that disrupt the epidermal surface of the skin — ablative or non-ablative — is the practice of medicine, and may be performed only by a licensed physician or under delegation as the Section provides.
68 Ill. Adm. Code 1285.336 (as stated in the IDFPR/IDPH med spa memo) · verified Aug 17, 2026
A physician may delegate ABLATIVE procedures to a licensed practical nurse, a registered professional nurse, a full practice authority APRN or another person only with on-site supervision by the physician. For NON-ABLATIVE procedures the physician may instead be available by telephone or other electronic means to respond promptly to any question or complication.
68 Ill. Adm. Code 1285.336 · verified Aug 17, 2026
How other states answer this
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Related Illinois questions
- Does a med spa in Illinois need a medical director?
- What must the supervising physician actually do in Illinois?
- Who may operate a cosmetic laser in Illinois?
- Can a medical assistant give injections in Illinois?
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← All Illinois rules and changes · MedSpaRadar is regulatory monitoring and reference: it summarizes public laws, regulations and agency actions and links each to its source. It is not legal, medical, or compliance advice, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. A summary can lag its source or leave out detail, and monitoring itself can be interrupted — so an absence of alerts means nothing reached you, not that nothing happened. Read the cited source, check its effective date, and confirm any change to your operations or clinical practice with qualified health-law counsel and your medical director. Legislative data via LegiScan (CC BY 4.0).