May an esthetician or laser technician perform microneedling in Maryland?
Oversight · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
Yes — Maryland counts cosmetic microneedling as an esthetic service, so an esthetician licensed to provide esthetic services may perform it, provided it does not ablate the dermis or hypodermis; the cited rules do not address laser technicians.
“Provide esthetic services” means to provide to an individual, for compensation, the service of: (i) cleansing, exercising, exfoliating, massaging, cosmetic microneedling, stimulating, toning, or performing any other similar procedure on the skin or scalp by electrical, mechanical, or any other means; “Provide esthetic services” does not include: (i) the diagnosis of illness, disease, or injury; or (ii) performing ablation of the dermis or hypodermis.
Md. Code, Bus. Occ. & Prof. §5-101(o)(1)(i), (3) (“Provide esthetic services” — cosmetic microneedling included; ablation of the dermis excluded) · verified Sep 7, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
Related Maryland rules
A licensed physician who delegates shall: (1) Evaluate the risk to the patient and the outcome of the delegated acts; (2) Delegate only those technical acts that are customary to the practice of the licensed physician; (3) Delegate only those technical acts for which the assistant has been trained; (4) Be responsible for the acts of the assistant; and (5) Supervise the assistant.
Md. Code Regs. 10.32.12.03(A) (Standards for the Licensed Physician Delegating to an Assistant) · verified Sep 3, 2026
With on-site supervision a licensed physician may delegate to an assistant the preparing and administering of injections limited to intradermal, subcutaneous, and intramuscular (deltoid, gluteal, vastus lateralis), to include small amounts of local anesthetics, and the establishing of a peripheral intravenous line. Microdermabrasion may be delegated without on-site supervision.
Md. Code Regs. 10.32.12.04(D)(1)(j), (D)(2)(a)–(b) · verified Sep 8, 2026
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Related Maryland questions
- Does a med spa in Maryland need a medical director?
- What must the supervising physician actually do in Maryland?
- Who may operate a cosmetic laser in Maryland?
- Can a medical assistant give injections in Maryland?
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← All Maryland 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).