May an esthetician or laser technician perform microneedling in New Mexico?
Oversight · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
No for estheticians — the esthetician license is a closed list that excludes invasive techniques, and microneedling is not on it. The cited rules do not settle it for laser technicians, whose scope no supplied rule defines.
New Mexico closes the esthetician list, which is how the microneedling question is answered. 16.34.5.12 esthetician license: an esthetician license permits the practitioner to use cosmetic preparations on the skin for cleansing and stimulating, apply massage and manipulation techniques using the hands or mechanical apparatus, use specialized skin care and facial machines in applying facial treatments, apply cosmetic makeup preparations, and remove superfluous or unwanted hair from the body of a person by any means except electrolysis or other invasive techniques and shaving. An esthetician shall not perform any services other than those listed above. To do so may lead to revocation of the license or other disciplinary action by the board.
16.34.5.12 NMAC (a CLOSED list, and invasive techniques are excluded by name) · verified Sep 7, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
Related New Mexico rules
Licensees may work in an aesthetic healthcare facility only if the facility employs a clinical supervisor who is an APRN or other licensed independent healthcare practitioner reasonably known to possess the appropriate education, training, and skills to safely perform all aesthetic healthcare procedures offered in the facility.
16.12.14.8(B) NMAC (Nursing Practice in Aesthetic Healthcare Facilities, eff. 2024-05-21) · verified Sep 4, 2026
develops or approves and implements written protocols for all aesthetic healthcare procedures performed at the aesthetic healthcare facility. The protocols must provide sufficient and specific details, including guidance on identifying and responding to adverse events, to assure that making independent healthcare decisions does not become the responsibility of individuals without the appropriate scope of practice to make such decisions.
16.12.14.9(B)(5) NMAC (Clinical supervisor) · verified Sep 4, 2026
How other states answer this
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Related New Mexico questions
- Does a med spa in New Mexico need a medical director?
- What must the supervising physician actually do in New Mexico?
- Who may operate a cosmetic laser in New Mexico?
- Can a medical assistant give injections in New Mexico?
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← All New Mexico 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).