The latest trendy skin-tightening procedure sounds terrifying, but people are doing it anyway

• A woman described her painful experience with a beauty treatment that Kim Kardashian has used.
• Morpheus8 is a type of microneedling that injures the skin in a controlled way. 
• The woman said it felt like having her face hole-punched.

The trend of people getting needles poked in their faces in the hopes of having better skin is nothing new. But a woman who compared a trendy microneedling treatment to having her face hole-punched made us do a double take.

Morpheus8 is what's known as a radiofrequency microneedling treatment, where small needles are used alongside energy waves to damage the skin in a controlled way to help healthier, firmer skin grow in its place. Although there are needles involved, it's considered a minimally invasive treatment, much like Botox and fillers, because the skin isn't cut open.

Data from Google shows that searches for the treatment have been rising over the past few years. Lindsay Lohan told Cosmo last year that she is "obsessed" with it, and Kim Kardashian has used it on her stomach, writing in her Instagram stories last fall, as Elle reported: "it's painful lol but worth it!"

And it seems Kim isn't alone in finding it painful.

A woman said Morpheus8 made her skin glow but left her with small spots

An anonymous flight attendant told The Cut that Morpheus8 was "by far the most painful" of all the procedures she's tried.

The 33-year-old, who worked for a private-jet charter company for six years, said she thought a combination of being "consistently jet-lagged, dehydrated, and sleep-deprived" and being exposed to UV rays had messed up her skin. Her worries weren't helped by being "constantly surrounded by celebrities and the one percent who have the money to do whatever they want to their skin." So she paid $2,300 for four rounds of Morpheus8 at a med-spa in Los Angeles.

"Once the treatment starts, it feels like somebody's putting a hot hole puncher deep in your skin, even after an hour's worth of a very intense numbing cream," she said, adding: "I never understood how it was only needles being used, because it literally feels like they're punching out a hole and chunks of my skin was being burned off."

But two days later she was "glowing," she said. But the fourth round hurt more than the others and she had to abandon the treatment. She was also left with small spots of scarring on her face, although it's not clear if that's because the med-spa used the device incorrectly.

Morpheus8 manufacturers InMode did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

If you're still tempted to try it, you might be heartened by the fact a Cosmopolitan beauty editor described Morpheus8 as not "the most comfortable treatment" but "totally manageable."

Dr. Michelle Henry, a board-certified dermatologist, told Cosmopolitan that taking Tylenol one to two hours prior to a session can help with the pain.