Follica Microneedling Protocol Patent Disclosed

[John Difool]

@pegasus2 how are you doing it?

 

[John Difool]

I suppose you are using 0.75mm depth?

 

[pegasus2]

Sorry, 1mm depth everywhere.

 

[John Difool]

It makes sense not to reuse needle. The glue used to put those together dissolves in IPA when trying to disinfect them after each session so they fall apart.

 

[HairOnFire]

Another case report supporting microneedling + topical minoxidil. Even works on an old man.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32500595/?from_term=alopecia&from_sort=date&from_pos=1

2020 Jun 5.
doi: 10.1111/jocd.13526. Online ahead of print.

Favorable Effects of Microneedling on Long-Standing Androgenetic Alopecia in an Elderly Man: A Case Report
Abstract

Androgenetic alopecia (Androgenetic Alopecia) is the most common type of alopecia. Currently, various methods have been tried to treat male Androgenetic Alopecia, but the outcomes are often unsatisfactory, especially for elderly persons. We report a case of a 70-year-old Japanese man with a long-standing Androgenetic Alopecia. The patient had a family history of male pattern baldness, showed no abnormality in physical and laboratory examinations, and had received no treatment for Androgenetic Alopecia. We started monotherapy with 5% minoxidil twice daily to the right half of the scalp, while on the left half of the scalp topical minoxidil was combined with weekly microneedling (also called collagen induction therapy). Microneedling was performed using an automated microneedling pen with 1.5-mm needle length. After 14 weeks of treatment, negligible hair growth was observed on the monotherapy side. On the combined-therapy side, however, hair growth was obvious and the density of hairs determined under trichoscope was significantly increased compared with the monotherapy side (P < 0.001). Only transient pain, erythema and pinpoint bleeding were observed as adverse effects. Although we need further clinical trials to assess the efficacy and safety and to standardize the method, microneedling combined with topical minoxidil could be a treatment option for severe Androgenetic Alopecia in elderly patients.

Keywords: androgenetic alopecia; baldness; cosmetic dermatology; hair growth; microneedling; minoxidil.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

 

[John Difool]

"On the combined-therapy side, however, hair growth was obvious and the density of hairs determined under trichoscope was significantly increased compared with the monotherapy side (P < 0.001)."

How you get quantitative data?

 

[Throwaway94]

"On the combined-therapy side, however, hair growth was obvious and the density of hairs determined under trichoscope was significantly increased compared with the monotherapy side (P < 0.001)."

How you get quantitative data?

Great question... There are plenty of ways for them to conduct a t-test but none are particularly appropriate for this situation

 

[John Difool]

Great question... There are plenty of ways for them to conduct a t-test but none are particularly appropriate for this situation

How about measuring hair density before and after in specific areas on both sides?

 

[Throwaway94]

How about measuring hair density before and after in specific areas on both sides?

That's perfectly possible but technically would only compare effectiveness for different parts of the head for that one person. The fact that it's a case study rather than a trial makes it incredibly weak for quantitative purposes.

 

[John Difool]

Gotcha. There is always a weaker side temple so that makes sense.

 

[John Difool]

They used a 36 needle array at 1.5 mm for ~20 minutes, so 40 minutes if they did the entire scalp. Once a week.

Do you think they would have had even better results following the Follica method? I know it's probably hard to say but lots of good results with a 1.5mm weekly with high wounding density.

 

[John Difool]

That was my original thought: they may have spaced it that way to make it easier to schedule patient visits and to make it less painful for them but the whole microneedling thread on tressless shows good results with this article parameters. The question is how sag would overlap in that frequency

 

[John Difool]

Here is the tressless' dude with amazing results :

Q: Did you start at 2.0 or work your way up gradually? If so, what did that timeline look like?
A: Started at 1.5mm but was at 2.0mm the next week. [The guy had hair so 2mm instead of 1.5?]

Q: It's hard for me to tell from the video, but are you slightly lifting each time after you press against your head, or are you keeping it at the same-level and just dragging it along like a lawnmower?
A: A mixture. Ideally it drags along but sometimes it sticks and you need to lift.

Q: How are you sterilizing cartridges and after how many uses do you switch them out?
A: I use a new needle each time now.

@pegasus2 to your point, changing needles each time sounds the right way to go.

 

[John Difool]

I do wonder if they settled on .8mm depth due to considerations beyond efficacy.

I hear you. 1.5mm is excruciatingly painful.

 

[John Difool]

https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/...apen/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

 

[John Difool]

What's interesting is that the guy was a no responder on minoxidil prior to wounding!!

 

[John Difool]

I've been thinking getting deeper to break up the fibrosis might be helpful to allow these new and miniaturized follicles to move deeper into the skin where they are supposed to be.

Is this how it works? The vellus hair follicles are in a shallow layer than terminal ones?

 

[Throwaway94]

I would agree if the difference was minor, as hair could grow back somewhat faster on one side. However, he was a NW7, and the difference was "obvious". This is more evidence that microneedling is the biggest advance in hair loss treatment in 30 years, as if that wasn't already apparent.

They used a 36 needle array at 1.5 mm for ~20 minutes, so 40 minutes if they did the entire scalp. Once a week.

I have no doubt that the microneedling side was far more effective for this gentleman. But it's a qualitative result and impossible to say whether it'll be better or worse than any of the other protocols tried in other studies is what I'm saying.

 

[Throwaway94]

For what it's worth, the pen used in this case study has an alleged fast setting of 10000rpm in case you want to approximate the wounding density

 

[pegasus2]

Four days after doing the Follica protocol, only at 1.5mm, my scalp is still raw.