Biweekly can mean either twice a week or every two weeks. I'm almost certain they did it every two weeks in this study. Try the .8mm every two weeks that Follica uses.
So I've known about this thread for 2 years and still nothing has been really nailed down yet. I'll just drop my experience..
I've been using a derma pen 1.5mm, average of 1.5 times a month for 2 years and my hair has gotten slightly worse. The only topical I've been using is reviv with their two additives (anti-gray and minoxidil analogue). Not one thing in this routine appears to be doing a damn thing; every aspect has gotten slightly worse.
I can do 2.5mm but it hurts too much to do enough passes to make the scalp nicely wounded and (lastingly) red. I guess I'll try going down to .8 and spending exponentially more time, more passes. For me, .8 is basically pain-free. Even 2.5 is not at all bothersome, specifically in the crown and the low temple near the ear. There are just no pain receptors in those areas. But the frontal scalp, the upper temple that actually tends to recede, or anything near the forehead...that all hurts badly once you go above 1.5.
So I have yet to try a more follica-like method (<1 mm and extreme thoroughness). Till now I have assumed depth is better for reviving the follicles but that's been sufficiently proven false.
I only have diffuse thinning so you'd think needling in a hair-occupied area would make it easier to get some re-density but no. One thing I may have pinpointed is collagen supplementation. My hair was arguably recovering density in 2020, when I first started using a pen and I was taking collagen powder once a day.
Side notes from needling the face
- I had a large melanin spot (sunspot, or whatever) on my cheekbone and it has disappeared from needling. It was about half the size of a dime, not terribly dark, nothing that people have ever pointed out, but I noticed it.
- Needling has done absolutely nothing for increasing facial hair density. I'm a clean shaven/stubble only guy, so I don't actually care about that, just saying.
I don't have a ton of gray or very visible gray since I have light hair. I think I have a slightly low metabolism and low thyroid function. I am a young looking person and the hair is aging faster than everything else. This is why I'm trying hard to address the problem holistically/nutritionally and topically, because being a norwood guy wouldn't suit me. I'll get FUE if my methods don't work adequately. I don't have norwood 7 genes so I can avoid it all together with surgery if nothing else works.
Historically, balding men had faces that suited that look.A lot of guys today have my situation but a lot worse, maybe NW3-4 with the face of a 20-something. That I believe is a deeper nutiritional/environmental issue and not so much 'androgenetic.' I don't believe 'androgenetic alopecia' is the correct name for our issue in a general sense.