Using
@JJL58 's form since it was so thorough
__________________________________________
Current date:
1/28/2019
Nickname:
overpourgoodfortune
Age:
38
Hairloss started at:
mid 20’s?
Current Norwood:
Type 4 or 5 I think?
Balding pattern:
Both
Affected areas:
Temple area / Crown / Vertex
Treatment history:
Previously used Minoxidil for around 2 years. Experienced no re-growth, though I seemed to at least maintain or loss was very slow during. Went off it for ~6 months and began to thin even more. Decided to go on Finasteride (Dec 10) and found this needling thread a week into that prescription (Dec 18). Decided to go off finasteride after one month of use (Jan 10) and purely do needling + minoxidil instead. That should be a disclaimer for any early results – it could be finasteride at work.
Needling since:
December 18, 2018
Needling until:
6m to 1yr and will judge thereafter based on results
Needling frequency
: Once, every other week as of this update, though intend to do every 7 to 10 days going forward. Christmas + a Vacation interrupted my ability/desire to needle weekly.
Needling, total number of sessions:
3
Needling device:
TBPHP Dermapen from Amazon.ca
Needling depth/needle length:
1.5 to 2.0MM (start session with 1.5 and finish with 2.0mm)
Needling intensity:
Multiple passes until mild redness. Not a lot of pressure, enough to feel like I'm making consistent contact.
Needled areas:
Entire top of head / all thinning areas
Needling side effects:
Redness / Tenderness for ~48 hours. Flaking starts around days 4/5 and continues into 7 days after or so.
Using minoxidil:
Yes
On minoxidil since:
One week before needling (Dec. 10/2018)
Using other treatments at the same time:
(edit: Nizoral too) Vitamin D, Biotin. finasteride was used during first 4 weeks of needling though now ceased.
Witnessing regrowth:
YES
Regrowth since:
5 weeks after needling
Pattern of regrowth:
Vellus hairs on temples near hairline at this point.
Description of and satisfaction with regrowth:
So far so good. Nothing obvious outside of closeups though. Definitely thinned out initially and experienced a shed around week 2 through 5 and hair looked noticeably thinner. What hair remained seemed to be healthier/happier or stronger if you will though by week 5 though.
Photos showing own progress or lack thereof:
See below
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First off my baseline photos:
View attachment 110717 View attachment 110718
Here are some week 6 shots of my temples which I found interesting.
Note: I don't have any good Day 1 comparisons of this area sadly... so I'll have to use these as comparisons in the weeks/months to come and you'll just have to take my word for what is going on here. I'm going to use my real point/shoot camera going forward as well since the detail is 100 X than my cell phone camera.
View attachment 110719
(1) This stray mofo has been here for
yeeears holding on to nothing. Easy for me to keep track of next to my skin blemish there. I usually shave that guy down but keep it growing sometimes when I forget. Looks silly as hell. Either way - I can tell new action is occurring due to this being the only stray random I've had to shave down for years.
(2) This new stray mofo showed up out of nowhere which made me start looking closer at my temples.
(3) Lots of little black hairs close to the hairline.
Bottom line - 2 years on minoxidil previously I didn't see any of that action. Disclaimer again, could be the 4 weeks of finasteride at work before I quit. Only time will tell if needling/minoxidil helps this continue into the months ahead.
Then there's this photo....
View attachment 110720
(4) I noticed lots of blonde/brown hairs showing up under different bathroom lighting while on vacation. Super hard to capture on camera, but they're
all over the temples in the right lighting.
Again, no good comparisons on those temple shots for Day 1, but this post will serve as a comparison for the future months.
