Hi there, long time lurker here (since 2013). I'm 21 years old and my hair started diffuse thinning slowly once I hit puberty at 12. I started to notice slowly at 15 and the docs told me it was male pattern baldness. Wasn't suprised since this sh*t runs on my dad's side like Usain Bolt. Anyways, I got on minoxidil at 15 once a day. I maintained what I had and got some regrowth. Did PRP twice in 2016 and 2017. Each time I did PRP I got regrowth, but I'd lose it again after 12 months. So minoxidil's effectiveness stopped mid-2018 after 5 years of use and I just felt like quitting and shaving around october. At the end of october I saw this thread and numberguy's results, so I wanted to try as well and hoped I'd get the same results. So I ordered a cheap dermapen from wish and started needling my hairline, scalp, sides, crown and back once a week at 1.5mm. Over the course of 2 months I increased the length and I now needle with 2mm length. I still use minoxidil, and increased my frequency from once a day to twice a day as of december 1 2018 (the day I started rolling. It is important to note I didn't use minoxidil on the rolling day because I was afraid of sides. As of last week (start of week 8) I tried minoxidil to see if I got sides and nothing happened, so from now on I'll be using minoxidil on needling-day as well.
Results:
I forgot to take proper pictures and my angles and lighting weren't consistent so I don't feel like they're of any use. My hairloss pattern was basically female pattern when it started and slowly my hairline and crown started thinning as well. When I started needling I was a NW1.5~2, and now I see tiny hairs (vellus and terminal!) sprouting all over my scalp and hairline.
Important things to point out:
1. When I started browsing the forums back in 2013 people on these forums were talking about microneedling, but didn't think much of it. I really wish joined them.
2. Every week after needling I check the tightness of my scalp skin by trying to pinch it. I noticed my skin slowly gets less tight and easier to pinch over time.
3. When I started off I could barely see any blood. Last needling session more blood was visible and my needling also started to hurt more. I would assume this is related to the idea that microneedling induces the synthesis of new blood vessels due to skin healing processes?
4. Existing terminal grows faster and thicker. They look more pigmented now.
My own thoughts:
If we assume new blood vessels get created after when your skin is trying to heal itself, we can conclude the blood flow in your scalp increases which leads to your dormant hair follicles becoming terminal again due to nutritions being able to reach your hair follicles. We know minoxidil increases blood flow as well. Add these 2 points up and we can conclude minoxidil aids microneedling and not the other way around. Applying minoxidil will only give you better absorption, so if you don't get any sides from increased absorption I think it could only benefit you in the long run.
Anyways, for me microneedling works and since it benefits my hair I will keep doing this. I took a picture of a part above my right temple today which has gotten pretty thin before needling. As you can see there are a lot of hairs growing there and I guess they'll become terminal over time. Same for my hairline. Big thanks to the people who showed their results because it motivated my to do this as well. I hope I can motivate others to do this as well since I think it could be beneficial to a lot of people.