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Does it work by itself
Very Impressive Dermarolling And Minxodil Results - From Tressless
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Judging by the pics that I have seen, yes it can work provided the underlying male pattern baldness is not progressing so quickly as to eclipse any gains.
However, success stories are somewhat rare so they might be over-reported. Tons of MtF's claim absolutely no gains from HRT and others recover from almost complete baldness. So I am not trying to avoid your question; I have only done it with minoxidil and retin-A and a bunch of other meds so I can't discern entirely what does what.
My personal feeling is that without minoxidil and probably finasteride, that this is a hard row to hoe. Rob says his massages should amount to 280 minutes weekly for best results. As if. Even I am not obsessed enough to do that much massage but microneedling probably does work better than massage even much better for both hair and scars and skin healing in general than only promote hair growth. I do it once weekly, for now two years and somewhat grudgingly as it is not my favorite thing to do and when I meet my goals I hope to cut back or find a less painful way. And it's not all that painful; it's just not fun.
Unless you are obsessive, the microneedling path is probably more apt for people using maintenance meds. Keto might be a good carrier and help with inflammation.
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I'm leaning toward just getting a roller, as using a pen takes so long to do due to the smaller area it covers per pass. Still wish I could see some kind of sign that it's actually doing something and that I'm not just doing self torture for nothing
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I could tell it was doing "something" because a lot of scar tissue itself scabbed over many times when I was starting out with microneedling. So each time for maybe the first six sessions, I had scabbing all over the top of my head. I also use it on neck and face and hands and it works well for all of these things. Ultimately, it is a tool that probably works better to temporarily revive hair follicles than it does to keep them alive. But for females and MtF's, it could perhaps provide "permanent" improvement since they don't have the DHT ticking time bomb in their scalps.
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Need help guys. Started dermarolling 5 days ago and the scalp is still a bit red. Is this normal?
Used 1.5mm needle and applied minoxidil (waited 24hrs after microneedling) for the first time also. How do i know if the scalp is infected? Or is the redness due to minoxidil?
Used 1.5mm needle and applied minoxidil (waited 24hrs after microneedling) for the first time also. How do i know if the scalp is infected? Or is the redness due to minoxidil?
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It sounds like you are pressing too hard but if you aren't drawing blood, then you are probably ok. I have found that I have bled less and less as time has gone by and this is even with my increasing needle gauges to 2.5mm. I rarely bleed now and my scalp usually only hurts for about 12 hours which is down from about 24 hours when I started out.
But five days seems excessive so you might want to start out with a lower gauge.
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I am not sure that it matters. I bought the cold pressed and it was about 15 bucks at Amazon.
The issue with castor oil is that you are unlikely to be able to tell whether it is worthwhile or not, especially if you have other meds in your protocol. If you have diffuse thinning and not a bald scalp, then using Castor oil for micro-needling is probably not a good idea as you will pull many hairs out which is excruciating for the balding. Just use it as a conditioner and leave it in an hour or two or even overnight.
I don't think that Castor Oil would be good as a carrier because it is extremely sticky compared to most vegetable oils and much harder to work with and then even to wash out. But you could put it on right after or you could ingest a tiny amount daily, both of which I have done but for me, this is a non-essential treatment which I have tried out to try to provide feed-back to others. If you can use minoxidil, then use that.
Janey's rule of thumb is never try to re-invent the wheel if your goal is actually to regrow hair. I tell the "just in it for the hair" HRT guys this but it never gets through. Pick something as a protocol that you can more or less verify that worked for someone else and then copy that protocol as closely as possible and except for titration, don't change it. @bridgeburn was growing tons of hair out from baldness but essentially, none of the guys who used their own protocols had positive results unless they were very young. The difference was that @bridgeburn knew what he was doing exactly while the other guys were making adjustments to try to avoid breast growth and the adjustments were not effective in terms of regrowth nor most likely in avoiding breast growth since few cis-males understand how menarche functions related to hormonal levels.
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Thank you Janey for response, I have diffuse thinning, I would say maybe even DUPA since my donor are is thinning as well, because of sides I don't take finasteride/minoxidil, to be honest don't want to play with hormones, I have seen quite good results with microneedling and essential oils and I want to try as well, could you please give some good articles about oils and detail information about them related to hair loss if you have, I would be really helpful.
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Of course. Now except for direct experience and HRT, this is the guy that I trust most to synthesize the latest studies and data about our scores of hair loss treatments. I used his recommendations regarding micro-needling and he was one of the first to publicly acknowledge the possibility of complete or almost complete hair restoration for MtF's and that influenced me greatly towards entering an HRT program. I am not just "in it for the hair" by any means but my hair matters more to me than any particular designation by others. I also use his recommendations related to the usage of oral min for others in terms of maximizing hair growth and minimizing risk.
Why Most Hair Loss Topicals Fail To Regrow Hair - Perfect Hair Health
Why do Rogaine and emu oil slow hair loss sometimes, but not always? Gene expression and target mechanisms. Here's why most hair loss topicals fail us.
perfecthairhealth.com
Rosemary Oil For Hair Loss? Not So Fast... (Before and After Photos + Evidence)
A study claims that rosemary oil is as effective as minoxidil for hair loss. The catch: they only tested 2% minoxidil. So, does rosemary really regrow hair?
perfecthairhealth.com
Cheers,
Janey
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I don't think I've ever gone hard enough to get scabbing. I get a lot of flaking a few days after, but that's about it
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Well, it used to be a source of secret shame but I had an initial transplant that was botched although at the time it might not have been as noticeable since I had more hair to integrate it with. But as time went on, it was clear than many of the grafts either didn't take or didn't take fully. When I shed to baldness, you could see many of the little non-productive circular grafts. I ended up getting what are euphemistically called "refinements" and that helped things for a while but these grafts are over 30 years old now and many of them have seemed to now fail with the passage of time, sigh, which leaves me with thinned out fringe and no payback for it. So beware of anyone who claims that transplanted hair lasts for life.... You are also removing native skin that might have been restored anyway so that makes derma-rolling even more key for me.
My main issue on top now is micro-needling the remaining scar tissue because the failed plugs are the main things making my hair look thin in places. When I started out microneedling two years ago, they told us to draw blood so I did and maybe that accounts for the fantastic and quick scarring reduction that you have not seen yet. I micro-needle my entire scalp, face, neck and some times, arms and hands and wherever I have used it, it seems to vastly decrease age markers like freckles, wrinkles, scars, sun spots, etc. Because of my copious protocol, the main thing that I can say about micro-needling is that it is fantastic at scar reduction and things like aging under the eyes but mostly just rejuvenating my face in general and adding to a youthful look that I enjoy.
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Just back on the forum to spread some positive news. Treatment really does work. I have regrown 80% of my hair after 3 years of treatment. Good luck everyone 
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Congrats! What is your regimen?Just back on the forum to spread some positive news. Treatment really does work. I have regrown 80% of my hair after 3 years of treatment. Good luck everyone
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Current regimen is dutasteride and oral minix
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So why the f**k did you post that message in the dermarolling thread?
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Old regimen included dermarolling for 2 years.
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Why did you stop rolling?
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I got enough regrowth to stop stabbing my head weekly.
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My success is due to both regimens. I had great initial growth, but then a period of stagnation. My hair saw increased thickening, and continues to thicken, after the introduction of dutasteride and oral minoxidil.