Microneedling Without Minoxidil - Can It Work?

[Francesco17]

This is important because many people have to give up minoxidil before they can see results, due to substantial side effects.
Therefore, it would be interesting to see if we have any evidence that microneedling can be of any use when used without minoxidil.

The original Indian study by Dhurat et al. states that microneedling+minoxidil brought at least some regrowth in patients that were non-responders to minoxidil+finasteride.
This is encouraging, but there are a few problems:
- There was no group treated with microneedling alone in that study or, as far as I'm aware, in other studies,
so there is the possibility that regrowth came from the interaction of microneedling+minoxidil
- The non-responders to minoxidil+finasteride in the microneedling+minoxidil group were only 12
- It is not clear how the verdict of non-respondance was emitted, but it is reasonable to assume it was self assessment rather than the rigorous assessment implemented in the study.

The only sketchy evidence I found so far that microneedling can work without minoxidil is here
http://www.surgicalcosmetic.org.br/...ica-de-microinfusao-de-medicamentos-pela-pele
but it was a study of only two patients.

So, it would be interesting to see what everyone here thinks.

Edit. ​

- Thanks to user Kiwipilu for sharing this study showing that microneedling can cause regrowth even in absence of medications
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29952106
- There is a study according to which rosemary oil yields the same results as minoxidil nonetheless:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25842469.
It was conducted on 100 volunteers, 50 on rosemary oil and 50 on minoxidil: both showed no change at 3 months, but "significant" regrowth at 6 months.

 

[Chap1]

I have heard of people getting results with just dermarolling with no other treatments, although with a combination of treatments it always works better. I might try it.

 

[Kagaho]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29028377



Group 2 is only wounding twice monthly with a device similar to the dermapen.

 

[kiwipilu]

yes. It's easy to know the answer: give it a proper and serious try. everybody should have this in routine. I added dermaroller after 2years of minoxidil. I dropped minoxidil months ago and I did not have any shedding. Since I dont take anti androgen dermaroller might help on its own but maybe it depends on the pattern.. dunno?!. In the dhurat study they had dermaneedling session every week so I don't see how this could interfere with minoxidil and in this one https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29952106
FRM at 4-week intervals.
Point is the more advanced the device is, the better it is.. dermapen, frm etc they is a good list of wounding devices but cheap dermaroller has also its benefits

 

[Francesco17]

Thanks. This is the evidence I was looking for and I didn't find. It seems microneedling alone yields marginally better results than minoxidil alone, while both treatments combined give nearly twice as good results as single treatment

 

[Joe Marini]

Also add massaging before wounding to have better results.

 

[NewUser]

Apparently microneedling alone works better in mice than us. People don't produce enough FGF in skin like lab mice do. Cotsarelis says Wnt, Fgf, Hh pathways and gamma/delta T cells are vital for controlling wound induced neogenesis.

 

[Francesco17]

Notably, there aren't many microneedling studies that I know. Maybe, adjusting frequency, depth and type of wounding it could be possible to get better results We don't know because there are no studies

 

[hairloss_user]

Those small hairs you get from wounding alone are going to take a long *** time to grow fully. That's why you need to add min to speed it up.

 

[Francesco17]

Maybe we could crowd fund the Indian researchers

 

[Francesco17]

Those small hairs you get from wounding alone are going to take a long *** time to grow fully. That's why you need to add min to speed it up.

I'd rather have less hair than minoxidil's side effects, I think

 

[hairloss_user]

I'd rather have less hair than minoxidil's side effects, I think

Have you tried it yet though?

 

[Francesco17]

Have you tried it yet though?

Minoxidil, yes, only a few application. It makes me strangely anxious and unable to function mentally. I also had ear redness.

Haven't tried needling yet

 

[skinnywolfboy]

I don't think most people really have a clue, I can't recall a single study or even anecdotal experience of people regrowing any hair only through dermarolling.

 

[Me Vs DiffuseThinning]

I don't think most people really have a clue, I can't recall a single study or even anecdotal experience of people regrowing any hair only through dermarolling.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29028377

 

[That Guy]

I tried the dermarolling thing plus the minoxidil I already use. It worked to grow a lot of vellus hair that wasn't on my temples when I started, but....well, that's it. 4 months later, it's basically stagnated. It's certainly not enough to be cosmetically-significant.

Some people may have a good response to it, others not so much. So my experience, and reading the research anyway leads me to opine that: Wounding probably is a viable method, but getting any worthwhile results with just a dermaroller and minoxidil is pretty rare.

 

[Georgie]

Personally it hasn’t helped me but it may just be that way for people with aggressive loss.

 

[Francesco17]

I found a

Personally it hasn’t helped me but it may just be that way for people with aggressive loss.

Sorry to hear that. It seems that no matter how effective a treatment, there will always be some patients who do not respond it at all (this is a rule that applies across the board in medicine). May I ask you how long did you try it for?

 

[Kagaho]

I tried the dermarolling thing plus the minoxidil I already use. It worked to grow a lot of vellus hair that wasn't on my temples when I started, but....well, that's it. 4 months later, it's basically stagnated. It's certainly not enough to be cosmetically-significant.

Some people may have a good response to it, others not so much.

4 months is not enough time unless youre an amazing responder.

This thing is progressive regrowth, those vellus hair youre seeing may become terminal if you are consistent.

May I ask how many sessions per week and needle depth?

 

[skinnywolfboy]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29028377

Well I'll be damned, if what I'm reading is true, that study suggests that dermaneedling is actually more effective on its own than minoxidil.
Amazing. Why isn't this more widepsread??