Minoxidil + Dermarolling

[Rolandas]

Hi everyone,

I've been using minoxidil with dermaroller (started from 0.5 mm and went all the way up to 1.5 mm) for about 5 months now and I've seen some great result at ~3 month mark, however today I've took a picture and i was surprised a bit!

I will attach pictures for your reference. (first pic with pre-treatment compared to 3 month, second pic at 5 month).

Seems like some of the hairs in the mid section been thickened up on month 3, however on month 5 looks like I lost them. Also seems like some of the hair on the right side really thickened up compared to pre-treatmen.

My speculation would be growth cycle. Since it was super short and minoxidil keeps increasing it, however it might be the point now when it's time to fall off and then grow back with longer cycle.

 

Any ideas someone?

 

Many thanks!

[CosmoKramer]

Nice progress.

Yes, it seems like any newly growth hairs that may have shed are probably being shed faster in response to the benefits of minoxidil and making room for possible better caliber hairs to start growing. Possibly the miniaturization process in reverse.

How often do you microneedle for, once weekly?

[Rolandas]

20 minutes ago, CosmoKramer said:

Nice progress.

Yes, it seems like any newly growth hairs that may have shed are probably being shed faster in response to the benefits of minoxidil and making room for possible better caliber hairs to start growing. Possibly the miniaturization process in reverse.

How often do you microneedle for, once weekly?

Once a week every Sunday (just finished one haha). Minoxidil 5% foam twice a day full cup each application spread all over my top scalp including very top of the sides.

 

Btw, Minoxidil is normally recommended for the crown ONLY with half of cup to treat it. So, my speculation is - if it's recommended half cup just for the crown it must be not enough for a whole top part of the head, hence I'm using a full cup.

Any thoughts?

[CosmoKramer]

Cool, keep at it for some more months to see if you get more improvement.

Minoxidil may be recommended for the crown but that doesn’t mean it won’t work elsewhere.

[Rolandas]

Hi guys,

Quick update on my journey.

Today as always I have done my dermarolling and made a picture beforehand.

Seems like I had an additional shedding (5 months in) due to growth cycle as I thought before, or/possibly due to change in Minoxidil brand around 1.5 months ago. In the beginning I used Regain foam (UK version) £17.85/bottle and then switched to Kirkland foam £10.49/bottle.

I heard once you switch brands it's a possibility.

 

Let me know what do you think!

All the best.

 

[CosmoKramer]

To me it looks like your midscalp towards your crown has thickened up which if that’s the case that’s fantastic. 

It seems reasonable to assume that you’ve shedded some native or new hairs from switching Minoxidil types but I see shedding as a positive in that new stronger hairs will replace them, sort of miniaturizing in reverse.

Edited July 1, 2019 by CosmoKramer

[Rolandas]

5 minutes ago, CosmoKramer said:

To me it looks like your midscalp towards your crown has thickened up which if that’s the case that’s fantastic. 

It seems reasonable to assume that you’ve shedded some native or new hairs from switching Minoxidil types but I see shedding as a positive in that new stronger hairs will replace them, sort of miniaturizing in reverse.

Sorry I didn't say the important part. Seems like my hair thickened up quite a lot over the last couple of weeks. The shedding I was referring to was 2+ weeks before. 

I'm so impressed by how fast my hair grows. Even my barber told me my hair grows fast as I'm having skin fade every 2-3 weeks 😁 that's interesting as I'm not applying minoxidil on my sides!

 

Also I've done a quick picture just for myself to see a difference in my vertex area. I wasnt sure if I'm losing hair in there, but when I compared picture from yesterday and my December picture before any treatment theres a big visible improvement. My vertex had a lot of hairs but it was much thinner than it is now. At this point it looks like I never lost any hair on my vertex even if combing in between to see every section clearly.

I'll jump on propecia this week and take .250mg every other day and see how it will go.

[CosmoKramer]

3 hours ago, Rolandas said:

Sorry I didn't say the important part. Seems like my hair thickened up quite a lot over the last couple of weeks. The shedding I was referring to was 2+ weeks before. 

I'm so impressed by how fast my hair grows. Even my barber told me my hair grows fast as I'm having skin fade every 2-3 weeks 😁 that's interesting as I'm not applying minoxidil on my sides!

 

Also I've done a quick picture just for myself to see a difference in my vertex area. I wasnt sure if I'm losing hair in there, but when I compared picture from yesterday and my December picture before any treatment theres a big visible improvement. My vertex had a lot of hairs but it was much thinner than it is now. At this point it looks like I never lost any hair on my vertex even if combing in between to see every section clearly.

I'll jump on propecia this week and take .250mg every other day and see how it will go.

Ahh I see, well then this is great!

I think you’re doing a good job covering all your bases in gaining some success, are you using Nizoral shampoo as well?

[Rolandas]

48 minutes ago, CosmoKramer said:

Ahh I see, well then this is great!

I think you’re doing a good job covering all your bases in gaining some success, are you using Nizoral shampoo as well?

Yes I do. I started using it shortly after I started derma rolling. I wasnt using any shampoo, hair conditioner or any other product for around 2 years and my hair was healthy and shiny. Many people been commenting on how smooth and soft it is.

I was afraid that I might have a build up of minoxidil (wasnt sure if just water will wash it up completely), I decided to start Nizoral (found locally with no effort) once a week just before derma rolling session.

I've also noticed that nizoral dryers out hair a bit, therefore I started using just a random conditioner without any parabens etc.

 

So far so good.

[Rolandas]

Hey guys, quick update on my journey.

Month 6-7 for dermarolling + minoxidil. Seems like my midscalp is getting stronger. More hair is getting thicker and longer. Some of them are getting longer and don't die in the mid scalp as well as crown (pleasant surprise!). I even can part my hair in the middle of scalp (obviously it's like 3 hairs but hey, i wasn't able to do that before!). Also noticed my side parts look so much stronger than pre-treatment.

I started using MSM and Biotin tablets about a month ago for faster hair growth. Looks like it's working

Also I added very crucial thing to supplement my hair growth. Finasteride! After such a long debate (about 3 years) whether to start it or not I decided to give my self a fighting chance and give it a shot. I decided to start very low, 1/4 tablet of Propecia brand twice a week on Monday & Thursday. Did that for 2 weeks. No sides. On week 3 increased the dosage, half tablet (0.5mg) three times a week Monday, Wednesday & Friday. Been on that for two weeks. No sides. So that's where I am right now. I will continue using it like that for the next couple of months and see what happens.

I'm not sure how fast finasteride can work, especially with such a low dosage, but it might be that in the last few weeks i had a boost.

Pictures below.

BTW pictures been made with flashlight for maximum hair exposure.

What do you think guys?

Edited July 28, 2019 by Rolandas

[CosmoKramer]

Looks like some nice progress, especially in your top photo that shows your hair parted down the center, very encouraging!

Keep it going and thanks for sharing!

[Friedman]

It does look like nice progress. Keep it up.

My dermatologist told me to use the dermaroller daily. Is there any hard evidence (I.e., a RCT) that suggests you should just do once a week? I typically rest or forget to do it about 1-2 times a week. 

I think you should also try topical finasteride. 

Do this stuff for one year, then go for a hair transplant to fix the front. 

 

 

[Rolandas]

3 hours ago, Friedman said:

It does look like nice progress. Keep it up.

My dermatologist told me to use the dermaroller daily. Is there any hard evidence (I.e., a RCT) that suggests you should just do once a week? I typically rest or forget to do it about 1-2 times a week. 

I think you should also try topical finasteride. 

Do this stuff for one year, then go for a hair transplant to fix the front. 

 

 

According to my research, you can use derma roller every day, but it can't be longer than 0.25mm. Minoxidil can be applied afterwards. In this case it just helps with absorption of minoxidil, but not much of stimulating collagen production.

In case study for derma roller they used 1.5mm once a week with minoxidil twice a day and they had great results. Keep in mind if needle of 0.5mm or longer has been used you have to wait at least 24h before applying minoxidil as you are risking it to enter your bloodstream and increase a chance of side effects, which can be very nasty.

[Rolandas]

Hello chaps,

Full 7 month update (since mid of January)...

More hair in mid-anterior scalp and crown are getting thicker and longer.

I upped my dosage with Finasteride for the last 2 weeks to 0.5mg/day everyday. No sides as far as I'm aware of.

Another great thing is I've got new baby hair growth on the hairline. That part was dead for 3 years now. Hopefully they will be able to mature to terminal hairs.

Obviously picture was taken closely with flashlight, so it looks worse than it is to a human eye, but you can see small "peach fuzz" in the front.

 

At this point HT surgeons proposing 2500-3500 grafts into hairline area (1/3 of scalp only), while in the beginning proposals were up to 5000 grafts covering whole head.

I'm hoping finasteride will kick in and regrowth a lot of hair in mid scalp so I will need to take care of hairline only.

Edited August 26, 2019 by Rolandas

[Adam87]

Hello Rolandas, 

I had my hair transplant with dr freitas in July and i am one and a half months into derma rolling every day with minoxidil foam twice a day, i am also taking fin once a day and nizoral 3 times a week. 

A good idea also is to wash your head in hot water before derma rolling or applying, minoxidil, it open the paws in the scalp, makes absoring alot easier. I also added saw palmetto recently as well, seems to be some evidence regarding stopping DHT or at least helping to stop it. 

Keep posting please, i will follow this closely. Thanks for the thread. 

 

[Rolandas]

5 hours ago, Adam87 said:

Hello Rolandas, 

I had my hair transplant with dr freitas in July and i am one and a half months into derma rolling every day with minoxidil foam twice a day, i am also taking fin once a day and nizoral 3 times a week. 

A good idea also is to wash your head in hot water before derma rolling or applying, minoxidil, it open the paws in the scalp, makes absoring alot easier. I also added saw palmetto recently as well, seems to be some evidence regarding stopping DHT or at least helping to stop it. 

Keep posting please, i will follow this closely. Thanks for the thread. 

 

Hey Adam,

Congrats on your transplant!

Personally I don't see reason using saw palmetto and fin at the same time. Both are blocking Alpha Reductase type ll. I would stick to one and if I would feel like needing to block more dht, I would just up my dosage on fin.

[Adam87]

They also prescribed me Dut as well twice a week, but i am a little cautious of taking it,  i want to see how i get on with this first, what are your thoughts on Dut? - some have sides and some people do not. 

[Rolandas]

5 minutes ago, Adam87 said:

They also prescribed me Dut as well twice a week, but i am a little cautious of taking it,  i want to see how i get on with this first, what are your thoughts on Dut? - some have sides and some people do not. 

I'm in no way expert in this area, but logically speaking, Dutasteride blocks type l and type ll Alpha Reductase. As it will block more DHT, person can expect more benefits from it. Unfortunately, it's like a double edged sword, more benefits - higher chances of side effects. Also half life is twice as longer if not more as of Finasteride, therefore it's more dangerous. I heard a lot of people are taking it with positive results, however personally I would try it only if I would up my dosage on fin first and it won't work.

Again, just my 3 cents. I have limited knowledge on that, therefore don't take it as a fact.

[Rolandas]

Almost month 8. Finasteride destroyed my results!

Haha, just kidding. While it's true, hopefully that's the "shedding phase".

Pic 1 with regular room light. Pic 2 and 3 with flash from a bit further "I've noticed if taken too close it reflects too much from scalp".

My left side (right side in pictures) is much stronger than right, but thankthfully that's how I'm combing my hair over from left to right/down.

At this point I see good and bad.

Positive: I have quite a lot of baby hairs as well as new hairs grown for the last few months in hairline area and especially in mid scalp. Compared to where I started it's a massive difference. If everything will go as I expect, this hair will mature and I will get an amazing (compared to where I started) coverage in mid scalp and crown.

Negative: Obvious. Receded more into the crown on the right side compared to few months ago.

I guess would have been wiser to start fin, minox and derma rolling at the same time.

 

So far I'm still very positive on the outcome. Once fully matured, I'll get some work done in my hairline and hopefully will be able to forget about combing my hair over for next 2-5 years.

Edited September 16, 2019 by Rolandas

[CosmoKramer]

Keep at it! 👍🏻🙂

[Rolandas]

Hi guys,

Another update. Month 9.

I'm thrilled with progress so far.

Started finasteride full dose 1mg/day (propecia brand) a little over 1 month ago. Seems like it really kicks in some new regrowth all over scalp, especially in the front 1/3 where I didn't expect it at all in the beginning! A shit load of vellus hairs coming out. Still hoping those will mature fully.

What are your opinions on that? Will they become terminal hairs or not?

 

[Rolandas]

Month 10.

On the photos doesn't look like much improvement, but I see more and more tiny hairs sprouting all over my scalp (finasteride!).

If I would shave my head it would be super obvious NW5 pattern, but the way I'm combing my hair it looks like i just receided on the temples (haha thanks God for hair spray!).

Btw crown has the best improvement.

Still hoping all these little hairs will mature and grow longer and thicker.

Btw pictures taken with and without flash for comparatives.

[CosmoKramer]

Crown looks great and some nice growth improvement in your mid-scalp. 👍🏻

[Rolandas]

Hello gents,

It's time for update!

Month 11 of Dermarolling & Minoxidil + Month 5 of Finasteride.

To be honest right now I'm so happy with my gains that I dont think about my hair (unless it's very windy!!!). Putting my hair spray in the morning and I am good to go.

Comparing from where I started that's a huge success for me. 1 year ago when I did comb over it was so thin that you could see my scalp if all my hair strands doesn't lay down perfectly. Today when I do the same hairstyle it looks like I'm losing only in the temples a.k.a. receiding hairline. Many people are even surprised when I tell them that I'm losing my hair. That's how good I am at camouflaging it! 😁 I think there's is still more to get from Finasteride as it's just month 5 (month 3 on full 1mg dose), so looking forward to that!

Last week started tapering off minoxidil slowly. Started doing every other day just once a day. This week I will do every day just once a day. I will have another 2 weeks to completely stop using it before my surgery in end January, so I guess my last update will be in mid January.

 

[CosmoKramer]

Nice progress man! Definitely see progress and your existing hair looks thicker!

Whom did you choose for your HT and how many grafts?