Does Microneedling Work for Hair Loss? What Studies Show and What They Don't

By The Reviven team. Written from our kit's usage guide and the sources linked below.

Short answer. Does microneedling work for hair loss? As an add-on, the research leans yes. On its own, it's still unclear. A 2022 systematic review in Dermatology and Therapy counted 22 clinical studies with 1,127 people. Hair measures improved across needle depths of 0.5 to 2.5 mm and schedules from once a week to once a month, mostly when needling was paired with something applied to the scalp.

The same authors call the data "of relatively low quality" and ask for large randomized trials. The trial cited most often followed 100 men for 12 weeks. That's a short window, and no women took part. Studies of needling alone are smaller still. Promising, then, but not settled. If you try it, go light and stay regular, and judge by photos rather than the mirror. Results vary.

If you're new to the whole idea, our at-home scalp microneedling guide covers the basics before you read on.

What microneedling studies for hair loss actually measured

The review by English, Ruiz and DoAmaral (full paper) is the widest look so far. It pooled 22 clinical studies and 1,127 people, most of them with gradual thinning. Devices, depths and schedules all differed from study to study, and most added needling to a topical. The authors scored the studies' quality low. What they want next is "large-scale randomized controlled trials," to sort out needling as a stand-alone step and as an add-on.

The trial almost every article points to is a 2013 pilot study by Dhurat and colleagues. How it was run tells you what "it worked" meant:

• 100 men were split into two groups. One group used a standard topical twice a day. The other used the same topical plus one needling session a week.
• Scalps were shaved, so hair length couldn't change the picture.
• Hairs were counted inside one square centimeter marked with a small tattoo. That way the same spot got counted at the start and again at week 12.
• A rater who didn't know the groups scored photos on a 7-point scale, and the men rated themselves too.

At week 12 the average count in that square rose by 91.4 hairs in the needling group and by 22.2 in the topical-only group. In the men's own ratings, 41 men in the needling group (82%) reported more than 50% improvement, against 2 men (4.5%) in the topical-only group. It's a real difference. Keep in mind it was measured in a clinic, on shaved scalps, over three months.

What the studies did not show

A clinic's careful reading of the trials lists the gaps, and they line up with what the review says:

• Needling by itself. Those studies are tiny, "sometimes fewer than 20 people," often with no proper control group, and the people judging the results usually knew who got what.
• Anything past a few months. The best-known trial stopped at 12 weeks, and as the clinic reading puts it, "Twelve weeks is a blink in hair-follicle time." These trials can't tell you what month 12 looks like.
• Women. The best-known trial was men only.
• A fair comparison. In the 2013 trial the men knew which group they were in, so their own ratings carry less weight than the blinded photo scores and hair counts.
• The best depth or schedule. With so many depths and schedules in play, the trials don't point to one best setting.
• Home tools with serum. We didn't find a study of a home stamp used the way our kit is used, and our kit was not part of any of these studies.

What most people don't know before they start

The needles in trials were longer than home tools. Trials "generally used needles around 1 to 1.5 millimeters," in a clinic, while most home rollers sit at 0.25 to 0.5 mm, per the same clinic reading. A home routine is a lighter, different thing, so don't read the trial numbers as what to expect at home.

The sessions were spaced out. Clinic sessions in the trials ran one to three weeks apart, and the review's range was once a week to once a month. Once a week sits inside that range. Every day doesn't, and doing more won't close the gap between a clinic and a bathroom. Our how often to microneedle your scalp page has a week-by-week calendar.

Needling was almost always paired with a topical. That's why the order of needling and serum is worth getting right, and we go through it in serum before or after microneedling.

Results were judged under strict conditions. A shaved scalp, one marked square, a rater who didn't know the groups. You won't have any of that at home, and the mirror changes with the light, how wet your hair is and how it's parted. People on hair forums know this and give it time. In a HairLossTalk photo results thread, one member wrote, "I'm going to keep on for at least one year before I determine." The clinic reading notes that most dermatologists judge any hair routine at about six months. It suggests photos of the same spot repeated monthly, same light, same angle, dry hair.

How to try it at home in a way you can judge

The photo comes first on purpose. Without a starting point you have nothing to compare later. These steps follow our kit's usage guide.

1. Take a before photo. Same room, same light, same angle, hair dry and parted the same way. Write down where you stood.
2. Wash your scalp ahead of time and let it dry all the way.
3. Pour one serum ampoule into the stamp, close the cap and turn it upside down for about 5 minutes.
4. Part your hair over the thinning area. Tap the stamp lightly, lift straight up, move over a little and tap again. Don't drag it sideways. The full method is in how to use a derma stamp on your scalp, and derma stamp vs derma roller explains why a stamp suits a scalp with hair.
5. Leave the serum on for 4 to 6 hours before washing.
6. Repeat one evening a week, about 5 minutes each time plus the wait in step 3. Use a new single-use dome every session.
7. Take a new photo the evening before each month's first session, set up exactly like the first one. At the end of month four, put the first and the latest side by side.

Stop line. If your scalp is cut, broken or still tender from last week, skip the session and wait until it has settled. If a spot bleeds while you tap, stop on that spot and leave it for next week. If the scalp stays red or irritated, pause the routine until it's calm, and don't add an extra session to catch up. Bent or dull needles mean it's time for a new stamp.

Why our kit is built around a weekly stamp

The studies can't tell you what a home stamp will do. So we built the kit around the parts you control: one light session a week, a serum every time you needle, and a fresh stamp every month. Each month of the Reviven kit has 4 single-use domes and 4 serum ampoules. When the ampoules run out, the month is done, and you never have to count weeks. You can see it on the Reviven home page. What people hope to see is fuller-looking, thicker-looking hair with more volume. Results vary.

A question about judging your results

Do forum photo threads count as evidence? Not the way a trial does. There's no comparison group and no rater who doesn't know who did what. Many members also needle alongside a topical, so there's no way to tell which one helped. The useful thing to borrow from them is the habit: photos on a schedule, and months of patience before deciding.

Sources

• English, Ruiz and DoAmaral - Microneedling and its use in hair loss disorders, a systematic review, Dermatology and Therapy 2022 (https://perfecthairhealth.com/research/ and https://doi.org/10.1007/s13555-021-00653-2)
• Dhurat et al. - Randomized evaluator-blinded pilot study of microneedling, International Journal of Trichology 2013 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23960389/)
• Acibadem International - Does microneedling help hair? A careful reading of the trials (https://acibademinternational.com/blog/does-microneedling-help-hair-growth-a-careful-reading-of-the-trials/)
• HairLossTalk - Microneedling photo results summary, page 11 (https://hairlosstalk.com/interact/threads/microneedling-photo-results-summary.121072/page-11)