DERMAROLLING FOR ALOPECIA?

[FINLEY]

I WANT TO ORDER A ROLLER FOR A RELATIVE WHO HAS ALOPECIA UNIVERSALIS- TOTAL HAIR LOSS.

I HAVE READ THAT CREATING INFLAMMATION IN THE SCALP MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO TURN AROUND THIS DISORDER.  WHAT IS THE SHORTEST LENGTH NEEDLE THAT WOULD CAUSE AN INFLAMMATORY REACTION?  ( I WANT HER TO HAVE THE LEAST AMOUNT OF PAIN NECESSARY.)

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP IN ADVANCE.

[SarahVaughter]

Thank you and welcome to the forum!

First I have to apologize - yesterday I stumbled upon a kind of "censor" feature on this forum that made it impossible to type postings such as yours (made with all-capital letters). I disabled it and I see that you posted several postings. Since you've been a forum member for quite some time, I suspect you've been trying to post before but your postings got rejected by some error message. Sorry if you got frustrated by that .

Please, when your keyboard is producing capital letters, press the "Caps Lock" key that is located in the example below. That should fix it, otherwise press it again. Because all-caps postings are considered "shouting" and they are hard to read.

As to your question: It is not sure that dermarolling her scalp will work at all, because her condition may be irreversible unless the underlying cause is addressed - which may be hormonal issues or auto-immune issues. Alopecia Universalis is usually an autoimmune disorder and that would mean that a dermaroller can not solve this.

   Dermarolling or needling sometimes causes hair growth in the places where there were no hairs, such as in scars. The likely reason is that the scars were avascular (no blood capillaries) and dermarolling triggered revascularization of that scar and that blood supply "feeds" the hair follicles.

   

Not even rolling Minoxidil into her scalp will work, most likely. And be advised that rolling the entire scalp and rubbing Minoxidil into it can cause serious cardiac problems (low bloodpressure) due to overdosing, so only do small parts at the time. Minoxidil prolongs the growing phase of the follicles, but hers are either all dead or dormant, so Minoxidil would be a long shot. Start with 2% instead of 5% Minoxidil solution. Minoxidil works against Alopecia, but not with Alopecia Universalis.

But if she wants to try dermarolling, here is my advice:

It is important not to damage the hair follicles with dermarolling, and because we don't know exactly how thick the skin on her scalp is, she should start with a 0.5 mm roller. If that causes some redness on her scalp, there is inflammation and a 0.5 mm roller is sufficient. It's beneficial to pour warm water over the head or take a hot bath or shower just before dermarolling, to make the skin softer so that the needles penetrate easier.

If her scalp doesn't redden with a 0.5 mm needle dermaroller, she should use a 1.0 mm roller instead.

Nobody knows for sure the cause of Alopecia Universalis, and the interesting thing is that sometimes, after many years, patients will suddenly recover and their hair will regrow. It is unknown why.

For men with Alopecia Universalis, there is an very nice "solution":

https://http://www.artistryconceptshairreplication.com/achmgallery.htm

This highly talented tattoo artist specializes in creating a very realistic "recently shaven head" look.

(The technical term is "hair replication")

If she has no eyelashes and eyebrows any more, she should visit a skilled permanent makeup artist. In the end, it may be that a wig turns out to be the only solution.

Hope this helps!

                     

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THANKS FOR YOUR RESPONSE- I HAVE THE HABIT OF USING ONLY CAPS BECAUSE I HAVE  A FUSED 5TH FINGER JOINT ON MY RIGHT HAND, AND IT ALLOWS ME TO TYPE WITH MORE EASE.  I will discipline myself to use both cases on the forum.

As always, your information is well researched and helpful.  Thanks again.

[Kimber]

All lower case is easy for most people to read if using upper and lower is a problem. It's only all uppers that is hard to read.