Although I have written a few articles about microneedling in the past – I’ve always been slightly on the skeptical side of it for a variety of reasons. Today we’re going to be looking into some of the arguments against microneedling for hair regrowth to answer the question: is microneedling harmful long term?
I think this is an extremely important topic because a lot of people scoop up advice online and start implementing it – what if they are hurting themselves over the long term? What if there is something that can be learned from looking at both sides and forming an informed opinion based on your personal goals and risk tolerance?
Everything should be critically analyzed and contested whenever possible to further the conversation no matter who says it.
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Introduction
I can state this for certain: in everything we do to optimize ourselves there is always a tradeoff.
For example, finasteride helps regrow hair but it’s blocking a hormone by around 70% (as well as an enzyme), tretinoin helps skin greatly but may be drying if used incorrectly, steroids may increase how you look aesthetically but can take a toll on vital organs, HGH may make you look younger but in reality, it has the opposite effect in terms of longevity.
The worst place I could be in with this stuff is if I get to a point where I’m too locked into something to be able to change my mind – whether this is due to monetary reasons, being sponsored, sunk cost fallacy, etc. I spent a lot of money on a microneedling machine so it was disappointing to become aware of some of these points/arguments.
I will be transparent and state that I did use the Derminator 2 machine for microneedling a few times at a depth of .75 mm – 1 mm although I cannot state for certain if the regrowth I experienced was due to microneedling itself or finasteride, other interventions, etc.
Of course – I’m constantly reading and consuming information related to areas of my life that I’m trying to optimize and enhance, I did come across some potential negatives relating to microneedling when trying to figure out what the optimal protocol for microneedling actually would be.
These negatives are potentially similar for both the skin and hair – and we’ll look into some of them today. My goal isn’t to scare you in any way or promote misinformation, I just feel a responsibility to share this information as I’m probably not going to be microneedling anymore at this point – I don’t want to be promoting microneedling as some miracle cure when in actuality it could be damaging.
Opinions & Studies
This section will feature some opinions from various creators – they already link to their studies and explain a bit so I won’t go over the same studies for repetition purposes.
LabMuffin
LabMuffin is a chemistry PhD who makes videos about skin care, different products, techniques, etc. She is a great resource for those interested in viewing a scientific approach to skincare.
Don’t Make These Skincare Mistakes | Lab Muffin Beauty Science
In this video, she talks about some of the general things to be aware of for skincare in general but more specifically touches on derma rolling towards the end of the video. This isn’t as much of a video on long-term impacts but just some general things to be aware of in terms of safety.
- Products aren’t designed to go that deep – they are designed to sit on the surface
- Bacteria – these products again aren’t designed to hit internally so they may not have preservatives meant for eliminating certain bacteria
HairCafe
HairCafe is an independent creator focusing specifically on hair loss information. While I don’t agree with everything he says regarding other areas of hair loss, these videos provide an interesting counterargument to microneedling the scalp for hair growth.
New study shows that microneedling is an ineffective hair-loss treatment
The Dark Side of Microneedling
He showcases various studies and goes over the science in general for microneedling in the first place – his viewpoint is that there isn’t great data for microneedling being effective in the first place. He does have a point in that a lot of those studies were flawed in some aspects.
Some key points I noticed that shouldn’t be ignored:
- One study showed potential scarring from just 4 sessions of microneedling – bad for hair
- Potential links to skin cancer
- Notes of course the bacterial concerns
- Data lacking on microneedling for hair in general
My Thoughts
Honestly, I just wanted to make this post because I didn’t want someone to spread information about microneedling that makes it seem like a miracle cure with no risks when in reality it may have some potential downsides.
There isn’t much data on the long-term impacts on hair, skin, etc after microneedling. Users online have mentioned that chronically inflaming the skin may damage the skin or that collagen being stimulated in this manner will exhaust collagen more quickly than what would have happened naturally.
Is Microneedling Harmful?
Overall I think that the arguments from HairCafe have shifted my mindset towards being more neutral or negative towards microneedling currently. I have long seen claims online that microneedling may be harmful over the long term but I never saw an actual analysis until now.
I think there is still a look to work into here in terms of both skin and hair, potential links to cancer, scarring, inflammation, and collagen production lowering. I think for microneedling to be actively avoided these things would need to be shown to occur at high rates.
On the other side of the coin, we do still need better long-term and overall data on the safety and efficacy of microneedling for hair loss and skin health.
Something I will be looking into further – I just wanted to create this post as a general outline of some concerns related to microneedling. This is by no means an in-depth analysis but as someone who has written about the potential benefits of microneedling for hair growth, I felt the need to adjust my position and provide an alternative view.