Derminator on the scalp for hair growth

The news has spread that needling the scalp really makes a difference in hair growth, presumably because of the massive stimulation of the skin around the inactive hair follicles. The exact mechanisms are unknown, but many biochemical processes are triggered in the skin when it's needled, with collagen and elastin synthesis as a known result. Needling the scalp causes orders of magnitude in blood perfusion, and blood carries countless biochemical compounds, some of which may promote hair growth.

This article answers the big question often asked by those using the Derminator on the scalp:

  • "Why do the needles sometimes have trouble penetrating and how can I avoid that?"

derminator-scalpHair is made of Keratin, the same material your nails as well as the dead upper layer of skin are made of. No needling device, not even the Derminator®, is able to hammer through a substantial Keratin layer, regardless whether it is a continuous layer such as callus or a nail, or whether it's Keratin fibers - hair.  The upper layer of skin, yes. Your nails or a significant hair cover, no. Needling hair still works, but with some caveats:

  • Cut your hair as short as possible. There are no problems when needling a crew-cut.
  • With longer hair, move the machine always in the direction of the strands of hair as they are laying on your scalp. So you move from the roots to their ends.
  • The more hair on your head, the more trouble the machine will have getting through. Use the highest setting, 2.25 mm because it may not be able to reach that depth, at least not all the time.
  • Don't move too fast because there is a risk the hair entangles into the needle cartridge's stamping mechanism and it can get stuck into the skin, making it "stutter". It's not a big deal when this happens though, because there is no way you'll be able to tear up your skin, with nine needles sticking into it and your hair entangled in the cartridge as well.

For the rest, our normal disinfection guidelines apply. If you want to reuse a cartridge, simply washing it is not good enough, You need to follow the disinfection instruction and use alcohol. If water remains in the cartridge, the spring may rust a little. That's ugly but harmless - the spring will still work, unless you let it rust for a month.


1.  naji    Friday, October 4, 2019

Hi, which needle size i have to use for my scalp ( hair growth) with derminator 2, and how many time i can do the treatments ( can i do it weekly or every month one time ) because i used to do my scalp with derma roller weekly.


2.  Sarah Vaughter    Friday, October 4, 2019

We can't give personalized medical information but we will update our user manual regarding needling the scalp, since in fact when needling the scalp, one in fact needles quite a lot of hair, and hair is not skin but made of Keratin, a substance as hard as fingernails. This can cause needling depth inaccuracy issues or even a mild temporary stalling of the machine. Only the Dermis is made of a thin layer of Keratin.

We do have, if I recall, advice for needling the skin for Alopecia treatment and product penetration. Please search also our forum.



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