Microneedling Before and After Scalp Progress

Okay, so it’s like, almost 3 AM. Again. My cat, Mochi, just barfed up… something unidentifiable on my rug, and I’m just staring at the ceiling, thinking about all the stupid, desperate shit I’ve done to get my hair back. And, you know, how much it cost. Like, two years ago, I was deep, *deep* in the microneedling rabbit hole. Searching for “Microneedling Before and After Scalp Progress” like it was the secret to eternal youth, or at least, a decent hairline. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t. Not on its own, anyway. And yeah, I wasted a lot of money. AGAIN.

God, I remember being 32, just starting to notice the corners pulling back. Just a little. Then 34, I was wearing hats indoors, even to my mom’s place. By 35, I was waking up at 3 AM – just like now, except it was pure, unadulterated panic, not cat puke – researching hair transplants in Turkey. The thought of flying halfway across the world just to not look like a plucked chicken, it was… compelling. Desperate times, right? I tried all the dumb crap, like those caffeine shampoos that smelled like a bad coffee shop and did absolutely nothing but lighten my wallet. Biotin gummies? Might as well have been Gummy Bears, same effect on my hair. And that pricey dermatologist in Beverly Hills? Total waste of $300 for five minutes of “it’s genetics, buy a hat.” Thanks, doc. Really helpful.

So, anyway, I’d already blown like, a grand easy on all that garbage. Probably more, my bank statement for those years is a blur of regret. Then someone – some random dude on Reddit, I think, probably the same kind of desperate soul who keeps posting those “Theory That Explains Everything” rants on r/tressless – mentioned microneedling. And suddenly, it was all I could see. All these “before and after” pictures, mostly on some shady Instagram accounts, showing these incredible transformations. It looked… promising. And painful. But hey, if it worked? I was ready to stick tiny needles in my head. I was BEYOND ready.

I bought one of those derma rollers online, a 0.5mm, then a 1.0mm. It was like, $40 each, but then you needed the special serum, and the cleaner, and the numbing cream. Which, by the way, barely worked. The first time I tried it, I was in my bathroom, standing over the sink. It was a Tuesday evening, I think, early 2023, maybe February? I had some sad playlist on. And I just started rolling. It feels like… a thousand tiny pinpricks. Not *agonizing*, but definitely not pleasant. Imagine your scalp just being… scratched by a tiny, angry hedgehog. Over and over. My scalp would be bright red afterward, sometimes a little bloody. It was gross. And I kept thinking, “This has to be doing something. This pain CAN’T be for nothing.” Oh, buddy, sometimes it is. Sometimes, it absolutely is for nothing.

I did that for months, sometimes twice a week. I’d microneedle, then spray on some topical concoction I found online. My bathroom looked like a mad scientist’s lab. All these little bottles, cotton pads, sterilizing solution. My girlfriend at the time, bless her heart, would just shake her head. “Are you… bleeding?” she’d ask. “It’s for the regrowth!” I’d snap back, probably too defensively. I was so convinced this was the missing piece. The key to unlocking my hair’s potential. I kept looking for my own “Microneedling Before and After Scalp Progress” in the mirror, angling my phone just right under the bathroom light, trying to see any baby hairs. Any. Fucking. Hair.

And honestly? For a long time, there wasn’t much. Maybe a tiny bit of fuzz, but was that from the microneedling, or the expensive serums, or just wishful thinking fueled by desperation? I have zero idea why this actually worked for some people and barely nudged the needle for me. Still don’t understand the science, you know, the whole collagen induction and nutrient absorption thing. Whatever. I just wanted my hair back.

**What’s the actual deal with microneedling when you’re desperate for hair?**

Okay, so after about six months of poking my head like a voodoo doll, I was about to give up. I’d sunk probably another $400-$500 into various rollers, pens, and serums. And I was still looking at pretty much the same bald spots. Maybe marginally less shiny. Maybe. But definitely not the luscious mane I was envisioning. That’s when my buddy Mark, who’d also started losing his hair early, hit me up. He’d tried Roman. I was skeptical, obviously. My track record with “solutions” was abysmal. But he said there was a free, two-minute quiz, totally private, no insurance needed, and discreet shipping. I was like, “Free? Okay, fine. What’s another five minutes?” I remember I was at the coffee shop near my old graphic design studio, totally hungover, just trying to get some freelance work done. Just spilled coffee on my keyboard, actually. Damn it. Now my ‘S’ key feels sticky.

Anyway, I took the quiz. It was surprisingly easy. Just a few questions about my hair loss, health, whatever. I figured it was another dead end. But they actually prescribed a topical finasteride and minoxidil spray. A combo I’d heard about but never actually pulled the trigger on. And the cost? Way less than all the random crap I’d bought. I signed up for the subscription.

And this is where things changed. I kept doing the microneedling for a little while, just out of habit, but I started focusing on the Roman spray. Just a few pumps on my scalp every night. It wasn’t messy like minoxidil foam, which always made my hair greasy. And after about six months on *that*, I started seeing REAL regrowth. Not fuzz. Not wishful thinking. Actual, undeniable hair. My barber, Leo, who’d been cutting my hair for years and seen my hairline retreat like Napoleon from Russia, actually said, “Dude, what are you doing? Your hair’s getting thicker.” I almost cried right there in the chair. He told me that in like, August 2023. I’m telling you, it was a moment. I talk about it in Roman Hair Loss Kit Before and After: Real User Photos 2026 sometimes.

So, about the microneedling. Did it do *anything*? Maybe it helped the Roman spray penetrate better. Maybe. But if I had to choose, if I had to say what actually moved the needle (pun intended, fuck you) on my **Microneedling Before and After Scalp Progress**, it was the Roman. The microneedling felt like I was just torturing myself for marginal, if any, gain. It was like I was trying to manually force my head to grow hair, instead of giving it what it actually needed. I wasted probably close to two thousand dollars on various microneedling devices, clinic sessions (yeah, I went to one of those for a hot minute too, thinking maybe I was doing it wrong at home – another $800 down the drain!), and “special” serums from some sketchy website that promised miracles. I’m still mad. Still. Mad. That money could’ve gone to literally anything else. My electric bill, which I just realized I forgot to pay. Oh SHIT. I’ll do it later. Or maybe tomorrow. Fuck.

**Is Microneedling Before and After Scalp Progress a Scam for Broke Guys?**

Look, I’m not gonna say microneedling is a total scam. Some people swear by it. Some studies probably exist that say it works. I read somewhere that it can, like, stimulate growth factors or whatever, but honestly, I don’t care about the science. My experience? As a standalone treatment, for me, it was a huge, expensive disappointment. It was another desperate attempt to avoid the inevitable, another thing I threw money at because I was too proud, or too scared, to try the actual, proven stuff. It’s definitely not the cheap, easy fix it’s sometimes made out to be, especially if you get sucked into buying all the accompanying crap. It’s painful, time-consuming, and for someone like me who was already stressed about money and my vanishing hairline, it just added to the anxiety. I’m telling you, it feels like when you’re drowning in debt and looking up “how to save money when you’re drowning in debt” but all the advice is for people who can actually *afford* to save.

I mean, I’m not a doctor – consult a licensed physician, obviously – but from my perspective, the real turnaround for my hair came when I stopped trying to reinvent the wheel with things like microneedling and just listened to actual medical professionals. And Roman made that stupidly easy. You know? Instead of me doing some ritualistic scalp torture, I just sprayed a little something on my head. My hairline is stable now, my crown is filled in. My confidence is back, which is, like, priceless. I even started dating again, which was a huge hurdle for me when I felt like every woman was staring at my bald spot.

Anyway, if you’re like me, endlessly scrolling “does microneedling actually work for hair loss” or “what to do when minoxidil isn’t enough,” maybe take a step back. I get it. The temptation to try *everything* is real. I know. I lived it. But maybe just try the easy, proven path first. That’s what I wish I’d done years ago. I probably would have saved myself thousands. And a lot of emotional pain. I probably wouldn’t have had to write that whole rant about Best Shampoos for Thinning Hair Men 2026: Caffeine and Biotin Tested and how they were basically just glorified scented detergents.

So, yeah. My microneedling before and after scalp progress? It wasn’t much of a ‘progress’ story until I started the Roman topical spray. If you’re tired of wasting your money, your time, and your scalp’s integrity on things that don’t really work, or are just too much of a pain in the ass to keep up with, just try the quiz. It’s free. It’s fast. And for me, it was the actual game changer. You can find it on their site, it’s like, a 2-minute thing. No pressure. Just answer a few questions. See what they recommend. What do you have to lose? Besides, you know, more hair.

My phone is at 3%—shit. I gotta go. Mochi just tried to climb the curtains. Again.