Reporter Goes Undercover At Four Hair Clinics And Encounters Expensive And Often Unreliable Treatments

In the consultation room of a hair clinic, a specialist feels our reporter's hair. He immediately reassures us: "Luckily you caught it early. Many men only come here when it's too late." And yet his diagnosis is quite confronting. "Your hair is quite thin. You're going to go bald on the crown first." But fortunately there is hope, the specialist assures us. If we follow the right treatment, that is. He projects a few videos from his Instagram channel onto a screen on the wall. "Do you see this client? He barely had any hair left. And look now."

This is how we started

We visited four different hair clinics undercover to make sure we would not get any special treatment. We presented all the discoveries to a panel of three independent experts: prof. dr. Jan Gutermuth, head of the dermatology department at the UZ Brussels, prof. dr. Dirk Devroey from the VUB and board member of the study group SKEPP and dr. Bijan Feriduni, hair surgeon from Hasselt and a European authority in hair transplants. We deliberately do not mention which clinics are involved, because the problem goes beyond these four. In part 2, the panel assesses, remedy by remedy, which treatments work and which do not.

The specialist's words are encouraging for anyone who is worried about losing their hair. Also for our reporter, who despite his young age already has some starting runways. But how can you stop hair loss? To answer that question, we decide to go undercover and visit four hair clinics. Not the popular clinics for hair transplants in Turkey, but right here in Flanders. We choose the clinics carefully: we visit a doctor, a nurse and two self-proclaimed professionals. Is there a noticeable difference?

Sleek marketing
Back to that first hair clinic. The specialist is not a doctor or nurse himself, but he does work with doctors in his practice, as his website states. They do the treatment. “You can still save your hair with PRP,” he immediately suggests. “That is plasma, which we take from the blood in your arm and inject into the scalp. After three treatments you will see the result.” He also suggests using medicines such as Minoxidil and Finasteride. You apply one to your scalp, the other you take as a pill. “Use it for ten months. Apply twice a day and take one pill every day. Your hair will become much thicker.”

As we listen attentively, he suggests yet another series of treatments. Shampoos, oils and vitamins, even prescription medications. “We make our own mixtures based on rosemary oil, castor oil (made from so-called ‘miracle beans’, ed.) and other things.” The specialist shows us a sample package. “That shampoo also contains a little bit of Minoxidil.” A so-called ‘Japanese head spa’ – a massage with thin jets of water – can also make our hair thicker.

The posh villa and the brand's sleek marketing give the impression that such treatments are quite lucrative. And that’s reflected in the price tag: 1,200 euros for the PRP, 400 euros for a package with oils and shampoos and another 150 euros for the head spa. A whopping 1,750 euros in total.

Treatment Hair Clinic 1

• PRP = 1.200€
• Package with oils and shampoos = 400€
• Head spa = 150€

TOTAL = 1.750€

Prof. Dr. Dirk Devroey has his doubts about the treatments. “The effectiveness of Minoxidil and Finasteride has been scientifically proven, but the clinic says nothing about side effects. Finasteride affects your testosterone, which can cause a reduced libido and erectile problems. Minoxidil can cause irritation or itching. This should be followed up by a doctor.” Prof. Dr. Jan Gutermuth is also very suspicious: “If you put Minoxidil in a shampoo, it will have much less effect than a lotion.”

Furthermore, Professor Devroey sees another clear red flag. “If you don’t have a blood test, you don’t know whether vitamins or supplements will do anything. If you don’t have any deficiencies in your blood, then there’s no point in wasting money on such remedies,” Devroey concludes. “Your hair won’t grow from that ‘Japanese head spa’ either. That’s pure money-making.”

Secret recipe
On to the next hair clinic. Not a villa this time, but a kind of beauty salon. A nurse, who also works as a hair specialist, receives us. We tell the same story, but receive very different advice. This specialist strongly advises against using Minoxidil or Finasteride. “That’s something from the past,” she says. “If you stop using them, your head will be very greasy and your hair will simply fall out. Sometimes they find that products that used to work well, are not that good after all.”

“Nonsense,” our experts say. “These two drugs are the only treatments we know work.”

What can make our hair grow? The woman suggests a new treatment: hair fillers. A real hype in recent months. “These are peptides (a molecule made up of amino acids, ed.) and vitamins, which we inject into your hair roots. I can’t say exactly what they contain, because the doctor who gave me the fillers keeps the recipe a secret. But they are all natural ingredients. In your case, I would have two hair fillers put in and do the same thing again next year. Also definitely take keratin pills (based on the fiber protein keratin, ed.). Washing your hair with apple cider vinegar can also help.” The woman asks 300€ for 2 hair fillers, a treatment that we have to repeat every year. For the treatment with vitamins we pay 100€ and for the one with keratin 190€, we read on the website. The price therefore goes up to 590€.

“Hair fillers can temporarily improve the health of your scalp and hair, but they do nothing to change your genetic or hormonal hair loss.”
Bijan Feriduni

Treatment Hair Clinic 2

• 2 hair fillers = 300€
• Treatment with vitamins = 100€
• Keratin treatment = 190€

TOTAL = 590€

But do these so-called hair fillers really work? “Hair fillers can temporarily improve the health of your scalp and hair, but they do nothing to stop your genetic or hormonal hair loss,” says doctor Bijan Feriduni. “There are some studies that suggest that ingredients in these fillers can have positive effects on hair growth, but the number of large-scale clinical studies on their effectiveness is too limited to recommend them as a treatment,” adds Devroey. Professor Gutermuth has particular questions about the way they work. “If a specialist cannot say exactly what is in these fillers, that is downright suspicious.”

Injecting stem cells
When we visit a third clinic, that specialist also swears by another treatment. “Hair fillers? That is really not recommended for you at the moment.” Unlike the previous specialists, this woman is a doctor. She immediately asks for a blood test. For the first time, we get the impression that we will really be followed up medically. “If you don’t have any deficiencies, there is no point in wasting your money on shampoos, oils or vitamins,” she says. “A stem cell therapy with PRP could help you to activate your hair roots. You are clearly suffering from androgenic hair loss (which is caused by the male hormone in your body, ed.). Your hair is still good now, but in five years it will look different.”

And so the doctor suggests that we have PRP and stem cells injected into our scalp three times. “I’ve been doing this for 12 years. You won’t have any side effects, because we extract plasma from your own blood. You can centrifuge up to a million stem cells from 60 to 90 milliliters of blood. You have to repeat the treatment once or twice a year. Otherwise your hair will fall out again. You have to combine these treatments with Minoxidil.” Another difference with the previous specialists: we immediately pay 110€ for an initial consultation, and then 250€ per treatment, but if you book three times, it’s 675€. Plus 85€ for Minoxidil.

Treatment Hair Clinic 3

• Pay 110€ immediately for the first consultation.
• PRP treatment = 250€ (but if you book three times it is 675€)
• With every PRP treatment also a dose of Minoxidil = 85€
• Advice to repeat this treatment once or twice a year

"A DNA test with saliva for your hair is money thrown away. I also find a 'personal cocktail' and a laser very worrying."
Dirk Devroey

Professor Devroey has his doubts about a treatment with PRP, which was also proposed in the first clinic. "Theoretically it is promising, but large clinical studies are still lacking." Professor Gutermuth is cautiously optimistic that PRP will have the desired effect. "I used to have doubts, but we are seeing more and more literature about the positive effects of PRP. Of course there are clinics that already offer these types of treatments as 'early adopters', without much scientific evidence." Doctor Feriduni is critical about the stem cells. "That would never work with 90 milliliters of blood. It is true that you would have to keep repeating a treatment with PRP, otherwise there is a great risk that your hair will fall out again." The doctor in the third clinic did provide that context, but in the first clinic it was not mentioned.

Own cocktail
If you still have any doubts, we are also offered a different treatment in the fourth clinic. This time we are in a consultation room next to a hairdresser's. The hair specialist suggests his own 'hair cocktail'. "It consists of DHT inhibitors (a hormone that is produced from testosterone, ed.), vitamins and other substances. I inject that cocktail with a pen with fine needles and transport it even deeper into the scalp with a laser." We ask the woman whether this corresponds to hair fillers. "No, that's a completely different treatment. We opted for this."

She also wants to listen to ‘the story’ of our hair. “Dermatologists will often prescribe Minoxidil, but for them hair growth is just a small package in their training. Minoxidil does not always help. If you want to be sure, we can do a DNA test via your saliva. I see people who have been using Minoxidil incorrectly for 20 years.” For the ‘hair cocktail’ we pay four treatments of 240 euros, supplemented with other products if necessary. From then on we have to undergo a new treatment every three months.

Treatment Hair Clinic 4

• 4 treatments with 'hair cocktail' (240€) = 960€
• Advice to repeat the treatment every three months.

Here too, the experts hear several alarm bells ringing. “A DNA test with saliva for your hair is money thrown away,” says Devroey immediately. “I also find a ‘personal cocktail’ and a laser very worrying. That seems more like science fiction.” “Minoxidil and Finasteride have been extensively scientifically researched,” adds Professor Gutermuth. “Homemade cocktails have not and can contain things that the specialists do not want to talk about. We therefore always advise against them.”

Hair clinics: “Should have explained side effects”
We contacted all clinics for a response. The first specialist admits that he should have explained the side effects, but says that he is not doing anything wrong. The second clinic did not respond. The specialist from the third clinic states that she always works scientifically responsible with PRP treatments and always gets very positive results from them. The fourth specialist states that she only works with proven treatments that promote hair health. She does emphasize that a consultation with a doctor or specialist is advisable in case of medical hair loss or underlying conditions.