Over the past few years, hair transplants have become extremely popular. Male sports stars began the trend, publicly sharing their success stories, and showing remarkable before and after transformations.
There’s no denying hair transplants can be a fantastic treatment for hair loss, but only if they’re carried out by licensed, experienced clinics. Unfortunately, due to the sheer amount of money to be made in the industry, there’s a lot of “cowboy clinics” out there.
The dangers of cowboy hair transplant clinics
Cowboy hair transplant clinics prey on the vulnerabilities of men desperate for a cure for their hair loss. They’re extremely good at marketing their business, even offering attractive pay as you go treatment options.
More worryingly, they often carry out transplants on patients who don’t necessarily need them. There are many causes of hair loss and plenty of treatments available. It could be medication is required to treat an underlying health issue, or other simple treatments such as Minoxidil would work. Not every man who suffers from hair loss needs a hair transplant. However, these rogue clinics don’t care about that – they care only about making money.
What’s more, the transplants carried out are usually done by unlicensed, inexperienced practitioners. So, many patients find they need to undergo a further procedure to rectify the damage caused by cowboy clinics.
Put simply, there’s more risks of the procedure going wrong, and you could end up spending more money to repair the initial work done.
New regulations have been introduced to crack down on rogue operators
As cowboy clinics have become such a big issue, new regulations have been put into place. Clinics now need to be registered as of the 1st April. If they aren’t they could end up facing a fine of £5,000 and/or imprisonment.
Overall, rogue clinics are a potential danger, so it’s important to ensure you’re seeking treatment from a trusted, licensed clinic. Hair transplants are expensive, so you’ll want to ensure you’re getting the best treatment for your money.
