Laser combs & helmets

Do laser combs work?

The theory behind laser products is that a low level laser beam is directed onto the scalp and stimulates the hair follicles to grow stronger and become more dense. The manufacturers claim that this works by increasing vascularisation (opening of closed blood vessels and pathways, leading to greater oxygenation) and cellular metabolism in the scalp. Cellular metabolism is meant to provide better nutrition for the follicles and to release waste products in the body, such as DHT. However it cannot suppress No genuinely effective means of removing or reducing the effects of DHT on hair follicles currently exist and there is no scientific evidence to confirm that laser products achieve what they promise. Directing a low level laser beam onto the scalp will have some physical effect, but whether this is about genuine follicular stimulation or just a general scalp massage effect no one is quite sure.

It is also interesting to note that none of the manufacturers show pictures of a customer with a fully restored head of hair in any of their online or print advertising. In a wide cross-section of users taken from countless hair forums, very few spoke of re-growing hair or even retaining their existing hair. Of those who spoke positively about the use of laser products, many were unsure of exactly how bad their hair loss had been to begin with. And of these people, some admitted they didn’t know how much worse their loss would have become, with or without the laser comb or helmet. The main positive remarks were by people who claimed they could not see their balding scalp as clearly as before, although they could still clearly see they were suffering from male pattern

“I think it is an expensive tool for very little difference” says Amy McMichael, an associate professor of dermatology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Listed side effects:

No listed side effects.

Cost

Prices for laser products vary hugely, from £15 for the cheapest combs up to £1,000 for some helmets.

Success rate

Low to poor. It may enhance the growing phases of existing hair, but it can’t make the follicle resistant to DHT, the underlying cause of male pattern baldness. It won’t restore areas of the scalp that are already bald.