Online hair loss treatment has grown faster than almost any other area of telehealth over the last five years. There is now more choice than ever. However, more choice means more people who don’t find the right service first time. Although you can usually switch online hair loss clinics whenever you like, your record doesn’t automatically transfer with you. Every new service has to assess you from scratch to ensure treatments are safe and effective. To add to the challenge, hair loss treatments need continuous use to work so any gaps or abrupt changes can set you back. In this article, we’ll explain when switching clinics is worth doing and how to decide. We’ll also go through top tips to make your transition to a new clinic successful and seamless.
Can You Easily Switch from One Online Hair Loss Clinic to Another?
Yes, most online hair loss clinics like Hims, Manual, Numan, Sons and City Skin Clinic allow you to cancel at any point. There’s usually no minimum term to serve first, but subscription-based services keep billing until you cancel them. As such, you should check the terms of service for your provider before cancelling.
Although cancelling and switching to a new provider is generally easy, you can’t automatically carry your prescription across. This is because in the UK a prescriber is responsible for every prescription they sign. So, a new clinic is not under any obligation to reissue another clinic’s prescription. It has to make its own decision based on a thorough clinical assessment of your hair now, diagnosis, treatment history and overall health.
It is generally easy for new clinics to assess your hair at the current baseline as well as your health. You can do this through a consultation form or speaking to a doctor on a video call, depending on the service. If you can also provide a detailed treatment history, your new doctor can carry on from where the last one stopped. They can fine-tune your treatment plan based on your past experience rather than starting from scratch.
One more thing to note is that not all online hair loss clinics offer the same types of treatments. For example, some only offer topical hair loss treatments and others only treat men. Some clinics may use fixed treatment protocols whilst others offer a more bespoke experience. Research any new clinic first and find out what services they offer before switching.
When is Switching Likely to Get You a Better Outcome?
When the problem is the model and delivery of the service or the treatment options it can offer. The reasons people give for leaving an online hair loss service are fairly consistent. Many of these services aim to deliver a standard product at scale, not to look after one person’s hair over time. The actives are usually fine. The finasteride and minoxidil in one service’s plan are the same molecules as in another’s. What differs is which routes, strengths and combinations the service can offer and who decides.
Online hair loss clinics in the UK broadly fall into three groups. Pharmacy online services mostly prescribe oral finasteride on its own. The popular men’s hair loss subscription platforms usually offer a short fixed menu of oral finasteride and topical minoxidil. Some offer the two in a combined spray. A smaller group of clinics compound fully personalised topical formulas and only a small number of services treat women at all. It also matters how often anyone reviews your progress and whether you can reach a clinician when side effects or shedding appear. If any of the concerns below sound familiar, a change of service may help:
- You’re on a single medication: Many pharmacy services prescribe finasteride tablets with nothing else. However, this only stops DHT mediated damage to the follicles. Combining with hair growth agents like minoxidil often yields better outcomes than single therapy.
- You want to come off tablets but stay on a DHT blocker: Side effects, or worry about them, are a common reason men try to stop oral finasteride. However, stopping it altogether means losing the gains. Topical finasteride and dutasteride are available from a small number of services for suitable patients.
- You want to change the type or strength of your DHT blocker: Although oral finasteride is licensed for male pattern hair loss, some clinicians might switch it to dutasteride or spironolactone if patient is not responding or experiencing problems. For topical DHT blockers, some services can also use microdosing protocols for those very concerned about side effects.
- You’ve plateaued on a fixed combination: Most platforms offer a fixed treatments. If you’ve stalled, look for a provider that might offer more flexibility in terms of strengths, actives and protocols that adapt with time.
- You’re a woman: Most of the men’s health brands and pharmacy services don’t treat female pattern hair loss and the ones that do offer limited options not necessarily tailored to women. Look for a provider that specifically treats women and offers a range of treatments that can target pre and post menopause hair loss as there are differences in management.
- Nobody has reviewed your treatment since you started: Pattern hair loss is progressive. A plan that suited you at month three may not suit you at month eighteen. If there was no adjustment in a long time without explanation, ask the new service how often your treatment is reviewed, what the review involves and who does it.
- You couldn’t reach anyone when you needed help: Increased shedding, scalp irritation or side effects all need a quick answer from someone who knows your plan. Find out how you contact your provider between orders, how long they take to reply and if there is additional charge for this.
- You felt tied to a subscription: Automatic renewals are great for people who want to set and forget, and for hair loss there is a case for them, since continuity matters. However, some people want more control. If this matters to you, find a provider that offers a pay as you go approach.
None of this means a subscription or a fixed-menu service is a poor choice. They are often the right choice for most people withs straightforward problems. The point is to match the service to how complex your hair loss is and your needs.
What Information Should You Try to Get Hold of Before You Leave?
It is useful to get hold of as much of your treatment record as you can. Start with what was in your prescription. This helps your new provider understand what your hair responded to in the past when planning your first treatment. You don’t need to make a formal request. Most services will confirm what you were on if you ask. Some of it is already in your account, your emails or on the packaging. Here is what matters most:
- Your treatments: Each medicine, its route (oral or topical), its dose or strength and how often you used it.
- The timeline: When each treatment started and stopped, plus how long you spent on each one.
- Any changes and why: Note any adjustment the service made and the reason it gave for changes in strength or treatment.
- Your photos: Baseline and monitoring photos help your new provider assess your past response objectively.
- Side effects and how you reacted: Any shedding, scalp irritation, sexual side effects or mood changes you noticed. Note when each started and whether it settled.
- Any diagnosis or blood tests: If the service gave you a diagnosis or asked for blood tests, note the result. For women in particular, iron, thyroid and hormone results change the plan.
- Treatment goals: What were your goals when you started and whether they have changed.
Does Your Treatment Carry Over When You Switch?
Not automatically. If you were happy with the treatment but not the clinic, you might hope for the exact same plan. That isn’t always what happens. The route, dose and combination of a prescription treatment are a clinical decision. Your new prescriber has to decide what is safe and most effective for you. Your history and the current state of your scalp are the main things they use to do that. For example, say you’ve been on finasteride and minoxidil for a year with good results and no side effects. A new provider is likely to continue that if you wish. However, they do not have to copy a plan they think isn’t right for you. The new clinic might also not provide certain treatments. For example, some online hair loss services prescribe oral medicines only, whilst others, including ours, offer topical treatments only.
How Do You Avoid a Gap in Treatment When Switching Services?
By planning the switch as a handover with a date. Androgenetic alopecia management requires treatment to be continued indefinitely. This is because stopping leads to hair loss and a return to where you started. Start the new consultation a few weeks before your current supply runs out. A form consultation usually takes a day or two to turn around at most online clinics. However, video consultations can mean booking weeks in advance, and dispensing and delivery add a few more days. Keep every current treatment going until the new one arrives. Then change according to how your new provider advises. If a gap is unavoidable, try to make it as short as possible and use over the counter minoxidil if possible. Be prepared for an increase in shedding and regression if there is a delay of more than a couple of weeks before starting a new treatment.
Is Switching Always the Answer?
No. If you’re leaving because you think the treatment stopped working, it is worth pausing to check whether that is the case. A good proportion of cases where hair loss treatment seems to have stopped working have nothing to do with the provider. The usual reasons are too little time, inconsistent use or a shed in the first weeks that was mistaken for failure. Most hair loss treatments need at least 3-4 months of consistent use to start showing results.
Unrealistic expectations are another reason because these treatments can not regrow a bald scalp. Health conditions, medications and deficiencies that affect hair are also common causes of treatment failure. So is a telogen effluvium misread as pattern loss. These all travel with you to another clinic.
However, moving clinic can be the answer to things like incorrect diagnosis, poor aftercare and being limited to one route. It can also fix a failure to adjust treatment as your hair changes. A new provider who does a thorough consultation, explains their treatment plan and gains your confidence can make a real difference. In this case, switching is the right call.
What Happens When You Switch to City Skin Clinic?
At City Skin Clinic, we created our hair loss service because, unlike online skin clinics, there were very few options for hair. In particular, there was a shortage of services that also treat women. We sought to remedy this with an inclusive and personalised approach that prioritises patient choice. You start with a video consultation or a detailed online form to share your history, concerns and goals. Our GMC-registered doctors review a form within 24 hours every day of the year. We also offer plenty of video consultation slots for those wishing to speak face to face. Regardless of consultation type, your doctor designs a plan that takes into account your concerns, past treatments and wishes. The same doctor stays with you afterwards, and you can email them directly at any time for advice and support.
We treat hair loss in men, hair loss in women and patchy beards using topical formulas only. We don’t provide oral treatments. What we do is design a single compounded serum around your hair loss. Where appropriate, that can combine minoxidil, finasteride, dutasteride or spironolactone depending on the patient’s needs. Supporting actives such as melatonin, caffeine or tretinoin can be added. At the end of each treatment, your doctor reviews your progress and adjusts the next formula as needed. There’s no subscription, so you reorder only when you’re ready and there’s nothing to cancel. We mainly treat androgenetic hair loss and some cases of traction alopecia or CCCA. We do not manage conditions like scarring alopecia or alopecia areata.
Switching hair loss clinics doesn’t mean starting again, as long as you keep hold of your history and plan the handover. Not every problem you have will be solved by changing clinics. However, if your issue is the service delivery, the route you’re limited to or that the service won’t treat you, a new provider may be a better match. Either way, plan your move carefully and avoid large gaps between treatments.
We believe that hair loss treatment should always be personalised. This is why we offer custom hair loss treatments for men, women and beard growth serums through our online clinic. Our doctors design bespoke topical formulas using actives like minoxidil, finasteride, dutasteride, spironolactone, tretinoin, melatonin and caffeine where appropriate. We provide topical treatments only and mainly treat androgenetic hair loss. Choose your virtual consultation or online consultation form to get started. The journey towards great hair starts here.
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult a qualified medical provider for any medical concerns or questions you might have.
