Well in my opinion - yes and no. Bosley uses a transplant procedure commonly known as Follicular Unit Transplantation. How well this procedure works is really just a roll of the dice because it all depends on the doctor. The procedure Bosley's doctors use works like this:
- The Bosley surgeon exctracts a small to medium strip of hair (size depends on the number of grafts and available donor area) off the back of the transplant patients noggin.
- The surgeon then stitches up the area where the hair was extracted to try and minimize the size of the scar. If you go by Bosley's marketing material, they will try to convince you that the scars are always minimal and nothing to worry about. These kind of bold statements that can't always be supported has gotten them in trouble in the past. In reality, the scarring will depend on the skill of your surgeon and is subject to a case-by-case basis.
- Once the chunk of scalp/donor area is cut, small groups of follicles and hair are removed and split up for the implanting process.
- At long last, each small piece is planted into your scalp. How natural the it looks is entirely contingent upon the skill and artistry of the surgeon.
That's all well and good, but does Bosley really work?
The issue of whether or not Bosley will work for you is really a two sided coin. While Bosley does use the industry standard transplantation technique of follicular unit grafting, they have gotten into a LOT of hot water in the past; both for their marketing practices and probably the scariest bit - medical violations. To date, Bosley's founder Larry Bosley has had his license to practice medicine taken or put on probation in close to 20 states. Unfortunately, the amount of scary information doesn't stop there. California filed a lawsuit against the companies in the 90's for misleading advertising, and NBC's Dateline featured an undercover investigation into Bosley's services and practices.
I can't make the broad statement that Bosley's doctors all sub-par or that they are still perpetuating their past discrepancies - I haven't been to a Bosley doctor in quite a while and who knows, they may have improved. Its my opinion though that between the shoddy work they did on my own head, coupled with their reputation that you will receive a much better transplant from a private doctor or smaller facility where you can call or speak to the doctor directly pre and post-op, and get the individualized service I think is important for accountability
