Jul 31, 2012 03:06 AM
16347 Views
(Updated Jul 31, 2012 04:47 AM)
I'm a 30 year old male now and I had been experiencing mild hair loss on my head for quite a few years. Suddenly, I experienced bald patches in my beard last year and the rate of hair-loss increased rapidly as a result of which I panicked and decided to go to Richfeel. It was an obvious choice considering how much visibility the brand has and how much they spend on advertising.
It started with a visit to a plush clinic in Bandra West, Mumbai. The place was really well furnished and comfortable. The staff at the reception was polite, helpful and quite prompt. It was all great. But one does not go to clinic for air-conditioning or tea/coffee. If I wanted that, I would've gone to a hotel or a restaurant. There was only one thing I wanted and that was for my hair to stop falling.
I met a so called'Doctor' inside one of the cabins and I was asked a series of questions regarding my lifestyle and dietary habits and working hours etc. I was asked to fill in a questionnaire after which they took some hair samples and asked me to return after a week to take the test reports.
When I went back, I was told that my hair-loss was part of the ageing process and such hair-fall is normal but nothing to be worried about. They said that the bald patches on my beard were a result of an'auto-immune' deficiency and and that they would give me certain capsules to control it. Now I dont think it is normal by any standards for a 29 year old to be losing hair or starting to have grey hair. They prescribed some capsules that I could buy ONLY from them and nowhere else - called L-Tyrosine and Serenoa Complex.
This made me suspicious so I decided to do my own research. As per the law, no medicines can be sold without listing the ingredients on the package. You can pick up any medicine from anywhere and get the complete list of ingredients on it. I just used common sense and googled the primary components of these capsules. The first one'L-Tyrosine costing Rs.378 for 42 capsules is nothing but an anti-depressant. I guess the idea is to relieve stress which would have an effect on the hair loss.
The second one called'Serenoa Complex' costing an exorbitant Rs. 885 for 42 capsules has Saw Palmetto'extract' and Horsetail'extract' as the main ingredients. I googled these too and saw that they have some vague properties with possible benefits for hair loss. I spent a considerable amount of time reading about these ingredients and there is no conclusive article or medical journal that says that these are guaranteed to stop/prevent/control hair-loss.
The prescribed course is 3 capsules of L-Tyrosine and 2 of Serenoa per day for an unspecified amount of time. Officially, they say it can take 3 to 6 months for the treatment. Going by their schedule, I would need to spend INR: 2, 100 per month on a course of these 2 capsules alone. For 6 months, it comes to INR 12, 600. This does not include the cost of other oils and shampoos that they will try to convince you that you need.
It clearly says on the bottles that these are'dietary supplements' meaning: you DON'T NEED TO BE A REAL DOCTOR to prescribe these. Essentially, the whole set-up has the look & feel of a doctor's clinic but its not that at all. I really doubt any of these people have a legitimate medical background. The unwary customer believes that they are going to a real doctor that can solve their problems in the same way one would trust a normal doctor to cure any other medical condition. The only difference is that at such clinics they are not really doctors at all! From my own experience it is easy to see to see that most of the employees seem to be some kind of trainees with no medical background.
Logically, a real doctor will prescribe medicines that you can buy from any medical store or chemist and not something they manufacture at their own factory!
Along with the pills, they gave me a diet plan to follow which I tried to do it as much I could. If you have any common sense you, will easily be able to tell that the primary component of all the foods they recommend is one - PROTEIN. What they are essentially trying to do is get you to consume as much protein as possible and anyone that studied science in school knows this - protein is good for hair and skin!
They are very good with follow-ups and they will call you to give you reminders that you have to see the doctor again(so that they can sell you more of their overpriced products). Personally, I feel Richfeel has had little or no effect on my condition. My hair continues to fall and after 6 months and several thousands of my hard earned rupees spent, there have been no significant results - certainly none of the dramatic ones advertised by them. I feel bad for the many ill-informed citizens that are desperate and battling their self esteem issues who fall prey to such clinics. They go in with high hopes and after spending so much money and are left with nothing. If the treatment does not work, they will just ask you to continue it so that they can keep making money. By the time the patient realises its not having any effect and they have lost so much money, its already too late.
I am no doctor, but In my personal opinion, if you want to control your hair loss you need to de-stress, exercise regularly and pay attention to what you eat. You should consume plenty of protein rich foods and drink a lot of water. Green tea is universally known to have strong anti-oxidant properties and is very beneficial to skin and hair. Consuming 2-3 cups of the right green tea daily instead of chai can go a long way in improving overall health and not just hair. I also think regular oiling of hair is critical but you dont need a bottle of hair oil that costs 1500 rupees from Richfeel. A 100 rupee bottle of any coconut oil will do the same job at a fraction of the cost. Shampoo regularly but I think twice a week is more than enough. I prefer to use as less of these chemical products as possible. I avoid hair gels and creams. I dont see how leaving a cocktail of chemicals in my hair all day can be beneficial. I keep my hair quite short now as opposed to my shoulder length hair before. Longer hair will break easily - this is logical and is also much harder to maintain. Shorter hair is easier to wash, shampoo, oil and to brush/comb. Yoga and meditation are age old stress relieving methods that have been passed on to us and globally accepted as beneficial and effective.Their positive effects reach beyond just hair loss. If you eat right and maintain good mental health these will be equal to or more beneficial than any hair loss clinic and certain far less expensive.
To be fair to Richfeel, I wont say that their treatments are 100% ineffective. Their solutions are in the right direction but the methods are wrong. They will also honestly tell you at the start that you cannot regain hair already lost through natural methods and that the idea is to preserve what is left. I guess the treatments and medications have varying effects on different people so nothing can be said conclusively. Yes, the patches on my beard did disappear but I'm not sure it was entirely due to Richfeel because they told me that over a period of time these patches can disappear on their own too. The hair-loss on my head continues after nearly 6 months of their treatment and I will try some other solution now - this time perhaps an actual doctor.
