Salons Caught Growing Lice to Sell as Hair Loss Treatment

Bogus hair loss 'cures' pop up all the time but the latest treatment touted in the UAE is perhaps one of the most disturbing. A number of salons in the Dubai Municipality have been warned over growing and selling lice to women as a hair loss treatment.

Unhealthy and harmful

Reporting on the health regulations breach, Gulf News states that 'Some women’s hair salons in Dubai started growing lice by collecting damaged hair and subjecting it to high temperatures'.

"Those found violating rules will be fined,” Hafez Ghalloum, who heads up the Dubai Municipality's Health Control Section, told Arabic newspaper Emarat Al Youm. “We aim through inspections to see that no negative or harmful practices are committed by hair salons and beauty centres.”

After advertising them online, beauty and hair salons are reported to have been selling women the parasites at a cost of around Dh14 per louse. Although they come with the promise of thicker hair, the reverse is actually true.

Lice and hair loss

- which are highly contagious - feed on scalp blood and can damage the hair and scalp as well as causing severe itching. Constant scratching of the scalp can lead to hair breakage, leaving the hair brittle, weakened and looking thinner. The lice and the scratching can also lead to skin infections and local dermatologists are warning people not to fall for this scam.

In some cases the infestation can cause a shock to the body, triggering a temporary hair loss condition which can start to become noticeable around three months after its onset. This is known as Telogen Effluvium and causes thinning hair all over the scalp for up to six months.

It is possible to have telogen effluvium at the same time as the most common culprit of thinning hair in women: female pattern hair loss. As such, after treating the head lice and ensuring they have all gone, it is a good idea to consult with a hair loss specialist. They can offer not only a professional diagnosis of your shedding and scalp condition, but can also tailor a personalised hair loss treatment plan to address these concerns.

At Belgravia these bespoke courses are often formulated around an appropriate high strength minoxidil solution, available from our in-pharmacy clinics. This is applied directly to the scalp, where needed, in order to accelerate the hair regrowth process. It can be combined with a variety of boosters in order to promote strength, vitality and to give hair the best possible chance of attaining its optimum potential.

For those in the UAE - an area known for having an unusually high rate of genetic hair loss among its population - our international home-use treatment can be accessed via our Online Consultation so a visit to our Central London hair loss clinics is not necessary.