Move Over Magnet Therapy, Here Comes Low Level Laser Light Therapy
Written by Dr. Alan Feller on December 19, 2007
Move over Magnet Therapy, here comes Low Laser Light Therapy. You all may not believe it, but the latest insult to the intelligence of the general public now comes from those who advocate the use of laser beams to re-grow hair.
The never ending effort to role back common sense in the pursuit of quick cash is ever present in this enterprise. Among it’s conspirators (witting and unwitting) are doctors, scientists, news reporters, and even the U.S. Government…the very people and groups whom the general public traditionally trusts and looks to for verification and validity.
What’s all the hubbub about? I’m embarrassed to say that its about the cute little laser pointer that you may have bought at your local toy store to entertain your kids or your pets. You know the one, the little cylinder you can put on your keychain to shine a small red dot on the wall across the room. That one.
Did you know the entire time you were playing with it you COULD have used it to thicken up your thinning hair by just pointing it at your scalp? That’s the claim being bandied about by laser light therapy advocates…and it’s ridiculous.
The problem with this claim is that there is no such phenomenon known as “cosmetically significant hair growth from laser light”. It simply doesn’t exist, and a small application of common sense makes this plain. For example, laser lights have been shining on the hands and forearms of grocery clerks for twenty years and in all that time there have been no complaints of mysterious hair growth on either the hand or the forearm. Either there is a worldwide conspiracy to suppress this effect or, more likely, it simply doesn’t exist in the first place.
Let’s take another example since some people will say the laser only works on the scalp. There is a doctor who has been treating patients for EIGHT years using not just one laser, but a device containing 100 lasers. After all that time he has not offered one credible cosmetically significant before/after photo nor has he shown any consistency of results. Unless you consider NO results consistent. By the way, you can bet he is charging top dollar for treatment. In the neighborhood of $4,000 per year!
How about the internet website of the most well known laser comb company in the industry. This company posts before/after photos that could fairly be called deceptive. For example, this company wets the hair of the “patient” in the before photo to make it appear artificially thinner, then in the after photo they show the same guy but now with dry hair to make it look puffy and fuller. This thinly veiled attempt to fool the public represents a bold assault on common sense and should raise a major red flag against the company and the industry.
Lets take one more example. On Sunday August 26, 2007 I was invited on a nationally syndicated radio show to debate a doctor who was an advocate of laser hair therapy. During this two hour LIVE broadcast only ONE person called in to comment positively on laser therapy at all, and after a bit of questioning I was able to find out that the caller was actually a patient of the very doctor I was debating. Neither the patient nor the doctor disclosed their relationship prior to air time and the host said as much right on the air. The disingenuous intent of my opponent and his accomplice became obvious, but it would not have been necessary if the phenomenon of cosmetically significant laser hair growth actually existed-which it does not.
The shear lack of satisfied customers calling in on an unbiased and public forum like a nationally broadcast radio show demonstrates that not only is there clearly NO phenomenon, but that the general public has chosen to reject claims to the contrary by simply ignoring it. Bravo to “We The People”, but those seeking to benefit financially from laser light therapy will not be ignored. They have a few weapons in their armamentarium and they are ready to use them.
Laser advocates are not stupid. Actually they are well financed, very clever, and motivated by serious money. They are also very aware of the fact that there is NO such phenomenon as “cosmetically significant growth from laser therapy” and have found some ways around that reality. Their approach is multi-pronged which includes using: massive marketing, disingenuous scientific analysis, complicit doctors, nebulous user testimonials, and manipulation of the news media who are ever hungry for a “feel good” story.
These methods used to assault the public’s common sense are pretty formidable. After all, one company even got FDA clearance and several companies have doctors on their boards. How could anyone question the credibility of such an industry?
Well, my counter-attack has always been simplicity itself and none of my opponents has been able to counter it effectively. It cuts right past the disingenuous scientific evidence and media hype, and you don’t have to be a scientist or doctor to appreciate it. Here it is:
For a cosmetically significant phenomenon to be valid, it must be SELF EVIDENT. One does not NEED scientific study to prove the existence of the phenomenon because all one need do is to open their eyes and look. The more the advocates of a purported phenomenon have to resort to obscure scientific studies, like laser hair growth supporters, the less credibility that phenomenon has for even existing in the first place.
In order to utilize scientific studies to describe the ASPECTS of a phenomenon, the phenomenon must exist in the first place. Laser therapy advocates would rather skip over that part and go right to the “scientific studies”. The last thing they want is for any critic to focus on the fact that there is no phenomenon in the first place. This is not the case for legitimate phenomenon that are used as legitimate treatments.
Take hair transplantation for example. A skilled surgeon removes a hair root from the back of the head and transplants it to the front. The “phenomenon” is that the root actually heals and continues to grow hair in the new location. This is a SELF EVIDENT phenomenon that has been exploited by me and other surgeons worldwide to create undeniable cosmetically significant improvements in our patients. The scientific explanations as to how or why hair transplantation works are unnecessary to prove it’s existence or efficacy. Such scientific explanation would be superfluous in the presence of valid phenomena, only invalid claims need such deep and sophisticated convincing.
The phenomenon of laser hair growth is NOT self evident. It’s advocates have to look to confusing scientific studies, complicit doctors, and unwitting reporters to shed any kind of credibility on their product . It is my colleagues, the doctors, who I am most disappointed with for their role in pushing laser light therapy on a lay public. It’s taken one hundred years for the medical establishment to earn the trust, respect, and credibility of the public and I believe physicians who advocate and take a fee for laser hair therapy undermine that trust. These doctors should know better.
From childhood people were taught to trust in their doctor that he/she is educated, objective, and will protect them from harmful or useless treatments. There was a time not too long ago when doctors offering laser light therapy to patients for hair growth would have been laughed out of the room and called quacks, but times have changed. There is a trend backward toward the magical elixirs that were sold out of the back of covered wagons, only now the product is more updated and sophisticated. Victims of phony remedies didn’t know what was in the bottles then, and they don’t know what’s in the complicated machinery used today. It was a show then, and it’s a show today.
Laser advocate doctors will invite reporters into their offices to show them impressive machinery and hopeful patients who are about to undergo treatment; but not once do you ever see credible before/after photos of these or other patients. Not once do you see a very bald person who transformed into a person with a head of hair after using toy…er I mean, medical lasers. The reporters conveniently NEVER ask for such hard evidence because it would disrupt the fairytale story they are trying to construct. A bit obvious don’t you think? I sure do.
Despite this, the reporter puts together their “feel good” piece anyway and open their broadcast with the classic but tired joke/phrase: “hair today AND hair tomorrow. A local doctor is treating hair loss with lasers…” and boldly goes on to spout the POTENTIAL benefits of laser therapy without presenting any hard evidence. The doctor gets his 5 minutes of fame and publicity for free, and the reporter get’s their story for a slow news day. Nice and neat arrangement for them don’t you think? One must ask: how did the reporter learn about the “story in the first place? Do you think it was from throngs of non-existent laser therapy recipients spontaneously contacting the reporter with praise for the product and it’s effects; or is it more likely that the doctor himself called the TV station himself in act of self promotion?
To use a metaphor, laser advocates know there is no “forest”. Such a forest would be self-evident so, like magicians using the art of misdirection, they focus the public’s attention on only a few trees and then boldly claim that an entire forest exists around them. They know a forest of significant magnitude doesn’t really exist around those few trees, but they hope the public will buy it anyway…literally!
Getting you to reject your common sense is the number one job of the snake-oil salesman. Resist the urge to give up your reason and skepticism to these characters because it may be the only thing standing between you and an empty bank account.
If it sounds to good to be true it…, well… you know the rest… it’s just common sense.
About the author: Dr. Alan Feller is a member of The International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons and recommended by The American Hair Loss Association.
Since the publication of this article, the patient who was set up by my opponent to support laser therapy has publicly renounced his position and now states in writing that he beleives all the low light laser therapy he received from my opponent produced absolutly no results whatsoever and that laser treatment for hairloss in general is, in his considered opinoin, a waste of money and time.
Sooner or later the truth comes out and quackary is exposed.
Dr. Feller
To be honest, your statements seem just as unsubstantiated as those of your “opponents.” Why not give the name of the broadcast and a link? Why not give the source of your comment stating that the one supporter renounced his previous claim? Also, you don’t cite any scientific evidence that clearly shows laser treatment doesn’t work. You do use “common sense” reasoning, but so does the other side. This consumer is still left with the question of whether these products work after reading your article. Though, it is well written and did help open my eyes to the idea that these products may be scams.
I appreciate your comment and will address your points in the order you presented them:
1. My comments are substantiated in every line I wrote. Omissions in content were made to keep the length of the article to a minimum.
a. The name of the show is “The Bald Truth” with Spencer Kobren (host). Link is www.thebaldtruth.com. The show is simulcast on the internet and xm satellite radio Sunday nights.
b. The source of the “supporter” turned “detractor” was known as “Joe” on the show. He has a web name on www.hairlosshelp.com where he renounced his support for laser therapy to the public in writing. He also sent me a private email.
2. It is not my obligation to disprove a claim. The burden of proof sits squarely and solely on the shoulders of the one making the claim. Especially if the claim is as fantastic as hair growth secondary to laser exposure.To date the laser companys have not supported their claim that laser light grows cosmetically significant amount of hair anywhere. My oppenents on the show in particular also failed to provide a mechanism of action for any so-called growth when asked .
No scientist is going to design an experiment to disprove a hypothesis when failure of the claim is self-evident as is the case for LLLT. Would you have me perform a scientific study just to prove that magic carpets don’t exist and can’t fly?
3. The other side does NOT use common sense reasoining, nor valid reasoning of any kind. If you listen to the show you will hear that for yourself. The reality is that they want you and all consumers to check your common sense at the door while they take you on a tour of their fantasy world and pick your pockets.
When asked what qualified the “inventor” of the laser comb to present himself as an expert on lasers and cell regeneration he answered that he was a laser patient in the 1980s in Australia. No scientific background, no academic accomplishements. Not even a garage with a home lab in it. Nothing.
Would you trust the “common sense” of the pilot flying your plane when he admits he has never been to flight school nor even been in a cockpit before? Would it make you feel better if he told you with a straight face that his qualifications came only from the fact that he himself was a frequent airline PASSENGER in Austrailia 20 years before? Wouldn’t you find that to be an attack on YOUR common sense?
I am passionate about this subject because it is 19th century quackary in 21st century form; and the sophistocation of this laser growth scheme will trap many victims before it runs its course like a bilious disease.
Dr Fuller -
If your position is that laser therapy will not have any positive effect on hair loss (whether preventing hair loss, stimulating new hair growth etc…) don’t you have an ethical obligation to let people know ? You seem passionate, yet you do nothing to let the general public know about your claims or opinions. Instead, millions of dollars go to waste, and millions of hopes banished. If in fact there is no solid evidence, do the public a favor and let them know. Otherwise how much better are you than those selling the products ? There are inexpensive ways you could make your opinions known (internet, TV, Radio etc…). But to do nothing makes me wonder if it’s just sour grapes, or if there’s validity to your points.
Thanks for your time.
My apoligies - I just found a link to the Bald Truth radio segment - so at least that’s something
thanks
Why would Sharper Image even advertise such a product? I brought the Sky Mall magazine off of a flight last week so I could order one of these. I suppose one can pay to advertise anything and the publication will simply take the money.
Thanks for this information, which does not surprise me. I can think of no reason why a respected dermatologist wouldn’t let their patient know of anything that has proven results.