How Cardiff Hair Loss Clinic works
We only prescribe treatment once a clinician has reviewed your full assessment and agreed it’s right for you. Hair grows slowly, so here’s what the whole process looks like, with The Independent Pharmacy as our prescribing partner.
A proper assessment
Answer a short set of questions about your hair, your health and when this started. You get a clear next step based on your answers, not a generic leaflet. Some people are pointed to a blood test or their GP instead of treatment, and that’s ok.
Today
Clinician review
If treatment looks suitable, you’ll be asked to complete a full medical assessment, including questions about your blood pressure and general health. A UK registered clinician then reviews it before anything is prescribed. Treatment arrives in plain packaging.
This week
A short-lived shed
Everything from here depends on a clinician prescribing treatment, and is counted from the day you start. Shedding can briefly increase. This is old hairs making way for new growth, and it’s the point where most people wrongly give up.
Months 1–2, if prescribed
Early signs
Shedding slows, and hair may start to feel a little fuller, though you probably won’t see it in photos yet. Keep going. It’s too early to judge whether treatment is working.
Month 3
Judge the results
Most people who respond to treatment see a visible difference in this window. For some, that means regrowth. For others, it means their hair stops getting thinner. Give it the full year before deciding it hasn’t worked.
Months 6–12
Keep what you’ve gained
Results last as long as you keep treating your hair loss. If you stop, your hair gradually goes back to where it was heading. You can stop whenever you like.
Ongoing
A hair loss clinic built for Cardiff
From Pontcanna to Whitchurch, Cathays to Cardiff Bay, people across Cardiff use our assessment to find out what’s behind their hair loss and what to do about it. Search for hair clinic Cardiff and you’ll mostly find transplant surgeons and wig fitters - we’re the medical option many people try first. Everything starts online, treatment is delivered to your door, and nobody needs to know unless you tell them.
- Cardiff Bay
- Pontcanna
- Roath
- Canton
- Llandaff
- Whitchurch
- Heath
- Penarth
- Grangetown
- Splott
The three kinds of hair loss we see most
Most of the people who come to our hair loss clinic in Cardiff have one of these three. They feel similar and get treated very differently, which is exactly why we assess first.
Female hair loss
A parting that’s slowly getting wider, a ponytail that’s thinner than it was, more scalp showing under bright lights. This is usually female pattern hair loss. It doesn’t get better on its own, but it does respond to treatment.
Male pattern baldness
A hairline moving back at the temples, a crown that’s thinning out. It’s the most common kind of hair loss in men, it’s largely down to genes, and treatment works best the earlier you start.
Sudden shedding
Handfuls in the shower, hair all over the pillow, and it started fairly suddenly a few months after an illness, a stressful patch, having a baby or a big change in diet or medication. This is usually temporary, and the right first step is a blood test, not a tablet.
Getting the cause right comes first
At our hair loss clinic in Cardiff we regularly meet people who’ve been treating the wrong thing for a year. Someone taking supplements for what is really pattern loss. Someone starting medication in the middle of a shed that was always going to stop by itself. Someone told it’s “just stress” when their iron stores are low. Identifying the condition first is everything.
Shedding and thinning aren’t the same thing
Shedding is lots of hair falling out at once. Thinning is hair slowly getting finer in a pattern. One usually settles on its own; the other slowly gets worse without treatment.
Low iron can keep a shed going for months
Even without anaemia, low iron stores or a thyroid problem can stop your hair recovering. A simple blood test tells you.
A shed can unmask pattern loss underneath
If shedding has gone on for more than six months, or your parting is wider than it used to be, it’s often pattern hair loss that the shed uncovered.
Some hair loss needs a GP, not a clinic like ours
Smooth round patches or a sore or inflamed scalp should be looked at by a doctor first. Our assessment will tell you if that’s you. Learn more about scalp treatment and conditions.
Men and women lose hair differently
The same kind of hair loss looks different in men and women. In men the hairline moves back, and in women the parting gets wider. Treatments are different, so we ask your sex first.
Supplements rarely fix it
Unless you’re actually low in something, biotin and ‘hair vitamins’ won’t touch pattern hair loss. Testing beats guessing, so you know what’s actually causing your hair loss.
The earlier you start, the more there is to keep.
Is it too late for treatment?
Lots of people in Cardiff put off getting help because they assume they’ve left it too long. Treatment for pattern hair loss is best at keeping the hair you’ve still got and thickening hair that’s gone fine. It can bring some back, but it won’t rebuild a hairline that’s been gone for years. So rather than asking whether you’re too late, ask how much you’d like to keep. Starting sooner means more to work with, and for some people that’s enough to make a hair transplant unnecessary.
Treatments we prescribe
We only prescribe treatment once a clinician has reviewed your full assessment and agreed it’s right for you. Here’s how Cardiff Hair Loss Clinic works, with The Independent Pharmacy as our prescribing partner:
Minoxidil for women
The most commonly recommended medical treatment for female pattern hair loss, available as a daily topical or a low dose tablet. A clinician will check it’s right for you.
Finasteride for men
The usual first medical treatment for male pattern baldness. It works on the process that shrinks hair follicles and does best when started early. A clinician will check it’s right for you.
Iron and thyroid blood test
For shedding that won’t settle. Low iron stores or a thyroid problem are two common reasons hair struggles to recover. Your assessment will tell you whether it’s worth doing.
What we don’t do: hair transplants, hair systems, scalp micropigmentation, or specialist dermatology. If you’re considering one of these hair loss treatments in Cardiff, see how they compare with medical treatment, including what they cost and who they suit.
Why we don’t sell shampoos, supplements or gummies
You’ll notice there’s no shop on this site. That’s deliberate. Biotin, collagen and ‘hair growth gummies’ fill the shelves of Cardiff’s pharmacies, but they don’t fix pattern hair loss unless you happen to be deficient in something. If you might be, we’d rather send you for a blood test than sell you a bottle. At Cardiff Hair Loss Clinic, we only recommend what has proper evidence behind it, and only after a clinician has checked it suits you.
Where your GP fits in
The NHS treats most hair loss as cosmetic, which means your Cardiff GP can help with blood tests and with anything that needs a specialist, but usually won’t prescribe treatment for pattern hair loss. People come to us for the part the NHS doesn’t cover, and we send them back when the NHS is the right place.
Assessment and treatment
With Cardiff Hair Loss Clinic
- Self-referral
- Online assessment in minutes
- Rapid clinical review
- Structured follow-up
- Treatment for pattern hair loss where appropriate
Tests and referrals
Via the NHS
- Blood tests through your Cardiff GP practice
- Referral to a dermatologist where needed
- Waiting times and follow-up vary by area
If your assessment suggests you need a GP or a dermatologist, we’ll say so and advise you what to ask them.
Built with a hair specialist
Our assessment is built on how a hair specialist actually works out what’s going on - the pattern of loss, how long it’s been happening, your scalp, and the blood tests that matter. We screen for the things that shouldn’t be treated online before we suggest anything. Cardiff Hair Loss Clinic works in partnership with The Independent Pharmacy, so any treatment is prescribed only after a UK registered clinician reviews your full consultation. If your symptoms suggest something that needs a doctor, we’ll let you know.
Kate Holohan
RIT · Cert Ed · Registered Trichologist
Kate Holohan is a registered trichologist and the founder of Hair Therapy UK, an award-winning trichology clinic in Kings Hill, Kent. She has worked with hair and scalps for more than 30 years, first in hairdressing and education. She then trained in trichology with the Institute of Trichologists.
Page medically reviewed 26 October 2026 · Content reflects current UK clinical guidance
Cardiff hair loss FAQs
Yes. We’re a Cardiff hair clinic that works entirely online. All prescribing is done by The Independent Pharmacy, a UK pharmacy registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council. You can check every registration we mention on the public registers, and we’d encourage you to do so.
No. You can self-refer by taking the assessment. If your answers suggest you’d be better visiting your Cardiff GP surgery or a dermatologist, we’ll tell you and explain what to ask them.
It depends on the treatment a clinician recommends. Each treatment page shows the current price. The blood test check is optional and also priced clearly. You can stop at any time.
Most people see shedding slow by month three or four and visible regrowth from month six. Shedding can briefly increase in the first couple of months - that’s normal and not a sign it’s failing.
Then the assessment should pick it up. Patchy loss, a sore or inflamed scalp, or hairline and eyebrow thinning in women are all signs we send to a GP rather than treat online.
No. If you search for hair restoration in Cardiff, you’ll mostly find transplant clinics. We think most people should try medical treatment before surgery, and anyone who does have a transplant still needs treatment to keep the rest of their hair. Our treatments page explains transplant costs and who they suit, honestly.
Our content is written and reviewed by a registered trichologist, and our assessment follows similar steps a trichologist would take to those in the clinic. If you’d like to know what a trichologist does, we’ve set out when it’s worth seeing a Cardiff trichologist in person.
Some hair loss should be seen in person rather than assessed online. Please visit your Cardiff GP surgery first if you have:
- smooth, round bald patches
- a scalp that is painful, burning, very red, or has spots or pus-filled bumps
- shiny, smooth areas where hair has gone, or hair loss spreading quickly
- a hairline moving back along with thinning eyebrows (in women)
- hair loss together with feeling generally unwell, unexplained weight loss or other new symptoms
- hair loss in someone under 18
Find out what’s behind your hair loss
Answer a few quick questions and we’ll tell you what to do next, whether that’s treatment, a blood test or a visit to your GP.
Takes 2 minutes · Free · No obligation