Life Style: How Dubai’s Harklinikken clinic is restoring hope to hair loss patients

DUBAI: Strong, healthy hair has always been a universal desire. But sometimes, whether due to genetics, stress or general lifestyle choices, maintaining and achieving healthy hair is not always achievable.

Enter Harklinikken, the Danish-born hair restoration clinic founded by Lars Skjoth, which has gained cult status for miraculously reversing the effects of hair loss and thinning in patients.

The clinic, which specializes in customized hair-restoration treatments, has garnered a number of celebrity fans who swear by it, including US actress Ricki Lake, who credits Harklinikken for helping her regain her hair health after a 30-year battle with hair loss.

“Hair thinning is typically hereditary, but there are things that can exacerbate a hereditary condition,” said Skjoth at the reopening of the refurbished Dubai branch of Harklinikken.

“It can be caused by environmental aggression, sleep deprivation and even nutritional deficiencies,” he added.

Skjoth said that he sees a lot of early hair loss in people living in the Middle East due to a combination of different factors, including the quality of the foods we consume.

“I see much more hair thinning in this region, especially in the people who live in (the GCC) and don’t have access to fat, rich, nutrient-dense soil and are constantly exposed to the heat.”

He decided to open Harklinikken in Dubai 10 years ago after much research and having had success in treating more than 70,000 people in Denmark for over two decades, so that people from the Gulf region could have access to his miraculous elixirs.

However, not everyone is a candidate for the customized hair extract. The Danish company offers its tailored treatment only to those who pass a rigorous selection process.

Potential clients are asked to upload high-resolution photos of their head and hair online on the Harklinikken website. A specialist will then schedule a consultation call with them and let them know the condition of their hair and the time assessment of their treatment. Physical examinations are also available at the clinic.

“First, we examine our clients carefully to make sure that they don’t have any scalp issues, baldness from scarring or auto-immune diseases that cause hair loss,” says Skjoth, meaning that certain pre-existing health conditions will likely not benefit from the extensive treatment, which usually takes between 18-24 months for results to truly show.

Following the hair assessment, clients order the hair extract that is custom-blended for them specifically, along with a correlating shampoo and conditioner, plus a hair mask for dry hair.

Harklinikken’s nutrient-rich formula, refined over 20 years, is derived from root-plant extracts and proteins, fatty acids and cow milk-derived elements.

But it is not an overnight fix. In order for the formula to work, clients are advised to use it consistently. The extract must be applied every day for several months, and if the treatment is stopped at any point, lengths will go back to their original state.

“We only accept people that we really believe we can help,” says Skjoth.

The Harklinikken founder’s hair journey started when he was young.

Skjoth reveals that he struggled with scalp issues for many years, and constantly visited dermatologists who would prescribe him nothing but “harsh-smelling products.”

He added: “I remember one incident in particular where I had applied one of these formulas that you let sit in your hair for a couple of hours, and I went to the supermarket where there was a little girl with her mom and she said ‘there’s a funny smell here.’ She was actually referring to me, so it really made me start looking for alternative solutions. I went to the library and asked the librarian to help me find literature on hair, the scalp, things like that.”

He went on to study chemistry and nutrition, and opened his first hair-restoration clinic at the age of 25.

Today, he operates three clinics in the US and in Europe, as well as one in the Middle East, with plans to expand.