Background Many patients suffering from androgenetic alopecia seek out hair transplantation as a surgical treatment option, with over 700,000 hair transplantation procedures being performed annually worldwide. Oftentimes, patient selection of hair transplant clinics is influenced by social media advertising. Characteristics of hair transplant clinics including the credentials of surgeons, documentation of prior patient results, and the extensiveness to which a surgeon is involved in the procedure have not been described in the literature. Specifically, these characteristics have not been comparatively evaluated between clinics that are advertised on social media platforms against those that are advertised in hair transplant specific physician directories. This study aims to evaluate the quality of hair transplant clinics available on social media against physician directories.

Methods We compiled a list of the top 50 posts from various social media platforms (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit) as a result of searching “hair transplant clinic selection” on each platform using an incognito window. We evaluated the characteristics of the hair transplant clinics being advertised in each social media post. Characteristics included the credentials of the primary provider, whether the clinic used surgery standardized photography to advertise patient results, documented patient Norwood level, documented graft number, and the country in which the clinic is located. We also randomly selected 50 physicians from well-known hair transplantation physician directories (International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons, American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery) to comparatively evaluate the same characteristics. Statistical analysis was done by aggregating data from all social media platforms and comparing against aggregated data from the physician directories using a chi-squared analysis.

Results Our analysis revealed a significant difference in the characteristics of hair transplant clinics advertised on social media versus those listed in physician directories. Clinics advertised on physician directories were more likely to contain dermatologists, plastic surgeons, or otolaryngologists (p < 0.001), use standardized photography (p < 0.001), document patient Norwood level (p < 0.001), document graft number used in procedures (p < 0.001), and contain a greater number of United States based clinics (p < 0.001) compared to social media platforms.

Conclusion There is a significant difference in the quality of hair transplant clinics that are advertised via social media posts compared to those that are advertised in physician directories. Patients should thoroughly evaluate hair transplant clinics, particularly those on social media, by reviewing credentials, physician involvement, and documented results to make informed, safe decisions.