Recently, I went to youtube and did some searching for the most popular videos on hair transplants. To cover all bases, I ran searches on the following relatively synonymous phrases:
- “hair transplant”
- “hair transplants”
- “hair transplantation”
- “hair restoration”
For each of the above, I then sorted the results in order of view count. Lo and behold I got a major surprise.
The top 2 videos for all of the above phrases were both from a doctor named Brett Bolton, who practices out of Florida. Both videos were first uploaded in July 2013:
13 million views as of August 12, 2018:
9.2 million views as of August 12, 2018:
- The third most popular video on hair transplants on youtube has 5.7 million views, and concerns reality/social media superstar Jeffree Starr’s hair transplant procedure.
- Thereafter, around 15 “hair transplant” search related videos on youtube have between 1-5 million views.
Note that there are many hair transplant related videos with 1-5 million views that are on youtube, but do not show up for the specific keyword searches that I mentioned earlier.
Dr. Bolton’s Youtube Success
In fact, even Dr. Bolton has several other videos on hair transplants that do not show up despite having several million views. On Dr. Bolton’s blog and on his youtube channel, you can see 100s of his past videos. None are anywhere near as successful as the two that I embedded above.
How did Dr. Bolton get such phenomenal youtube success? On Yelp he only has three visible reviews. Even those three are from people without profile photos or any strong reviewing history. Essentially meaningless. Someone as popular as Dr. Bolton would surely have at least 50-100 Yelp reviews?
He has over several dozen other reviews on there that are hidden by Yelp. All those hidden reviewers also have no profile photos or any significant reviewing history.
Very strange, considering that on his own site, Dr. Bolton refers to the interesting “hair transplant society” site — where you can read 465 total recommendations from his past patients.
I know that many people purchase 1000s of fake youtube views and likes via websites such as Fiverr. However, Google and Youtube have both become fairly decent at detecting such fraud and penalizing websites accordingly. Millions of fake views, likes and subscriptions can surely not go undetected since 2013? I highly doubt Dr. Bolton would succeed via this method.
I have seen Dr. Bolton’s ads all over the internet in the past, but the links in those ads never took you to his youtube videos. So he could not inflate his youtube video view count in that way. Many other hair transplant surgeons also advertise daily via banners on the internet. Yet, none of them is getting anywhere near this kind of success on youtube.
I am curious about this whole phenomenon because:
- Anybody who is interested in getting a hair transplant will surely stumble upon Dr. Bolton’s super popular youtube videos early in the research process. I hope Dr. Bolton does good work, or else this is a very concerning prospect.
- If I could replicate this kind of 10 million plus video view success without getting penalized by Google/Youtube, I would become super successful in many different career fields.
Throughout history, the top snake oil salesmen have been in medicine and religion.
Google states he attacked someone at 9/11 Memorial Museum in 2014 … because God told him to do so … uh what?!
That video doesn’t look realistic at all tho. Some of them literally went from norwood 6 to full set of hair, with quite the density to it as well. Looks quite fishy to me at least.
Every time I try to write the word ‘doc’ the predictive text supplies ‘dic’. Pretty apt in this case-give or take a letter or two.
*imagine getting a hair transplant by someone who stares into the sun endlessly.
“…I will be able to prove this by staring at the sun endlessly”
enough said
I still think that hair transplantation is not the best solution for baldness because it is not a cure
I hear you but for many it is a great and viable option, mainly those who have a slow and gradual pattern as opposed to those with more aggressive loss. I was on the verge of getting it done as i had great donor hair/area however suddenly it took a turn and got super aggressive which made me lucky i didn’t get it done but also more depressing lol. I know medicine sees hair loss as a mostly cosmetic issue but i honestly think more research is required into the aggressive patterns because there must be an underlying change within the body that causes it to happen. It’s no surprise they are finding links between early onset aggressive hair loss and heart problems etc. (sorry admin for going off topic)
When I first started losing my hair at 17, and I reached the age of around 19 I was obsessed with getting the money to have Brett do my hair. Shocking I got speaking to him and he offered to do my hair transplant for free If I agreed to have it on video for his site etc. It ever happened however due to him just slowly but surely not replying to me.
As much as it annoyed me at the time I thank my lucky stars now I never had it done. Because eventually it would have progressed and he wouldn’t do the whole head for free when I reached another Norwood stage. That and now I’m older and wiser I really want to avoid them altogether. Sure I hate being bald and its such a self esteem destroyer even at my age now (24). But I think I’d rather stay bald until a proper solution and cure comes about than have hair plugs, it will never beat the natural thing and when push comes to shove it really is not a deal breaker with women or in life. Its accepted by men and women honestly overlook it if you have game and drive. Women from my experience are a more psychological creature and go for your mind rather than us who go for looks. This all said I would hate to butcher my head and then be kicking myself when a cure comes out, and if a cure doesn’t come out then I wont lose sleep over it.
But my fingers are well and truly crossed for JAK inhibitors, I research daily for every update, But guys if you do go for the hair transplant, think of the future and the cost. Don’t lumber yourself with a half job and be stuck with it due to life obstacles :)
Wow great story Jason! No wonder he got so many video testimonials.
@Jason You made the right decision staying natural if you started losing your hair so young. Losing your hair at that early age means you’re on your way to total baldness, and hair transplants aren’t going to provide you a solid head of hair (which is the only thing that looks better than clipping it all short).
You may consider FUE surgery along with subtle SMP for a shaded shaved look. Certainly, never ever get strip scars, or it’ll severely limit your options of hair styles. I made bad decisions with strip scars at age 19, and I’m still paying for it many many years later.
A shaved head with subtle SMP shading and possibly FUE would be as far as I would go in your position, or you can just stay natural and save money for a real cure! Hopefully that’ll be soon. You’re right that women care more about other things besides hair, like a healthy body, intelligence, humor, and financial success. Best of luck!
great advice! and i agree..i think for those with aggressive hair loss..a mimxture of fue and temporary smp can be a great option if done by the right hands. I am considering it myself
yes, you can try temporary SMP to see how you like it, but a decent artist with permanent SMP isn’t much risk. You just start off light and conservative and then add more if you want.
Looks like a typical jesus case to me
Hi Admin,
Thanks for all your hard work all these years!
I am a longtime viewer of your blog from Sydney Australia.
I was hoping to wait for a hairloss cure before I run out of options, but it seems like it is the time I eventually consider hair transplant. :(
I have read so many review on hair transplant surgeons in the us and Europe, but I rarely come across anything in Australia. I still consider HT is better done locally in case complications.
It is possible to do an overview on HT in Australia?
Really appreciate you hard work.
Ryan
Hi Ryan,
Two names that I have read many times when it comes to Australian hair transplant surgeons are Dr. Jennifer Martinick and Dr. Ray Woods (who I have covered several times on this blog in the past).
Dr. Woods is way too expensive in my opinion.
Try to see if you can talk to both those surgeons’ local patients in person … the more the better.
If you can tolerate Dutasteride’s side effects, perhaps worth a try before getting a hair transplant…but no-one knows the long-term side effects from such drugs so do it at your own risk :-(
Yeah no wonder. Come to think of it I seen one of his videos, I don’t know if its even still up. But he was ranting on his father and at the same time gloating about how he’s a god. Either that or he has been given god given powers to do what he does. While I’m not arguing he delivers good results, after seeing that video, it reassured me even more that I didn’t go. Don’t know if he had a breakdown or what… But nope not near my head. Want him mentally stable first aha, But he is good at what he’s done. Just not worth it in my own opinion :) Thanks for your work Admin on here, emailed you in the past and talked, and I always am on here for updates I may have missed. Keep it up man.
more evidence for Follica:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30096107
Nice update from Alexey Terskikh: https://www.sbpdiscovery.org/news/beaker-blog/sbps-alexey-terskikh-advances-hair-growth-research
Not even close to preclinical trials yet?? Maybe 2030 will be Phase 3…
New poster here, but a somewhat related story in today’s news. Dr. Jeffery Epstein (Hair transplant/plastic surgeon) arrested at Miami Airport after creating a disturbance. I almost chose this idiot to do a reversal on my hair transplant about six years ago, but saw what he did to another poster at HLH, and wisely chose another route.
Does anyone remenber the Sonic Hedgehog pathway?
The below crowdfunding involves testing the above mentioned pathway.
https://experiment.com/projects/can-hair-loss-be-reversed-with-oxy133-a-sterol-based-drug-candidate
Why not directly on a human scalp?
If nothing is out by the end of this year I’m scheduling an FUE. These pipeline are shady at best.
Would rather be bald than have a ratty transplant.
NEWS FROM SM.. FAIRLY BIG PATIENT NUMBER
Androgenetic Alopecia (AGA) Program Update
• We conducted the Investigator Meeting to initiate our upcoming 625-patient Phase 3 clinical trial
• Previously, we completed a 29-patient Phase 1 clinical trial, a 310-patient Phase 2 clinical trial, and a 49-patient Phase 2 biopsy clinical trial
lol SM probably only 5 years away guys!
Any dr who claims he is “revolutionary” or “pioneering” is a red flag for me.
I’ve had several transplant surgeries with various transplant surgeons since the 90’s to keep ahead of my hair loss. My last surgery was earlier this year with Dr. Bolton and the results are the best I have ever seen, especially compared to the work of my previous transplants. I had a decent hair line from the earlier work but had since lost a lot of hair on the top and in the crown area. I also had noticeable plug scars and suture line scar in my donor area from the previous surgeries that prevented me from having short haircuts. Dr. Bolton’s transplant filled in a lot of the density that was missing – as well, he rebuilt my hairline slightly to give it a more natural look. When he took hair from my donor area, he was able to remove a lot of the scar area from the previous transplants and I can now get my haircuts much shorter than before. The suture line from his surgery is nearly undetectable, which floored me; I don’t know why the previous surgeons didn’t use this suture method because based on my results this would have prevented the scars from being so visible in the first place. I’m not sure I would call it revolutionary, but it seems that this harvesting and suturing method can easily be learned and repeated by any doctor; they’re just not doing it.
Before I chose to get my surgery with Dr. Bolton I reviewed his online videos countless times; I met with him personally and he discussed my options, which he told me should be good since he felt I had decent elasticity – but he downplayed how much density I would get as a lot of my donor area was compromised from the inefficient harvesting methods of the previous transplant work. What really put me over the top was seeing in person the result of the work he did on someone who had happened to work for one of my previous surgeons. I didn’t realize he had any transplants done until he told me, and his hairline was really, really natural looking. He had no scar from the suture line that I could see until he pointed it out after a few minutes of looking.
Note – though I did investigate the FUE method, I opted not to go with it for several reasons including the depletion of useable donor, and limited amount of density. I needed A LOT of density and FUE seems limited in that area. Though my surgery was relatively painless, I did have some swelling afterwards which is an advantage of FUE from what I understand. The result of Dr. Bolton’s procedure is that my linear scar is almost undetectable, and I have more donor area to take from.
A point I need to make – I didn’t see the article on the “Jesus” issue with Dr. Bolton until after I had my procedure and honestly, I’m not sure I would have had the surgery if I did; I think it’s possible he may have made a mistake, as we humans do from time to time. I will tell you that his surgical efforts in my case were nothing short of miraculous as the work is truly artistic both on my hair transplant and suture line.
I had surgery performed by Dr. Bolton and with high amount of gafts. The results were not as he claims and I have several scars as well. He charges a lot and it’s not worth it. Going for my second transplant in Turkey where several family and friends have been to with awesome results. 3/4 less than what dr. Bolton charges.
I’m from Mexico and sorry but I don’t write correctly in English.
I was a patient of Dr. Bolton in 2013, and my results exceeded my expectation. More than 6 years have passed and although the transplanted hair remains, the baldness does not stop, I have thought about a new surgery, but the cost for me is greatly increased by the exchange rate between pesos and dollars. I have to save much more than you who live in the USA.
I found the article about what happened to Dr. Bolton in New York and I don’t know what to think, the deal with Josh who is his advisor and Dr. Bolton was always professional, I don’t have any complaints about that.
On my part I am grateful for the work of Dr. and that my baldness today would be greater, I am currently 48 years old.
On my part, I do trust the work of Dr. Bolton and his staff, I asked that my photographs of before and after be used to protect my anonymity, without showing my face and they respected that. And more than words, I think an image says much more.
http://greathairtransplants.blogspot.com/search?q=mexico
Everyone is free to choose the option that suits him best, this worked for me, good luck in what you decide.