Great Many Is Revolutionizing The Hair Loss Treatment Experience

We’re at a time when hair loss seems to be a universal beauty complaint. It’s an equal opportunity offender and doesn’t discriminate on the grounds of age, sex, social status, or lifestyle. Considering how widespread it is, you’d think a cure might be easy to come by. Not only is that not the case, but even figuring out why you’re losing your hair is very often impossible. Chronic or autoimmune diseases, stress, pregnancy, nutritional deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, scalp disorders, long-term physical stressors, and genetic predisposition can all cause hair shedding. And since it’s common for a few of these factors to occur simultaneously, pinpointing the exact reason is an exercise in frustration.

Because it’s such a complicated issue, treating hair loss is often deemed difficult or futile. “So many patients report that they have seen several providers and have been told that there is nothing that can be done. At best, they are told to buy Rogaine and use it for the rest of their lives and at worst they are told to just deal with it,” says Dr. Joyce Imahiyerobo-Ip, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist based in Massachusetts, who specializes in hair loss. Another complicating factor is that people often don't know who to see to treat their hair loss. “They present the problem to their hairstylist or their primary care physician,” says Imahiyerobo-Ip.

Now, alopecia sufferers have one more option to turn to when their follicles start freaking out. Great Many, a new studio in New York City that offers both virtual and in-person treatments, exclusively specializes in managing and (hopefully) reversing hair loss. The physical clinic looks like an upscale coworking space with fern-green walls and undulating blonde wood paneling meant to mimic hair strands (I presume). It has a more welcoming vibe than sterile hair-loss clinics where the primary decorative elements are before-and-afters of balding individuals. It also offers many of the same treatments as dermatologists’ offices that specialize in hair loss, for a fraction of the cost.

In an ideal world, a well-informed dermatologist should be every hair loss sufferer’s first port of call. But Great Many exists because when treating dozens of patients for a multitude of skin-related disorders, not all doctors are specialized enough, or don’t have the tools or bandwidth to get to the root cause of a patient’s shedding in a brief 20-minute appointment. They’re more likely to point sufferers towards Rogaine, or topical minoxidil, an ingredient that will help their patient get the results they want, instead of trying to untangle a complicated health history.

Great Many aims to avoid this by specializing in hair loss alone. They offer an array of well-researched modalities [more on those below] that have some track record proven by science to move the needle on regrowth.

A New Place For Regrowth

Great Many was founded by Michael Pollak, a co-founder of Heyday, an affordable quick facial studio with locations nationwide, and Steve Klebanow who spent some time at Estée Lauder before setting up Haar & Co Barbershop in the West Village. At the barbershop over the past couple of years, Klebanow says he kept noticing more men asking their barbers if their hair seems thinner at the top, and asking for advice to combat the shedding. It mirrored his own experience with losing hair and he knew many women were going through the same thing. “There is no real authority for hair where patients can meet with a qualified medical professional to understand the root cause of their hair loss and get a personalized roadmap with different products, services and treatments, to actually get results,” he says. Pollak and he bonded over that white space in the hair market, and Great Many was born.

How Great Many Approaches Hair Loss Treatment

The founders realize that hair is a primary marker of identity for a lot of people and hair loss can be devastating to experience. “Hair loss can be extremely emotional for both men and women. Studies have shown that individuals with significant hair loss may suffer from decreased self-esteem. There are even studies that show that individuals with severe hair loss may experience social isolation akin to those who have chronic illnesses. It matters to my patients socially, emotionally, and culturally,” says Imahiyerobo-Ip, who serves as a medical advisor to Great Many.

Part of the clinic’s role is to balance the emotional response of their clients by acknowledging growing back lost hair is hard while adjusting their expectations on realistic results. “There's so much lack of truth in this category, and we get frustrated when we see Instagram ads for this new product promising to grow hair in 30 days, because we have to compete against that from a business standpoint, but we know that’s not truthful. We want to be truthful about what it takes to get results when it comes to hair, and not make false promises,” says Pollak.

The biggest piece of this puzzle is educating clients on how hair growth works, the science behind it, and, of course, the outcome of an effective treatment plan. Personally, I’ve been dealing with shedding and thinning strands for years. At my consultation with Great Many, it became clear to me that expecting to have the same hair I did in my 20s was unrealistic, and I had to come to terms with that. Great Many commits to meeting clients where they are in their journey and helping them have the best hair possible and slowing any further loss.

To have the greatest chance for success, hair specialists all agree on one thing — a multi-pronged approach is better than using just one modality. At Great Many, they have a favored analogy that they deploy often: “Growing hair is a lot like growing a plant. You have to pay attention to the soil, water, sunlight and pest control. There's a multitude of things that are required, and you can't just do one. You would never just put it in soil and not water it and give it sunlight,” says Pollak.

In the case of hair, that could involve everything from topical applications such as the gold standard hair growth drug minoxidil, oral prescription medications such as minoxidil, finasteride and spironolactone, supplements to boost the levels of vitamins and minerals proven to be critical for hair growth, such as vitamin D and iron, and a series of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections in the scalp. They also have proprietary hair care, supplements, and Rx drugs coming soon.

Depending on the severity of each client’s case and how much intervention they want to undergo, a treatment plan is drawn up utilizing the aforementioned modalities. To ensure Great Many only offers treatments backed by rigorous science, the founders put together an advisory board of dermatologists and plastic surgeons who specialize in hair loss. “Hair loss is a medical condition and we want to make sure that a good scientific process sets the foundation for all treatment recommendations,” says Imahiyerobo-Ip. “Understanding that hair restoration is not a one-size fits all allows Great Many to deliver a customized and individualized approach.”

My Experience At Great Many

I start with a 30-minute consultation with dermatology nurse practitioner Stefanie Rippenbaum. After viewing my hair and scalp through a magnified camera and taking baseline pictures from different angles, we discussed my hair loss ordeal. I’ve experienced unexplained shedding for years and my once Leonid mane is a fraction of what it was in my twenties. Though I still have a lot of healthy hair on my scalp, the diameter of each strand on the front and sides is thinning, and more sparse. I have finer strands and less of them.

Rippenbaum walked me through what blood tests I’d need to in order to determine if a deficiency was causing my shedding, and luckily I had the results of those all at hand thanks to a recent physical. Though my bloodwork was within the normal range, she recommended some changes for an optimal hair growth environment. “If your vitamin D levels are lower than 30 ng/mL, your hair will fall out,” she says. Mine hovers just above, at 37.5 ng/mL, and she recommended I try a supplement to get up to 50. Iron is another mineral that can impact hair growth and Rippenbaum likes checking the body’s ferritin level, which indicates the stored reserves of iron in the body. She said that while levels above 12 ng/mL are considered within normal range and sufficient for the body’s functions, for optimal hair growth, a ferritin level over 80 is necessary. I have a long way to go, since at 41 ng/mL, I’m not lacking in the mineral, but I’m definitely not at the prime end of the spectrum. For boosting iron, Rippenbaum says she likes this liquid supplement. “I find it causes less nausea than the pill formulation and there's some data that liquid formulations are absorbed more readily.” She uses a straw while consuming it as liquid iron can cause teeth staining, and it also needs to be refrigerated after opening.

She also suggested I start taking a low dose of oral minoxidil and prescribed a few sessions of PRP injections into my scalp. I was undecided on the minoxidil because one of its side effects is possible hair growth all over the body, but I didn’t mind trying the PRP, as I knew it might be beneficial in my case. “The ideal candidate for PRP treatment is someone who has early to moderate thinning, so the earlier someone comes in for treatment, the more hair which can be preserved and thickened,” says Dr. Michael B. Wolfeld, M.D., a leading hair loss specialist in New York City, who’s board-certified in both plastic surgery and hair restoration, and also advises the brand. People that have more advanced hair loss and balding of the scalp will not get as much benefit from PRP. “The reason is that PRP does not regrow hair that has been lost and does not grow new hair on a bald scalp. It’s also generally not indicated for patients with alopecia areata or scarring alopecia,” he explains.

That brings us to Great Many’s more accessible price points. PRP, for instance, starts at $650 a session here, while at dermatologists’ offices in NYC, it typically start at $1,000 going up to $1,800 or $2,000. A series of three sessions over as many months is usually recommended. “There are a bunch of people who have heard of PRP but previously have been reluctant because of the cost. Our real goal was to make sure that this was an accessible price point for most people,” says Klebanow.

PRP is obtained from drawing blood, then placing it in a centrifuge to separate the plasma, concentrating the platelet rich portion. “Platelets release specific growth factors which can be beneficial for hair stabilization and thickening,” says Wolfeld. He believes PRP works best in conjunction with other modalities for hair loss, such as topical minoxidil for all genders and oral finasteride for men. “Using PRP in conjunction with these other modalities can enhance the benefit of all the treatments because they work by different mechanisms. But patients can also elect to undergo PRP as a solo treatment and still see benefits,” he says.

When the slim-needle syringes were ready and loaded with my plasma, Rippenbaum suggested I also opt for a local anesthetic to be added to the mix. I’m typically brave with needles, but take my word for it, injecting into the scalp stings like little else. She gave me a stress ball and a vibrating facial massage bar to distract me while she injected, but maybe I’m just tender-headed because I felt every second. Thankfully it was over in a few minutes, and the pain dissipated as the lidocaine kicked in. The only side effect was that my head felt a little heavy for the rest of the day. Still, I was buoyed by knowing that lusher hair might be on the other side – give or take a few months. “PRP has the advantages of both stabilizing hair which is actively thinning, and possibly thickening the hair shaft as well. The width of the hair shaft can increase, the hair can grow longer, and the potential of thickening existing hair will give the appearance of more hair volume,” says Wolfeld.

I went back a month later for another session. It was as painful as the first – like wearing a bonnet of angry bees that release their stingers in you one at a time. But at least I knew what to expect and powered through it. I still have one last one to go. Hair typically takes three months to show changes and I’m hopeful that the PRP and supplements will help kickstart a lush growth cycle. I’ve never been a good plant mom, but I’m kinda invested in being a good hair mom.