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Many women who sit down in this clinic have already been told their blood tests are “normal” — and their hair is still falling out. Both things are usually true. A standard GP panel is run to rule out disease, not to find the reasons hair sheds; the markers that matter most for hair are either missing from it or read against ranges that have nothing to do with follicles. Doctor-ordered blood tests for hair loss are a different exercise: the right panel, chosen for your history, interpreted by a doctor who treats hair for a living — with your scalp examination alongside, so a number is never mistaken for a diagnosis.
We arrange bloods from our London clinic in Parsons Green, if needed as part of your consultation and ensure you receive your results with a personalised written plan at the end — not just a list of values.
Which blood tests actually matter for hair loss
The panel is not a fishing trip — each marker earns its place by changing what we do next. Ferritin, because iron stores feed the follicle’s furious cell division and drop quietly with periods, pregnancies and plant-based eating. Thyroid function in full — TSH with T4, and antibodies where indicated — because thyroid disease is a great mimic of every other hair complaint and peaks in exactly the decades women present to us. Vitamin D, chronically low in the UK and involved in follicle cycling. B12 and folate, especially for vegetarian and vegan women. A full blood count, to catch the anaemia behind heavy periods. And where your history suggests it — irregular cycles, PMOS/PCOS, perimenopause, new medication — we add the hormonal layer: testosterone, SHBG and the free androgen index, the numbers that explain androgen-driven thinning even when “total testosterone” looks unremarkable.
What we deliberately don’t do is sell you a fifty-marker “wellness screen”. Markers without treatment consequences are decoration, and you would be paying for them.
Why “your bloods are normal” and “your hair is thinning” are both true
Laboratory ranges answer a population question — is this value compatible with broad health? Hair asks a stricter one. Ferritin is the textbook example: many labs flag deficiency only below 15–30 µg/L, while hair visibly struggles at levels well above that line — which is why a woman can be told her results are normal while her ponytail halves. Thyroid has the same problem in miniature: a TSH inside the range but drifting, in a woman with cold intolerance and a shedding crown, is a finding worth acting on, not a reassurance. And the biggest miss of all is not a number: female pattern hair loss — the most common diagnosis we make — produces perfectly normal bloods. Testing without a scalp examination risks treating a ferritin level while the actual cause proceeds untreated underneath. This is why our bloods come attached to a doctor, not just a phlebotomist.
| GP / NHS panel | Online test kit | Hair GP doctor panel | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chosen for hair? | Chosen for general health; some hair markers | Fixed menu, no history taken | Selected from your history by Dr Amy |
| Ferritin read for hair | Read against standard lab ranges | Value with a generic range note | Interpreted against hair-specific thresholds |
| Hormones & SHBG | Sometimes included | Extra cost, no interpretation | Added where history indicates |
| Scalp examination | Not usually | No | Trichoscopy at consultation |
| What you leave with | Results from your GP | A results report | Written diagnosis + treatment plan |
Blood draws are arranged from the clinic — the panel itself typically £100–200 — with results reviewed inside the £300 consultation; where your GP or an existing report has recent results, bring them — we interpret rather than repeat.
How testing works at Hair GP
The pathway is built to end in answers, not in a results email. You book the fifty-minute consultation; Dr Amy takes your history — cycles, diet, medication, family pattern, timeline — and examines your scalp under magnification first, because the examination decides which bloods are worth drawing. The panel is then taken or arranged, and when results return they are read in context by Dr Amy: your levels against hair-specific thresholds, your examination findings, your story. You receive a written plan that says what is driving your loss, what we are correcting, at what dose, and when we re-test — usually around three months for a corrected deficiency, because “took the supplements” and “fixed the level” are different claims, and only one of them helps hair recover.
If bloods reveal something that belongs with your GP or an endocrinologist — a genuinely underactive thyroid, an unexpected anaemia — we say so plainly and write the referral letter.
What patients say
One of the most helpful parts was piecing together all of my health issues and blood tests to review how they all interact … Being able to prescribe medicines is a real plus point and I've come away with a solid action plan.
During the consultation, she carried out a thorough review of my medical history, including a forensic examination of the medications, supplements and hair products I was already using. … Dr Amy explained my diagnosis clearly and discussed several evidence-based treatment options at different price points, allowing me to make an informed decision about my care.
Why corrected bloods take months to show in your hair
Hair reports on the past. Every follicle runs a long cycle, and a deficiency acts by pushing hairs out of their growing phase early — so even once a level is corrected, the recovery has to arrive through the cycle: shedding settles over roughly two to three months, and new density follows over six to twelve. That slow timeline is the reason we anchor every plan to photographs and a re-test date rather than to daily mirror checks — and the reason any product promising deficiency-driven regrowth in weeks is telling you a story.
One practical note: if your shedding started two to four months after an illness, crash diet, new medication or major stress, bring that timeline to the consultation — it frequently changes which tests matter and stops you paying for the wrong ones. Unsure whether testing is even the right first step? The real question is whether your testing is up to date. Bloods from within the last year are usually fine to work from. If you have none, you can discuss testing at the consultation, or book an appointment that includes the Hair GP blood panel. Just a note, you are also free to bring your NHS results along for Dr Amy to review if you’ve had these done recently, and if they cover the right markers, you may not need more testing. Any blood tests completed at Hair GP are taken by Dr Amy herself and there is an additional charge for the bloods on top of the consultation fee.
Not sure where to start? Ask the clinic first.
Dr Amy Vowler · GMC-registered GP · GMC 7451097
Message us on WhatsApp or give us a ring. We can't give clinical advice over a message, but we can tell you how the consultation works, what it costs and whether Dr Amy is the right person for you. No obligation, nothing to prepare.
The core panel is ferritin, full thyroid function (TSH with T4, antibodies where indicated), vitamin D, B12 and folate, and a full blood count. Where your history points to a hormonal driver (irregular cycles, perimenopause, or PMOS, which used to be called PCOS), testosterone, SHBG and the free androgen index are added. The right panel depends on your history, which is why ours is chosen by a doctor rather than sold as a fixed menu.
GP panels rule out disease; they are not designed around hair. Ferritin can sit inside a lab range yet well below what follicles need, thyroid values can drift meaningfully while staying “in range”, and the most common cause of all, female pattern hair loss, produces completely normal bloods. Normal results narrow the search; they do not end it. Interpretation against hair-specific thresholds, with a scalp examination, is what turns numbers into a diagnosis.
Most UK labs call ferritin above 15 µg/L normal, but for hair we aim for above 70 µg/L. Normal and optimal for hair are two different things. The honest answer is that your target depends on your history, symptoms and the rest of your results, which is exactly why a number on a PDF, without interpretation, so often leads women astray.
Biotin is the important one: high-dose biotin can interfere with thyroid and hormone assays and produce misleading results, so we ask you to pause it for several days before testing. Iron supplements are usually taken away from the draw rather than stopped. Bring a list of everything you take to the consultation; timing the tests correctly is part of ordering them properly.
Testing at Hair GP sits inside the consultation pathway: the fifty-minute assessment with Dr Amy is £300, with the blood panel arranged from clinic as an additional cost, typically £100, 200, depending on which markers your history actually requires. If you have recent results from your GP or an online service, bring them: we would rather interpret existing numbers than charge you to repeat them.
No, and be wary of anyone who implies they can. Bloods identify contributors like low iron, thyroid dysfunction or vitamin D deficiency, but the pattern of loss on your scalp is diagnosed by examination under magnification. The two frequently run together: correcting a deficiency while missing pattern hair loss is the classic way women lose a treatment year. Results are always read alongside trichoscopy at your consultation.
Understand what's causing your hair loss
A 50 minute consultation with a Hair GP doctor includes scalp microscopy and a personalised treatment plan, giving you clear answers.
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