PRP before-and-after photos: how to judge clinic claims

Reviewed by The Wellness Team. Last reviewed October 2026.

Short answer: a before-and-after photo only tells you something if the photos are genuine, unedited, taken the same way, and typical of what most people get. UK advertising rules say clinics must be able to prove that. You can ask. If a clinic cannot answer, treat the photos as decoration.

What the UK advertising rules say

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) treat before-and-after photos in the same way as testimonials. Their guidance says advertisers should:

• Hold signed and dated proof that the photos are genuine and have not been manipulated.
• Not exaggerate how well the product or treatment works.
• Have evidence for the impression the images give. In one upheld case, an advertiser used images that were not of its own customers and could not show they were genuine or typical of results.
• Make sure any "after" image is representative of what people can generally get.

CAP guidance on production techniques also flags retouching that affects the very thing being sold, such as smoothing lines in an ad for an eye cream, or hair inserts that add volume in a hair-care ad. For a PRP clinic, the same principle covers lighting, angle, filters, wet or styled hair and hair-fibre sprays.

Six questions to ask any PRP clinic about its photos

1. Are these people treated at this clinic? Stock or borrowed images do not show what this clinic achieves.
2. Are they the same lighting, angle, distance and hair or skin state? Compare the two frames. Shifts in any of these can create or hide a difference.
3. How long after treatment was the "after" taken? Hair PRP is usually judged over months, not days. A photo a week after a facial may show swelling or flush, not a result.
4. How many sessions, and what else was done? If the result came from PRP plus another treatment, the photo should say so.
5. Is this typical? Ask how many people had a similar result and how many did not. An honest clinic can tell you.
6. Do you hold signed and dated proof? The ASA expects advertisers to hold proof that photos are genuine and unaltered, so a clinic should be able to say yes.

What photos cannot tell you

Even honest photos do not replace evidence. Photos show one person. Whether PRP works for a condition is judged by randomised trials, and for several conditions that evidence is mixed. A good clinic explains both: what the research says, and what it has seen with the people it treats, with the difference made clear.

Other things worth checking before you book: who will actually carry out the treatment, what a single session costs and what the course costs in total, and whether there is a written plan that says when you will review whether it is working. Our checklist before you sign covers those.

How we handle this

We do not use stock results, and we tell people that PRP evidence varies by condition. If you would like to see what is realistic for your own situation before you decide, ask us. Message us on WhatsApp

Sources: ASA/CAP, Before and after photos (asa.org.uk/advice-online/before-and-after-photos.html), updated 5 June 2025. ASA/CAP, Cosmetics: the use of production techniques (asa.org.uk/advice-online/cosmetics-the-use-of-production-techniques.html).

This article is general information and not a substitute for medical advice.