Admit it. If someone said you could cure your hair loss by rubbing rabbit poop on your head, you would be outside running around and trying to catch all the rabbits that run through your yard. This may sound like a ridiculous way to treat baldness, but it isn’t much crazier than the other ways that have been used throughout history. Instead of fretting about all the things you have tried up to this point, have a laugh at what people tried in the past. After all, people have been trying to cure baldness for centuries.
Shock Therapy for Hair Loss
Doctors used to zap people with electricity in an effort to treat irrational behavior. Shocking the brain doesn’t sound like much fun for the recipient. However, at a lower current, medical professionals used to treat hair loss by shocking the scalp and hair follicles back into action. It seems like a treatment plan that would have been created by Dr. Frankenstein, but it was surprisingly looked at as a serious way to regrow hair back in the day. The problem was that the shocks would often be too intense.
It may surprise you to know that this electric shock treatment hair loss plan has been making a comeback over the last couple of decades. Of course, the level of electricity used is on a much lower scale. It is more of a pulsing treatment than one long continuous shock. Plus, according to a study from 1990, it showed extremely positive results. If it can stimulate hair growth, you can be certain people will try it out.
Simply Vacuum Your Hair Longer
It may seem strange to attach a type of vacuum to your head in an effort to regrow hair, but there is science behind it. Back in the 1930s, Dr. Andre Cueto was concentrating on trying to cure baldness. He believed that hair fell out of the scalp because of a lack of circulation. Interestingly enough, there are many hair loss treatment plans nowadays that concentrate on improved circulation as the main way to make hair regrow.
In the 1920s, vacuum devices were created for hair loss but the power behind them was too strong. People would leave the treatment with a swollen head. Dr. Cueto theorized that an alternating suction combined with brief pulses of air pressure could do the trick. The Crosley Corporation listened to Cueto and created the device known as Xervac. While today it does sound a bit like a Transformer character, in 1937 it was in barbershops, salons, beauty parlors, and doctors’ offices. Everyone wanted to regrow their lost hair. Did it work? Hard to tell for sure. But if it worked well, it would probably still be around today.
The Thermocap Was Considered a Medical Breakthrough
The Thermocap was a device from the 1920s that was shaped a bit like an old-fashioned dunce cap and was worn for fifteen minutes a day in an effort to help people regrow hair. The Thermocap basically emitted a bit of heat and blue light in an effort to “awaken” dormant hair follicles. The results were less than desirable though and the Thermocap slowly faded from view.
However, flash forward almost a hundred years, and the laser cap is sort of like the next-generation Thermocap, but with more science and research behind it. No longer shaped like a dunce cap of course, the laser cap has been proven to help with hair regrowth and limit the amount of hair lost daily. Sometimes it just takes the next generation to take an idea and expand upon it.
Various Snake Oil Ointments
In the nineteenth century, the Seven Sutherland Sisters’ Hair Grower ointment was sold by a family that traveled around with sideshows and carnivals. They peddled their ointment as a miracle hair growth treatment and said it was responsible for all of their great manes of hair. While the whole family did have extremely long and thick hair, it was more genetics than anything. Back then, everyone seemed to be offering up miracle ointments that could cure just about anything that ails you. The Sutherlands probably sold quite a bit of their salve. Before people realized it was not growing more hair for them, the Sutherlands were long gone on to the next town.
How about Ground-Up Mice, Horse Teeth, and Bear Grease?
The Romans were famous back in the day for wearing constructed wreaths around their heads like a halo while wearing what appeared to be robes. Who knew that these wreaths were often being worn just to camouflage a person’s baldness?
Julius Caesar was losing his hair and his lover Cleopatra recommended trying out a home remedy consisting of ground-up mice, horse teeth, and bear grease in an effort to activate those dormant follicles. Where did Cleopatra come up with this home remedy? Who knows? She could have just been messing with him. In any case, he kept wearing the wreath because his hair never did grow back to his liking.
Castration to Treat Hair Loss?
Castration was often performed back in the day to keep certain men from reproducing. It greatly reduces the amount of testosterone produced in the body and eliminates all potential sperm. Unfortunately, in the past, it was done to young boys in the church choir. Castration would keep their voices high and even decades later they would still sound the same. Being able to reach those high notes comes at a price.
On the other hand, if castration is completed before a boy hits puberty, it stops male pattern baldness before it can begin. But don’t believe for a second that getting castrated now will reverse your current hair loss. The castration has to happen before the hair loss begins. Still, most men would not believe castration is worth it just to keep their hair.
