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- A traditional treatment for androgenetic alopecia involved being
licked by a cow. It has now been revealed that cow saliva contains
low concentrations of epidermal growth factor, a chemical that
can promote hair follicle activity.
- Dog urine, spider webs, egg yolks, cow saliva, and German Army
horse salve have all been promoted as cures for alopecia.
- A Doctor at a major hair-loss institute in England says the
best way to avoid going bald: drink a lot of alcohol. It is possible
that drinking alcohol to excess blocks hair loss - either that
or when your are drunk you just don't care.
- A popular quack treatment for androgenetic alopecia in Japan
recommended washing hair with a bottle of special shampoo while
listening to a CD of Mozart.
- Cleopatra proposed a baldness cure made from ground up burnt
domestic mice, horse teeth, bear grease, and deer marrow to treat
the baldness of Julius Caeser.
- Ancient Egyptians developed a wide variety of treatments for
baldness such as a concoction of fat from a lion, hippopotamus,
crocodile, goose, snake, and ibex to be liberally applied to bald
skin.
- The great Greek doctor Hippocrates treated his patients' baldness
with pigeon droppings.
- Aristotle used a topical application of goats urine to remedy
his own baldness.
 In
1886 when Henry Baily registered a trade mark for the famous Seven
Sutherland Sisters' "hair tonic" the preparation was
listed as containing borax, salt, quinine, cantharides, bay rum,
gylcerine, rose water, alcohol, and soap. An analysis conducted
in 1896 by a medical journal found the hair grower contained 56%
water of witch hazel, 44% bay rum, salt, hydrochloric acid, and
trace amounts of other salts such as magnesia. - An Ayurveda guru in India recommends headstands to increase
blood flow to the scalp, coupled with a herb called bhringaraj,
which is supposed to counter an imbalance in one of the three
Indian life forces. The guru is bald.
- In both India and China meditation and headstands are traditional
baldness cures.
- One traditional Chinese medicine for baldness involves applying
a mixture of dried and ground up animal testes and herbs.
- Romans tried to cure baldness with a concotion made from sulfur,
tar, and urine from various animals of the mediterranean.
- The famous Barry's Tricopherous was first made available in
the late 1840s by "professor" Alexander C. Barry. Barry
actually started out as a wig maker in New York and as far is
known never actually received a degree or the official title of
professor. The ingredients of Barry's Tricopherous were; 97% alcohol,
1.5% castor oil, and 1% tincture of cantharides (spanish fly).
- Irritant compunds such as cantharides or, in some other hair
growth products of the 1800s, capsicum were thought to stimulate
the scalp by increasing the blood supply to the hair follicle.
- The Federal Drug Administration has investigated
around 250,000 claims for products that regrow hair. Only three
have so far been passed with FDA approval, 2% minoxidil, 5%
minoxidil, and Propecia.
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