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History of Hair Loss Treatments
Hair loss treatments have come a long way over the years. New technology and modern synthetic materials mean that if you have a problem with hair loss you no longer have to stand out in a crowd. But it wasn't always like this. In fact, be thankful you weren't born before these enlightened times: you could have been visiting a witch to remedy your problem, or worse.
1500 B.C.
In fact, magical chants were behind the first ever transcribed treatment for hair loss, as discovered in the Ebers Papyrus of Egypt, the oldest medical text ever found. The Egyptians would utter a magical invocation to their sun god, followed by an orally taken solution made of onions, lead, iron, honey and alabaster.
750 B.C.
If that doesn't sound like your cup of tea, you should probably be thankful that you're not living in China circa 8th century B.C. They liked the idea of catching a green snake, putting it in a silk bag and beating it senseless before pounding it, mixing it in with a kind of root and boiling the resulting mixture. Applying this to the scalp under a full moon was said to have remarkable hair growth properties. The jury's still out.
400 B.C.
Hippocrates, the Greek ‘Father of Modern Medicine’, formulated his own hair loss treatment – a hideous mixture of pigeon droppings, opium, beetroot, horseradish and selected spices to be applied as a paste to the scalp. Needless to say, it failed miserably. Hippocrates eventually became completely bald and since then severe instances of baldness have become known as ‘Hippocratic baldness’. He was, however, the first to discover the connection between hormones and hair loss. He noted that eunuchs never become bald.
1700 A.D.
Native Americans, it's said, used the urine of a pregnant woman to restore their locks, which isn't one to try at home. They would also grind scorpions into a paste, occasionally, and apply this to their heads.
1795 A.D.
King Louis VIII realised that if you couldn’t cure hair loss, you could still cover it up. He took to wearing long flowing wigs, which set off a bit of a trend starting with other members of his court – even those with full heads of real hair! The fashion spread across the channel and from their to other parts of the New World.
1850AD
The era of snake oil. Hundreds of hair loss treatments hit the market, mainly in the US – they were nearly all concocted with making money in mind – and none of them worked. Often they consisted of little more than a mixture of alcohol, dye and water.
1939
The first grafts. Doctor Okuda, a dermatologist from Japan, demonstrated a method for transplanting hair for the head and moustache. No-one paid much attention to his work until some time after the war.
In 1959, an American, Dr Orentreich, considerably refined these transplantion techniques.
1980
Further refinements of transplantation techniques developed into micrograft surgery (transplants of groups of 1 to 3 hairs), a technique that became very popular.
1988
Medical tests in 1978 where the drug Minocidil was used, showed an interesting side effect: hair thinning slowed and areas where hair had been lost began sprouting again! In 1988 the drug finally gained approval from the FDA in the US under the brand name Rogaine.
1996
Follicular Unit Micrografts
A technique that is still current today which involves selective micrografting in a way that preserves the maximum amount of healthy hair follicles thereby producing a more natural looking appearance.
1998
Another wonder drug discovered as a result of ‘side effects’. Finasterade, a drug used to treat people with prostate gland problems, slows down and sometimes even stops certain types of hair loss in men. Hair regrowth sometimes also occurs. Now approved under the brand name ‘propecia’.
1500 B.C.
In fact, magical chants were behind the first ever transcribed treatment for hair loss, as discovered in the Ebers Papyrus of Egypt, the oldest medical text ever found. The Egyptians would utter a magical invocation to their sun god, followed by an orally taken solution made of onions, lead, iron, honey and alabaster.
750 B.C.
If that doesn't sound like your cup of tea, you should probably be thankful that you're not living in China circa 8th century B.C. They liked the idea of catching a green snake, putting it in a silk bag and beating it senseless before pounding it, mixing it in with a kind of root and boiling the resulting mixture. Applying this to the scalp under a full moon was said to have remarkable hair growth properties. The jury's still out.
400 B.C.
Hippocrates, the Greek ‘Father of Modern Medicine’, formulated his own hair loss treatment – a hideous mixture of pigeon droppings, opium, beetroot, horseradish and selected spices to be applied as a paste to the scalp. Needless to say, it failed miserably. Hippocrates eventually became completely bald and since then severe instances of baldness have become known as ‘Hippocratic baldness’. He was, however, the first to discover the connection between hormones and hair loss. He noted that eunuchs never become bald.
1700 A.D.
Native Americans, it's said, used the urine of a pregnant woman to restore their locks, which isn't one to try at home. They would also grind scorpions into a paste, occasionally, and apply this to their heads.
1795 A.D.
King Louis VIII realised that if you couldn’t cure hair loss, you could still cover it up. He took to wearing long flowing wigs, which set off a bit of a trend starting with other members of his court – even those with full heads of real hair! The fashion spread across the channel and from their to other parts of the New World.
1850AD
The era of snake oil. Hundreds of hair loss treatments hit the market, mainly in the US – they were nearly all concocted with making money in mind – and none of them worked. Often they consisted of little more than a mixture of alcohol, dye and water.
1939
The first grafts. Doctor Okuda, a dermatologist from Japan, demonstrated a method for transplanting hair for the head and moustache. No-one paid much attention to his work until some time after the war.
In 1959, an American, Dr Orentreich, considerably refined these transplantion techniques.
1980
Further refinements of transplantation techniques developed into micrograft surgery (transplants of groups of 1 to 3 hairs), a technique that became very popular.
1988
Medical tests in 1978 where the drug Minocidil was used, showed an interesting side effect: hair thinning slowed and areas where hair had been lost began sprouting again! In 1988 the drug finally gained approval from the FDA in the US under the brand name Rogaine.
1996
Follicular Unit Micrografts
A technique that is still current today which involves selective micrografting in a way that preserves the maximum amount of healthy hair follicles thereby producing a more natural looking appearance.
1998
Another wonder drug discovered as a result of ‘side effects’. Finasterade, a drug used to treat people with prostate gland problems, slows down and sometimes even stops certain types of hair loss in men. Hair regrowth sometimes also occurs. Now approved under the brand name ‘propecia’.