Throughout history, many people have claimed to be in possession of the ultimate cure for hair loss. Greek philosopher Hippocrates swore by his very own treatment that consisted of applying pigeon poop on his scalp. Nobody knows whether it worked or not is not in any record of history.
But neither is a mention of Hippocrates growing a new luscious set of locks, so conclude from that what you will. So, none of the many obvious and not so obvious marketing ads that claim to now hold the real secret to curing hair loss are nothing new.
The only difference is that now they can buy media campaigns and studies to prop up their offer with legitimacy fraudulently. But all that still amounts to simple hair loss quackery treatments.
Said hair loss quackery is not only playing with the hopes of the consumer but tarnishing the reputation of hair loss treatments. Exposing any hair loss quackery for the falsehood that it serves as a public service towards the consumers and the field at the same time.
Hair Loss Quackery Treatments
The following are just some of the most egregious examples of hair loss quackery seen in our days. Exposing them to the public awareness grows will, in time, help to make them disappear completely.
Anti-Hair Loss Shampoos
They sound nice, don’t they? After all, if you were to make an ‘anti-hair loss’ product, wouldn’t you put it in something everyone already applies to their hair? Genius, is it not?
Not quite. See, first of all, you rinse the shampoo out shortly after applying it, so there’s no time for any anti-hair loss substance to be effective.
Secondly, shampoo cleanses the scalp by taking everything out of it, including natural hair oils. How could it actually add something significant and not take it away immediately?
The answer is because there is no such thing as an anti-hair loss shampoo; you are just buying normal shampoo with different marketing.
The best you could do is a hair thickening shampoo that leaves a temporary thickness effect on the hair. That’s it.
Low Light Laser Therapy for Hair Loss
This one was big for second in the ’90s, and somehow it’s still alive. The idea is that applying the low light laser stimulates the hair follicles to speed up their growth and increases thickness over time.
This was apparently proven by experiments with lab rats with hair loss from chemotherapy and alopecia areata. This was, apparently, very successful in restoring their hair after some time. The problem is that hair loss from both of those conditions eventually grows back on their own.
The use of the low light laser might have done nothing at all. The best study in their effect in humans so far yielded only a 39% success rate after 14 weeks, and the methodology of it is rather weak. In short, avoid this hair loss quackery treatment.
Steroid Injection for Hair Loss
Let’s get this straight. Patients afflicted with alopecia areata sometimes receive corticosteroid injections directly in the scalp. Corticosteroids are a type of steroids, and they sometimes speed up the hair growth from it but cause some inflammation.
But this only works with alopecia areata because the hair shed from it grows back after the condition is under control.
Anyone recommending it to treat androgenetic alopecia (baldness) is suggesting hair loss quackery. Hair loss from androgenetic alopecia is permanent, no amount of steroid injections will restore it. Avoid anyone saying otherwise.
Platelet Rich Plasma for Hair Loss
This is one has got to be the most elaborate hair loss quackery yet, Hippocrates and his pigeons’ stools look great in comparison. It goes like this:
It takes a bit of your blood to isolate and concentrate a compound in it called “platelet”. The compound is then injected into your blading area, and your hair follicles should rejuvenate thanks to it.
Sounds awesome, right? There’s even some legitimate research to back up some of the properties of platelets. But it does not work, and nobody has proved it anyway. What is worse is that the treatment is continuous, meaning regular injections to your scalp.
The constant needling of it does create small scar tissue that, once done enough times, starts creating tiny bald spots close by. In short, save yourself the time and do not even attempt it, it’s pure hair loss quackery.
In Conclusion
The faster we expose hair loss quackery, the faster can legitimate treatments enter the public conscience. The tarnishing of this field has gone on long enough. Cleansing it of quackery benefits both the consumer and the practitioners by allowing real solutions to come forth.
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