Mythical Treatments

The mythology of hair loss is a book unto itself. Wearing hats won't cause it, doctors say. Nor will standing on your head to increase blood flow cure it. Massaging your scalp and brushing your hair won't save you. Toweling off your head lightly rather than vigorously will only postpone the inevitable for a few days.

Perhaps the biggest myth is that cleaning your scalp of sebum (the semifluid secretion of glands attached to the follicle) will unclog those follicles and allow hair to grow. Surgeons will tell you that when they're performing transplants, there's no trapped hair to be found.

In 1989, FDA banned all nonprescription hair creams, lotions, or other external products claiming to grow hair or prevent baldness. And it has taken action against companies that continue to sell such products. Advertisements for "hair farming" products and others that hint they can regrow hair are still plentiful.