Bald Like An Eagle? New Treatment Could Be As Easy As Wearing A Hat

Contrary to popular belief, male pattern baldness is inherited from the mother, not father. Men can afford to relax a little: that comb-over may not be necessary. Besides, we have all heard that men look better as they age.

Unfortunately, we have seen that not all of them age like Norse gods. Seeing the once lustrous head hair on your hands strikes a feeling of despair many men can relate to.

Yet, there may be hope for those balding. Reversing baldness could someday be a reality and it could be as easy as wearing a hat. The device could be non-invasive and cheap, we have the engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to thank.

"I think this will be a very practical solution to hair regeneration," says Xudong Wang, a professor of materials science and engineering at UW-Madison.

The device is motion-activated, allowing its minimalist appearance due to the lack of a bulky battery pack. But do not expect it to cause follicles to sprout out of nowhere. Instead, it reactivates hair-producing structures that have gone dormant.

This could prove useful in treating people going through the early stages of pattern balding. Unfortunately, not for someone who has been as bald as a billiard ball for several years.

Wang is a leading expert in the design and manufacture of energy-harvesting devices. He laid the groundwork for electric bandages that stimulate wound-healing and a weight-loss implant that tricks the stomach into feeling full using gentle electricity.

"Electric stimulations can help many different body functions," says Wang. "But before our work there was no really good solution for low-profile devices that provide gentle but effective stimulations."

If you are waiting to hear the catch, there is no catch: the devices do not seem to cause any unpleasant side effects. This is in contrast to other baldness treatments like Propecia, which can cause sexual dysfunction, depression, and anxiety.

In fact, when compared with two different compounds currently used in baldness treatments, the devices were just as effective in stimulating hair growth in hairless mice.

"It's a self-activated system, very simple and easy to use," says Wang. "The energy is very low so it will cause minimal side effects."

If seeing is believing, you may find the description of this technology in the ACS Nano journal. The researchers have patented the concept and hope to move forward with human testing soon.