I'm not sure why my timeline is full of baldness cure stories. I don't know what possible relevance this could have to me. But my timeline is full of baldness cure stories.
I think it might have all started with this one in Popular Mechanics about a week ago.
…hair loss sufferers might have a new option in their toolkit. And if early results hold up, this drug could prove to be the most effective solution yet.
That’s because unlike existing treatments like minoxidil and finasteride, which merely slow down hair loss, PP405 sparks new hair growth. “PP405 wakes up dormant hair follicles, so the mechanism is very different,” says Heather Christofk, Ph.D., a biochemist at UCLA, whose lab helped develop the molecule. Their work is published in the journal Nature Cell Biology.
Which is fine if you were interested in that sort of thing, I guess. And 20 years ago, I would've been all over it. But it's been a long time since I was a hairy guy, at least up top, and I've got used to shearing myself and not really caring what my remnant hair looks like - because it’s always stubble.
I used to drive across town to a cheap Greek barber in West End once every two or three weeks to get the zero cut for $25. But even that marginal expense and inconvenience is a thing of the past since I decided to start doing it myself.
If I took a pill or a gel or whatever this treatment turns into and suddenly had to start looking after my hair again… well, I don't know that I'd be up for that.
Also, I've had three melanomas cut out of my scalp so far, and if I want to grow back the hair, how would my dermatologist be able to spot his next ski trip coming up? Growing my hair back would literally kill me.