Our old friend Homer decided life without hair was getting him down, making people treat him badly and even preventing him from getting a promotion at work. He sees an advert for ‘Demoxinil’ on TV and decides to take some serious action…
In the episode Homer users ‘Dimoxinil’ (a play on words on ‘Minoxidil’), gravity boots and a scalp massager. But is there actually some truth in these crazy hair loss treatments?
Hair… …just like everybody else
What Homer Did to Cure his Hair Loss
Step 1: Dimoxinil Application
Homer applying the fictional ‘Dimoxinil’
Dimoxinil is a play on words on ‘Minoxidil’, which is the active ingredient in Rogaine and similar topical hair loss treatments. It works by increasing blood circulation in the scalp, which helps carry nutrients to the hair via the bloodstream.
Does it work in real life?
Results from even high strength Minoxidil products are mediocre at best. In fact I’ve never heard of anyone experiencing noticeable hair regrowth from Minoxidil use. It may help slow down hair loss, but that’s about the most you can expect.
Step 2: Gravity boots and scalp massager
Homer massages his scalp while hanging upside down
Scalp massagers are occasionally seen in the world of hair growth products. Again these work by increasing blood circulation in the scalp, which helps feed the hair and stimulate hair growth.
Does it work in real life?
Whilst some hair loss experts advise scalp massages to help stimulate hair growth, you’d have to spend a fair bit of time everyday to get any results from this. Hanging upside down does achieve one thing though: it forces blood into the capillaries right at the surface of the scalp skin. These capillaries usually have extremely weak blood circulation in hair loss sufferers, so forcing blood into them using gravity will help open them up, making unused capillaries (that are supposed to feed the hair) start working properly again.
The results
I have hair, I have hair. Look, look…
Homer is pretty happy when he wakes up with a full, thick head of hair. He gets a promotion and even an unusual new personal assistant.
Read next
Whats the best shampoo for hair loss? Is it possible to do any of this in reality?
No. There’s no hair loss treatment that will regrow your hair overnight. But you can use these principles to great effect.
It’s interesting that the Simpsons’ writers went into so much detail on increasing blood circulation in the scalp. This tells me that the main writer of this episode has some experience of hair loss treatments.
One of the keys to regrowing hair is feeding it. In order to feed it you need to increase blood flow to the follicles. I mentioned earlier that the capillaries nearest the scalp surface in hair loss sufferers tend to be almost completely redundant, meaning the hair is literally starving to death. By forcing blood into these dying capillaries you can intensely feed your hair and regrow it.
To learn how to do this in reality, take a look at my 2 minute a day hair regrowth technique.
