Growing New Hair

Growing New Hair How to Keep What you have have and fill in where it is thin.

Introduction If you purchased this book, or are merely browsing through its pages, you're probably one of the twenty to fifty million men in the United States who, to one extent or another, suffer needlessly from thinning hair and baldness. What's more, it's all too likely that you've already been burned by someone peddling false hope, and that because of your miseducation, you despair of even preserving your hair, no less restoring it. Or, you may be the mother, wife, sister or daughter, girlfriend or mate of such a man. I bring you good news. I've discovered the simple answer you've been searching for but thought you'd never find. Unfortunately, Unfortunately, however, my experience has taught me that you will resist my discovery because of its very simplicity. I also know that you expect me to try to t o sell you something. Let me dispel your fears: one of the unique advantages of my system is that it's free. Other than the priceless information contained in this book, you don't have to buy anything to stop your thinning and restore your hair. Instead of hyping you on some gimmick, I'm going to teach you how to cooperate with nature — and let nature nature take care of the rest. rest. All I ask is that you open your mind to the ideas I'm about to present, and then give me six to twelve hours during the next six months of your life. That's two to four minutes a day. Applied properly every day for these few minutes, my hair-growing technique will provide you with all the firsthand evidence you'll ever need to convince you to make it a part of each day for the rest of your life. It will demonstrate to you that despite what all the so-called experts say, you can preserve can preserve and restore your hair — by yourself — without fancy fancy gimmicks gimmicks and at no cost. cost. I know because I've I've seen my technique technique work for the thousands of men who patronize my Boston shops. That's why I'm known in my city as Margo, the Miracle Hair Worker. I've been on a crusade to teach my men the truth about hair loss for over thirteen years, ever since I graduated from barber college. My men are very special to me, and that's why I went to barber school in the first place. My boyfriend at the time was thinning and, to be quite honest, he was afraid he'd lose his sex appeal. So the very first question I asked my instructor, Master Barber Joseph Coridio, was: "What causes baldness and can anything be done about it?" He gave me an answer that I've tested so many many times I've lost count, and there's there's no doubt in my mind that he wasright. In fact, I applied his advice immediately on two of my fellow students and it worked so well they wrote "Good luck to Margo the hairgrower" on the back of my diploma. Joe was so matter-of-fact about his information that I thought thought it was common knowledge. knowledge. Later I realized, however, however, that most people were not Only unaware of the t he simple truth about hair loss and hair restoration; they ridiculed and resisted it! Yet they would waste waste huge amounts of money on the most improbable improbable — and sometimes dangerous — "cures" promoted by misleading advertisements advertisements and endorsed by "experts" "experts" with something to sell. New customers spend their first hour in my chair learning the reasons for their hair loss and the simple procedures I recommend for scalp hygiene and regular hair care. I can't tell you how many men look at me incredulously when I'm done and say, "Is that all I have to do to get my hair back?" My response is always the same: "You'd prefer that I offer you an extract of bull's testicle for fifty dollars and instruct you to rub it vigorously into your head, wouldn't you?" But rather than fleece you, it's my goal to educate you to care for yourself. I never sell my customers a bill of goods because it's my policy to generate repeat business. Some of my men have been with me for more than ten years, and not one of them who follows my advice is thinning. The degree I earned at barber college was in trichology, the study of hair and its diseases. As a trichologist, I spend eight hours of every working day diagnosing the scalp and hair conditions of my customers, advising them on proper care and treatment, and cutting and styling their hair. Over the years my customers have included some of America's leading entertainment, sports, and public figures. I've educated and created hairstyles for Bob Conrad (I gave him his short boyish cut) and Gabe Kaplan, Robert Kennedy, Jr., Tommy Heinsohn, Johnny Bench, Jim Rice, John Havlicek, Russ Francis, and Phil Esposito (who wrote in my guest book, "Cover my bald spot, that's all I ask," and who grew new hair in his thinning area), among many others. I styled so many members of the Celtics that the Boston Globe once Globe once wrote that I stood an even chance of being named the team's coach. I wanted famous men among my customers because other men respect and admire them and copy aspects of their lifestyles — including their hair-care and hairstyling hairstyling practices. That's why why I arranged to give the Red Sox's Ken Harrelson ("The Hawk") a long-hair cut on television in 1966.

Ken's public acceptance of that cut sparked the popularity of Stylish long hair for men across the country. It changed men’s attitudes toward their hair and started a national trend that, I believe, will reduce the incidence of baldness in years to come. Why? Because hair that's preened and conscientiously cared for is hair that stands a better chance of staying on your head. My efforts to spare men the agony of losing their hair have been frustrated again and again by the misleading pronouncements of self-styled experts. Consider the following advice given prominent play a few years ago in Sunday newspapers across the country and often cited by journalists writing about male baldness. HAIR ADVICE. If you want to keep your hair, don't massage your scalp vigorously and don't vigorously comb and brush your hair. So warns Dr. Joseph B. Jerome of the Department of Drugs, American Medical Association. "Shampoo and dry gently, and avoid scalp massage." That's Dr. Jerome's advice in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Neither the scalp nor the hair roots need massage, says Dr. Jerome. Vigorous scalp massage is mechanically damaging to the hair. Vigorous manipulation of hair, whether by massaging, shampooing, drying, brushing, or combing, tends to break hair mechanically and thus to produce characteristic artificial alopecia (baldness). My experience has so convinced me that this advice is wrong that I went to some trouble to find out  just who Dr. Jerome is and what documentation he had for his claims. It turned out that he is not a medical doctor, but a pharmacologist. His specialty is drugs, and he is entitled to his opinion. I caution the men who follow his advice, however, that, in my opinion, they stand an excellent chance of going bald. Admittedly, I'm not a doctor either. I'm a barber, and proud of it. My profession has a long history closely associated with the healing arts. The barber-surgeons of the Middle Ages eventually gave rise to the dentists and surgeons of today, and these early specialists made many historic medical discoveries, usually by experimenting on themselves first. I've followed this approach. There is nothing I'm going to suggest to you that I haven't tried on myself. In addition, I've had the benefit of practicing my craft on more than 10,000 men who have passed through my portals. I don't think anyone has made as thorough a clinical study of the modern male and his hair as I have over the years. But, then, I've always liked being around men; it excites me to make them look and feel good. I think of myself as the liberator of the male ego. My specialty is remaking a man's image and rebuilding his confidence, and I know that it starts with his hair, the symbol of male virility. My goal is to bring an end to "male pattern baldness" and I know from personal experience that it can be done. Thanks to my instructor's advice I saved my boyfriend's hair, and I know I can help you save yours. Joe Coridio knew the answer to the problem of male baldness and passed it on to me. Now I'd like to pass it on to you. How Hair Comes and Why It Goes an obsession with their hair once they start to lose it, most men are generally uninformed about its proper care. What is worse, the great majority are often wmnformed. Lack of education lies at the root of the male baldness problem in this country, and male baldness has reached epidemic proportions, affecting the happiness and productivity of millions of men. The misconceptions about baldness that fill most men's heads only perpetuate the suffering. DESPITE

We should provide our children with accurate information so they will develop good hair-care habits early in their lives. If they do, they will never have to suffer the misery involved in losing their hair. Instead, most men usually take for granted the luxuriant growth they start out with in life, until one morning they look in the mirror to discover that they are noticeably thinning. That's often when the panic sets in. Frantic and helpless, they become easy prey for the quacks hawking their "miracle cures." When I first entered barber school I knew practically nothing about the way hair grows and how it is nourished. That's why I had to ask my instructor. But Joe Coridio didn't reveal any "secrets" to me.

He didn't have to. He waved aside my question and referred me to the facts about hair growth. The facts speak for themselves. Any informed barber in the country can confirm what I'm going to tell you. So can any medical doctor. The facts are indisputable, and my method is based on the facts. So why don't barbers teach their patrons the techniques I advocate? Some may. But like my fellow students, most barbers are interested primarily in cutting and styling hair. Few other barbers have spent thirteen years testing a theory and accumulating firsthand evidence of the effectiveness of a hair-restoration method. And remember, I had a very strong personal interest in learning to preserve and grow hair. I applied myself to learning all I could about baldness and its prevention because it mattered to me in a very intimate way. Medical doctors are another story. They study the same facts we do in barber school, and many who don't have a personal interest in a specific treatment for baldness will readily admit that my facts, and my conclusions, are right. As "scientists," however, doctors like to talk in terms of objective studies, representative samples, control groups, identifiable variables, repeatable experimental design, and, especially, numbers: How many hairs grew where there were none? How many millimeters did they measure? How many days, hours, minutes did it take? And how many independent researchers have been able to duplicate the findings? These are all valid questions. I Hive wanted to conduct just such a controlled study for several years, and someday, when time allows, I will. In the meantime, I have thirteen years of clinical experience and countless letters from delighted customers confirming my findings. These men range from rich to poor (you don’t have to be wealthy to keep your hair) and include doctors and lawyers, university professors and students, writers, athletes and businessmen. Here are a few examples: Margo, For Men Only  Boston, Mass. Dear Margo, I have been using your hair-restoration technique every day for the past eight months. The results  have been unbelievable — new hair has begun to grow and fill in where there has been none for  several years. How easy it is to forget the commonsense techniques and principles learned in medical school!  Thank you for reminding me. Sincerely, Laurence H. Miller, M.D. Weston, Massachusetts  Seven years ago, when I first came to you, I didn't think you would be cutting my hair for very long  since I was losing it at a steady clip. I assumed that I would follow in my father's footsteps; he, too, had become bald at an early age. Instead you told me the facts about hair growth, and I decided to give your advice a chance. Within a  few months the results were startling. My hair was starting to come back and the thin spots were  gone. I just couldn't believe that a technique so simple could produce such results, when people were  paying hundreds of dollars for far-fetched treatments which produced little, if anything. The hair on my head is a tribute to your genius. It scares me at times when I hear so-called experts  report that there is nothing that can be done to stop hair loss. They should all take a lesson from you. Hair forever, Ted Fontes , Plymouth, Massachusetts

I was thirty when you were first recommended to me. In these past five years, not only has my  hairline ceased its slow trek backward, but the hair in general has thickened to the degree that now, at thirty-five, I have a fuller head of hair than I did ten years ago. Quite a tribute to your simple but  obviously sagacious theories. Yours truly, Donald J. Curns  Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts  It has been somewhat more than one year since I first came to you. I must admit that I was  somewhat skeptical, but decided to give your technique a try. At the time, I was reluctantly accept -  ing my balding condition, recognizing that it was probably one of life's little irritations. Well, that was one year ago. Now, my crown, which was noticeably lacking in natural covering, has  an increasingly thickening growth of hair, and I firmly believe that the technique you teach your  customers will prevent me from becoming one of those "distinguished" people who, because of the  loss of their hair, are recognized as being "heavy thinkers."  Sincerely, Lawrence A. Maxham, Attorney  Boston, Massachusetts  I must say "thank you." After a year using your technique, the bald spot on the crown of my head has  filled in. In addition, my hairline has stopped receding And hair has even grown back down some. The results are so dramatic that it is almost like a miracle, as if being reborn again. My disposition  has changed because of this new hair. Thanks again, and make sure you show this letter to any  skeptical customers. Always, Jim (Formerly "Friar Tuck") Rose  Wellesley , Massachusetts  Because of you, I am getting both my hair and my pride back. Every man everywhere should know  about you and your program. There are too many rip-off artists out there claiming to have a cure for  baldness. The only cure they offer is for a big bank account. For the price of a towel a man can keep  his hair. Sounds too good to be true, but I know it's not. Thanks. Sincerely yours, John D. Pehoviak Ashland, Massachusetts  But medical doctors aren't satisfied with personal testimonials; they insist on seeing numbers. Well, my customers insist on seeing hair, and that's what they pay me to help them produce. So I just keep plying my trade and my customers just keep writing me grateful letters. In addition to their scientific reservations, some medical doctors resist my claims for other reasons. Let's face it; first, I'm a woman. Second, I'm a barber, and for many centuries there has been a great rivalry between physician-surgeons and barbers. During the Middle Ages, it was we barbers who served as healers, performing surgery and tending the sick. As medical knowledge expanded and surgery became more specialized, physicians and surgeons succeeded in depriving barbers of their right to perform surgery (except for dental extractions), while surgeons were barred from "barbery" and shaving. As a result, physicians began to think of the problems of hair and scalp as being beneath them. Doctors today prefer that the public think of barbers as "cosmeticians" and of doctors alone as "healers." This old division has become even more pronounced since the mid-1950s when hair transplanting came into vogue. Doctors advocating this approach make much of the fact that to do "transplant surgery" you've got to have a medical license. Personal interest and prejudice aside, facts remain facts. I've always been a simple and commonsensical person, and my approach has always been down-to-earth. I think I've understood the facts, but you don't have to take my word for it — or the word of any medical expert or hairrestoration specialist. Learn the facts and draw your own conclusions.

Fact No. 1 Our bodies are covered with hair, most of it invisible; but how we tend the visible patches says a lot about our image of ourselves. The human body, including the cheeks and forehead, is covered with fine hairs called vellous or lanugo hair. Vellous hair grows to only a few millimeters in length and is so fine it is almost invisible. The only parts of the body that lack this hair — and are therefore truly naked — are the palms, the soles, the lips, the eyelids, the nipples, and certain parts of the genitals. No one knows for sure why we have this hair or what its function may be, although it is believed to aid in the evaporation of perspiration. Our eyebrow and eyelash hair is short and bristly. Both the eyebrows and the eyelashes are believed to protect the eyes from sweat, dust particles, and glare. Similarly, the short hairs that grow across the passages of the nose and ears act to filter out insects, dust, and other irritants. Soft, longer hair grows under the armpits (axillary hair) and around the genitals (pubic hair). Axillary hair has no known function today. Pubic hair is thought to protect the underlying skin from chafing as a consequence of movements during intercourse. On men, soft hair also grows on the face, to form the beard and moustache. This hair resembles scalp hair in that it will grow very long if not cut. The longest hair grows from the scalp. It protects the scalp from injury and the sun's rays but, perhaps more important, head hair serves as an adornment, a symbol, and a badge. The hair on our heads — and how we care for it and wear it — forms a very important part of our sexual and social body language. It communicates an image of ourselves and a sense of where we fit in society.

Figure 1. The hair on our heads serves as a symbol, communicating our image of ourselves.

.Fact No 2. Males are hairier than females. Throughout the animal kingdom, the male of every species is almost always adorned with more striking coloration and hair patterns than the female. The purpose of these adornments is to assist the male in establishing dominance over rivals competing for a mate. Although in our species women have a longer tradition of fussing and bothering with their hair, men are in fact far hairier. Men grow more facial hair and have more extensive growth on the abdomen, chest, and back as well as on the arms and legs. This growth pattern is the effect of sex hormones, and its association with male sexual maturity has made hair a symbol of masculinity in almost every culture throughout history. Certainly, it is ours. Figure 2. A man's hair has long been associated with sexual maturity and masculinity. Fact No. 3 The individual strands of hair we see on the scalp are composed of dead matter eliminated from under the skin; they cannot be nourished from above, but only from below. Hair is a waste product made up for the most part of a protein called keratin. Individual strands, or shafts, have neither their own blood supply nor their own nervous system. Every hair strand has a root (the portion beneath the surface of the scalp) and a shaft  (the portion that's visible above the surface of the scalp). Every strand is composed of three layers of cells. The cuticle layer, the outermost, is made up of overlapping scalelike cells that point away from the scalp and toward the hair ends, Certain chemical solutions can raise these scales so that fluids can enter the hair shaft. This is what happens when the hair is tinted, colored, bleached, conditioned, straightened, or curled.

Figure 3. An individual strand of scalp hair

When hair is "damaged' it is the cuticle layer that is disturbed. The cortex, or middle layer, is made up of elongated cells that provide strength and elasticity. The cortex layer also contains melanin, or pigment, which gives the hair its color. The medulla, the innermost layer, is made up of round cells. It is the marrow of the hair shaft and is sometimes absent in fine and very fine hair.

Fact No. 4 All our hairs are produced in little pockets in the skin called follicles. Every hair on our body emerges from a follicle. The follicle is a strawlike indentation in the skin through which the growing hair reaches the surface of the skin. The follicle's size, shape, and direction of growth determine the size, shape, and direction of growth of the hair that grows out of it. If the follicle sits vertically in the scalp, the hair tends to be straight. If the follicle is curved or bent, the hair that emerges from it is curly or wavy. The follicles on the scalp and face are the largest, hence the scalp and beard hairs are the thickest and longest of all the hairs on the body. The follicle contains the hair; it does not generate or sustain it. Its role is to provide a protective sheath for the hair. Figure 4. A section of the scalp. Fact No. 5 To each follicle are attached one or more oil glands and an involuntary muscle. The sebaceous glands are little sacs attached to the follicle that secrete an oil called sebum. Sebum flows through the gland duct and empties into the mouth of the follicle, giving the hair shaft its gloss and richness and making it pliable. Sebum also keeps the skin surface soft and supple. Overproduction by the sebaceous glands can bring on a common form of oily dandruff, or scaling of the upper layer of the skin (the epidermis). If excess sebum clogs the pores of the skin on the face, it can cause blackheads and pimples. A small involuntary muscle known as the arrector pili is attached to the underside of each follicle. When fear or cold contracts this muscle, the hair stands erect, causing "goose-flesh." Emotional stress is also known to contract this muscle. Figure 5. The follicle, oil gland, and involuntary muscle.

Fact No. 6 The follicle is the site of the hair's manufacture, but the papilla is the "father" of the hair. Situated at the base of every follicle is a projection of tissue called the papilla. The papilla extends through the center of the follicle into the bottom of the hair, which grows around it to form the hair bulb. The club-shaped hair bulb forms the lower part of the hair root. The papilla produces the hair cells. It synthesizes proteins to feed the continuous formation of hair cells on its outer surface. The new cells created at the base of the hair bulb push up the older cells, which, as they rise, differentiate into the three types of cells that make up a hair shaft. The papilla, when stimulated, becomes engorged with blood. When it is so engorged, it is able to manufacture life. As long as the papilla functions, the hair grows. Without the papilla, new hair cells cannot be formed. It is through the papilla that nourishment reaches the hair bulb.

Figure 6. The papilla is the "father" of the hair. It creates and nourishes the hair cells making up the cuticle, cortex, and medulla. The hair bulb, the lower part of the hair root, wraps itself around the papilla, holding it snugly in place. Fact No. 7 When a hair falls out naturally, the papilla stays behind and simply starts manufacturing a replacement; this process of hair loss and replacement goes on every day and constitutes the "hair cycle." Like all animals, humans naturally shed their hair. Most people have from 90,000 (if they're redheaded) to 140,000 (if they're blond) hairs on their heads, or somewhere in between (if they're brunette). But unlike some animals that molt seasonally — that is, shed most of their hair or feathers at one time — we lose a number of hairs every day. Our follicles do not dislodge all our hairs simultaneously. Average daily shedding for most of us amounts to about 50 to 100 hairs, These are the hairs you find on your pillow, in the tub, Of on your brush and comb. This hair loss is not cause for concern; on the contrary, you have the makings of a serious problem if you are not losing hairs every day. Hair grows according to an established cycle. Each scalp hair grows about one-half inch per month, every month, for two to six years (four years on the average). The hair then rests for about three months before being pushed up and out by a new hair. At any point in time more hairs are growing in than are resting and falling. Figure 7. The replacement of hair. At the left, the hair separates from the papilla at an early stage of shedding. At the right, a new hair grows from the same papilla at a later stage.

When a hair sheds, its bulb loosens and separates from the papilla and the hair moves slowly up through the follicle to the surface, where it is shed; meanwhile a new hair is formed at a growing point around the papilla. In this way new hair replaces old. If you are not shedding, your papillae are not generating new hairs. When we "thin," our long scalp hair is lost but in its place grows a vellous hair. The papilla no longer generates an equivalent new hair to replace the old hair that has fallen. "Thinning" becomes noticeable when you have lost — and failed to equivalently replace — about 40 percent of your original hair. But why would the papilla fail to produce a new scalp hair? For the answer to this question, we must move on to Fact No. 8. Fact No. 8 The life of the hair is in the papilla; the life of the papilla depends on its blood supply. Although the skin is only one of the body's major organs, it sets up an enormous demand for blood and is allocated from one-half to two-thirds of the body's total blood supply. Moreover, the scalp, the portion of the skin stretched over the cranium, has the most intricate network of blood vessels in the body, indicating that compared to all the other parts of the body it hat the greatest need and appetite for blood. The papilla it One of the most rapidly metabolizing of the body's organs, It maintains an extremely high rate of activity and consequently must be regularly supplied with large amounts of food and oxygen. Its requirements are met by its dense network of capillaries, which carry a very rich blood supply. The papillae must be engorged with blood if they are to create new life by producing the cells needed for the growth and replenishment of the hair. If the capillaries carrying blood to the papillae are constricted, or if blood circulation is impaired for any other reason, the papillae will fail to generate proper replacement hairs. When the papillae have been starved in this way, hair loss occurs but proper replenishment does not follow. Instead, the papillae atrophy, sending out vellous hairs that look like peach fuzz. The formation and growth of hair cells depend on the proper nourishment of the papillae, and the vitality of the papillae depends on their blood supply. My research has shown that the papillae are resilient and are not easily killed off. While they can atrophy and fall dormant, they can also be reinvigorated and returned to normalcy provided they are stimulated properly.

Figure 8. The papilla must be engorged with blood if it is to create new life.

Now, when I asked Joe Coridio what makes hair thick and healthy, and what can be done to prevent baldness, he answered with one word: "Blood." At that time I hadn't yet learned the facts, and to me the word blood conjured up an image of anemia. So I said, "You mean iron pills?" "No," he continued, "the hair is nourished by the blood reaching the scalp. The crown of the head is one of the body's extremities, like the fingertips and the toes. In fact, it's the hardest place for the  blood to reach. That's why most men start to lose their hair at the crown, one of the first places to show the effects of deteriorating blood circulation, while managing to hold on to it around the sides and back." That was as far as Joe would go. He changed the subject and left me to draw whatever conclusions I could. Now, how could one increase the circulation to the scalp to keep the papillae productive, I wondered? Moreover, if a papilla had fallen dormant, was it possible to revive it by resupplying it with the nourishment it needed? If my fingers or toes were ever numbed by the cold of a New England winter, I reasoned, I warmed them by sending blood into them. And the most effective way to do that was to rub them until the skin turned pink. Could it be so simple? What harm could there be in trying? I recruited as guinea pigs two fellow students who happened to be thinning and massaged their scalps vigorously every day for several minutes. After four months, we made an exciting discovery: my guinea pigs showed definite signs of new hair growth. The experiment worked, and my crusade was under way.

Chapter 2 Hair and the Male Ego My business has taught me that hair has a deep psychological significance and that most men are seriously affected by hair loss. I would go so far as to say that hair loss can leave a man feeling as diminished as a woman who has lost a breast. I've known men — prize fighters and tough union organizers as well as students and artists — to be devastated by it. I am reminded of this every day by my customers, but I was first sensitized to it years ago, before I became a barber. I remember one of my husband's friends, an athletic hulk of a guy who was not one to display his emotions. He was going bald, felt terrible about it, and was searching frantically for a cure. One day he told me that he had never in his adult life allowed himself to cry — men didn't in those days — until he began losing his hair. That changed things. He confided in me then that he had shed tears over his hair loss, and I'm willing to bet there are millions of men out there who are crying right now — inside or out — for the same reason. This book is dedicated to a nephew of mine who died at 15, a victim of cancer. This beautiful young man underwent the amputation of a leg and the devastating impact of chemotherapy, and even the loss of his father, but never complained or cried until he lost his hair as a result of the treatment. That broke him. I remember him asking me through his tears if his hair would ever grow back. I assured him it would and brought him the longest wig I could find to use until it did. (I've discussed this matter with one of my customers, who happens to teach medicine at Tufts Medical Center. He trains young physicians working with chemotherapy, and he now makes it point of instructing his students to make it very clear to their patient that their hair will grow back after the therapy ends. This point should never be overlooked; there are many men — and women — of all ages who would rather die than suffer the loss of their hair.) Hair loss can start as early as puberty. One man in five starts thinning soon after adolescence and is bald by the time he is 30. The earlier the process sets in, the more difficult it can be to adjust to. One of my customers put it this way: "It's hard to express how I felt. I was 20 years old and afraid to go out  — what kind of girl wanted to date a skinhead? I walked around in a miserable mood. Why me? Why did my hair have to fall out when I was only 20? Why couldn't it wait until I was 30? At least by then I'd probably have a wife, children, and a good job. I'd be secure." I'm convinced my father was a victim of the psychological damage that can be caused by baldness. He was a very handsome and fastidious man who had everything: looks, intelligence, a proud lineage, a loving family, a good job, and the respect of his community. But he was also bald and very frustrated about it. I've given it a lot of thought, and I firmly believe that his baldness left him with insecurities deep enough to occasionally drive him to drink. Since I'm the curious type — and rarely bashful — I've gotten to know my men, both as individuals and as a sex. In some ways I think I know them better than any woman alive. Men who know me well open up when they're in my chair, confiding in me some of their most intimate feelings, fears, and fantasies. They trust me. I once asked a number of men what their worst nightmares consisted of, and many revealed that they dreaded the loss of their hair even more than the loss of their penis. Why? Because they could hide the absence of a penis, but the absence of hair left them naked and exposed. The psychological association we make between hair and maleness, sexual virility, and strength is universal. It goes far deeper than vanity. I call it the Sampson Syndrome, and I urge the psychiatrists and psychologists who patronize my shops to observe its effects very carefully when they work with patients suffering hair loss. A lot of time and effort can be saved by asking such men how they feel about their hair. The Sampson Syndrome has its roots in the fact that the growth of facial and body hair is a secondary sexual characteristic accompanying puberty. By what psychologists call a process of "displacement," we subconsciously identify the hair of the head, too, with sexual power, and, in fact, with the genitals themselves. Head hair has symbolized the penis for as long as our species can remember. This symbolic role of hair is one of the reasons men so dread going bald; psychologically, baldness symbolizes lessened virility.

Our hair is the only sexual characteristic we can freely display. The way we wear it makes a statement about the degree of sexual freedom or repression we feel, or that our society makes us feel. That is why armies and authoritarian governments impose short hairstyles, and why convicts have their heads shaved. Head shaving is a symbol of castration and forced sexual deprivation. Hair loss forces us to confront the aging process and death. Especially in a society like ours which puts such a high premium on youth, our anxieties about growing old and losing our vitality can intensify a loss of self-confidence. Hair loss can make a man painfully self-conscious about his appearance and his age, affecting his posture and bearing, as well as the way he dresses. It can come to dominate his image of himself. Nine out of ten men who come into my shop with this problem are extremely sensitive about it and resent discussing it, preferring to think that nobody notices their baldness. When I tell them I'm going to cut their hair, their response is usually a gruff, "Well, there's not much left, you know." Baldness can affect their goals and their relationships with the family, friends, and professional associates in their lives. Men who fail to adjust constructively to premature hair loss come to feel unattractive; because they feel unattractive, they become less attractive, turning an irrational fear into a self-fulfilling prophecy. And these fears are thoroughly irrational. Biologically the cause of baldness does not at all affect a man's virility. But the fear that it might affect virility can do the most damage. The actors Yul Brynner and Telly Savalas demonstrate that baldness can be beautiful — and very sexy. It is by no means the end of the world. The important thing is to learn how to make the most of what you've got, and to restore what has been lost, and there's a lot you can do to groom yourself and rebuild your confidence. Irrational or not, though, a man's fears are very real, and those associated with hair loss can be very hard to overcome. They can affect the attitudes and self-image of even the most successful men. Julius Caesar is said to have prized his laurel wreath more than all the other honors he received simply because it hid his baldness, and Napoleon's valet tells us that when his employer, the Emperor of France, met with Alexander, Czar of Russia, to discuss the future of Europe, they ended up talking about baldness cures. Obviously, baldness poses an additional hurdle that a man must overcome to achieve self-love. It makes life a little tougher. Because of its psychological implications, touching your hair is a sexual act. It's a self-indulgence that's good for you, and in the following pages I'm going to advise you to rub your hair and scalp vigorously every day. Now, some "experts" threaten that if you touch or rub your hair too much it will fall out or break off, and you'll lose it forever and because of hair's sexual associations you might be inclined to believe it - and resist the truth. Free yourself from this fear. Scalp massage without fear is the answer you have been searching for and believed didn't exist. Make an art of ... Enjoy.

Chapter 3. No More “MPB” My experience confirms the well-known truism that a balding man grasps at hairs the way a desperate man grasps at straws. I've found that otherwise intelligent and worldly men are prepared to believe any notion — no matter how absurd — if it holds out the promise of renewed hair growth. Quack cures have kept clever salespeople alive for generations. Today such remedies are big business, but they are in no way new to the marketplace. People have been searching for — selling and buying — magical treatments for baldness since the beginning of recorded history. I could offer you, for example, a mixture of dogs' paws, dates, and asses' hooves ground and cooked in oil (coming all the way from Egypt, it's the secret brew of an ancient king; rub it vigorously into your scalp and it's guaranteed to hair on the baldest head). Or a poultice of cumin and pigeon droppings (recommended by none other than Hippocrates himself); bears' fat, the favorite of ancient Rome (it worked wonders for the Caesars); vipers' oil (derived exclusively from snakes caught at the full moon); or human excrement, perhaps ("burnt and annoynted with Honey"). Sound ridiculous? Of course. You wonder how anyone could ever have believed in them. Let's be glad we've come as far as we have. But just how far have we come? A few years ago a national UPI report informed the world about a British farmer who apparently succeeded in growing hair by rubbing chicken droppings into his scalp. And not long ago a woman called in to a radio talk show I was doing to announce that her son had grown new hair thanks to the horse manure he used! Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if one or more of these procedures worked — no thanks to the ingredients, mind you, but to the rubbing. You don't need fertilizer to grow hair; you need blood. Vigorous rubbing is the only way to get the blood where you need it most — up to the crown of your head and into your dormant papillae. How different are today's remedies from those of a hundred or a thousand years ago? Consider jojoba (pronounced ho-ho-ba) oil, the product that's all the rage. Derived from the bean of an evergreen shrub that grows wild in the desert areas of the south western United States and Mexico, jojoba oil is said to be combined with twenty herbs, fermented for three months, and then distilled to formulate an "energizer." Used instead of shampoo, the "energizer" is to be brushed and  rubbed vigorously into the scalp daily  for nine months to three years. Its promoters claim that, if used according to directions, it will regenerate hair growth "if there are active hair cells on the scalp." It works, they say, by removing sebum from the hair follicle, because excess amounts of sebum supposedly clog the follicle and somehow destroy the hair root, thereby causing baldness. Now, as you know, sebum is the oil secreted by the sebaceous gland to coat the hair shaft as it grows out of the follicle. It has nothing to do with the function of the papillae, which generate new hair cells and nourish the shafts. When sebum accumulates excessively in the hair follicles of the face it forms what we call blackheads and pustules, but it certainly doesn't cause the hair of the beard to fall out or stop growing. (Why should it? It doesn't harm the papillae.) Does the jojoba theory, at bottom, want us to believe that blackheads on the scalp (I've never even seen one; have you?) cause baldness? The whole theory strikes me as totally preposterous. And the fact that I've grown hair on the heads of thousands of men without the help of this oil convinces me that you might as well use bears' fat — and if you rub it in properly you shouldn't have to wait nine months for results. Then there are the shampoos, conditioners, and emulsions containing biotin. A "breakthrough developed by endocrinologists," biotin is promoted as a vital "nutritional factor in hair growth and in the control of excessive hair fallout." What is it? Vitamin B. Is there any evidence that this vitamin — or any vitamin — can grow hair? No. You might as well look for a vitamin that grows teeth. Most of the shampoos featuring biotin also contain other "elements vital to hair growth and restoration," including such things as the nucleic acids RNA and DNA, the amino acid cystine, the protein keratin, and vitamins A and D. The RNA and DNA are added, we are told, because "anything that aids nucleic acid activity in the hair follicle will also help enhance hair growth."

Well, I know of no relevant "nucleic acid activity in the hair follicle," and neither does Dr. Eliot Alpert of Massachusetts General Hospital, with whom I have consulted on this question for more than thirteen years. Hair building goes on in the papillae, and the papillae are nourished solely by the blood reaching them through the capillaries. This is not to say that if you rub these products into your scalp every day you will not see new growth. Rubbed vigorously enough, your scalp will undoubtedly show new growth. But if you're a chicken farmer, droppings are cheaper. It is a scientific fact that there is no shampoo, conditioner, or emulsion you can apply to your hair or scalp whose ingredients will penetrate the skin, enter the follicle, and reach the papilla to be absorbed. The same is true for hair-regenerator creams, biotin ointments, hair-restoration gels, and antihormonal topical lotions (even if they are imported from Europe). The skin's role is to serve as a protective barrier to the intrusion of potentially harmful substances, and the scalp performs its job very well. It absorbs a little lanolin or oil into its surface layers, and that's it. If it were otherwise, we'd walk around with sponges for scalps. Remember, too, that the hair shafts are composed of dead matter; they don't "eat" and they don't affect the hair generation or growth process. Yes, they're porous and able to absorb chemical solutions such as hair tints, dyes, bleaches, perms, and straighteners, and they can be coated with proteins for grooming. But there is no evidence that anything applied to the hair shaft (or scalp) can descend to the papillae and stimulate new hair growth. You simply cannot feed the papillae from without. You're better off with manure — provided you rub it into your scalp until it tingles. Well, then, why not hair food?! Let's provide the papillae with the chemical substances needed for hair construction by ingesting the "hair-growing vitamins and proteins" they need! An interesting — and marketable—idea, but I'd like to know how these substances are going to reach their destination if the very reason the needy papillae have fallen dormant is that they are no longer being bathed by  the circulatory system. No, neither from without nor from within can you force-feed the papillae and expect them to miraculously start growing hair. The papillae require a steady diet of all the nutrients needed for healthy functioning, not just those that seem to be part of the hairs they build. The papillae need blood, not a special hair-growing nutritional supplement. There is no reliable evidence that any vitamin, mineral, or other food substance has the ability to revitalize the papillae and grow hair. You might as well be drinking snake oil. It galls me to think that millions of men spend tens of millions of dollars every year on these modern miracle "treatments." And that they do it to cure what medical science proclaims is thoroughly incurable: the condition known as male pattern baldness, or MPB. What is MPB? It's the term used to describe the progression of hair loss that most men undergo as they bald. Although no two men thin exactly alike, it is possible to identify general patterns that distinguish this type of balding — which makes up an estimated 95 percent of all instances — from the sudden, all-at-once hair loss known as alopecia areata (balding in spots) and from other types of temporary hair loss associated with certain diseases and drugs. The cause of alopecia areata is unknown, although it is believed to be associated with emotional stress. Men who suffer from it suddenly develop one or more balding spots on the scalp, but the hairs stop falling out after a few weeks, or when the cause of the emotional problem is removed or alleviated. (I believe the stress constricts the arrector pili muscle, causing diminished blood flow to the papilla. Once the muscle contraction comes to an end and normal blood flow ensues, the papilla resumes normal hair production.)

Figure 9. The four major types of "male pattern baldness": a, frontal recession and/or balding of crown; b, a "bridge of hair" remains to separate the bald frontal and crown areas; c, baldness from frontal to crown area, with rear fringe remaining high, reaching the crown; d, rear fringe narrows to horseshoe shape.

Figure 10. Four variations of common baldness: a, forelock remains (the "island"); b, thinning, with sparse hair covering the bald scalp; c, hair loss only over the sides of the scalp (the "peninsula"); d, "female pattern" baldness, with narrow rim of hairline surrounding thinning hair over the top of the scalp. Other forms of temporary hair loss are those following cases of severe illness accompanied by High fever, Of after childbirth, chemotherapy, X-ray therapy, and the ingestion of certain powerful drugs. These are all instances in which the blood and its normal patterns of flow are disrupted. Removal of the causes usually results in spontaneous re-growth. MPB is different. Men suffering from male pattern baldness lose their hair gradually, starting at the hairline and crown, and the hair does not replenish itself. On the contrary, with the passage of time, more and more hair is lost until finally only a "horseshoe" fringe remains over the ears and dipping down at the back of the head. As you recall, hair grows in cycles, with each scalp hair normally growing for two to six years, and then resting for three months before, being pushed out of the follicle by a new hair. In MPB, the growing phase becomes shorter and shorter, and the hair growing from the papilla becomes thinner and smaller. You4 begin to notice that the hair on the top of your head is failing to grow like the long, thick hairs of former days. Finally all you have on the top of your head is peach fuzz.

In MPB the balding follicles shrink with each new hair cycle, and the papillae gradually decline. The fact that they continue to yield tiny vellous hairs demonstrates, however, that they do not die. Even the baldest scalp bears these almost-visible hairs, often for ten, twenty, or more years, and this is a hopeful sign. Only after their very last cycle do some of these follicles seem to disappear. How long have men been struggling with MPB? Cave paintings suggest that male pattern baldness has plagued since prehistoric times. Its causes have always been a matterof dispute. The Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that baldness in men was caused by sexual intercourse! (You can heave a sigh of relief because he couldn't have been more wrong.) The theory proclaimed by modern medical science claims that MPB is caused by the male sex hormones, the androgens. It's really not all that different a theory, and it's just as wrong. Here's the reasoning that underlies it: We observe that women rarely go bald, and we've known since Hippocrates first pointed it out 2,500 years ago that eunuchs — castrated males — never do. Now what distinguishes women and eunuchs from normal men is that men have androgens in their bloodstream. Moreover, it has been found that if eunuchs are injected with androgens, or if women ingest them in the form of contraceptive pills, they may suddenly lose their hair. In addition, women suffering from a certain type of tumor on the adrenal gland that results in the production of male sex hormones may suddenly go bald, while some women at the menopause, when their hormonal balance changes and the male hormones become more predominant, also lose their hair. In addition, however, we see around us that "baldness runs in families." We also know that the androgen level of bald men is no higher than that of men who are not bald. Similarly, while some of those injected eunuchs lost their hair, not all did. We must conclude that there is a factor at work making some men more prone to the baldness-causing effects of androgens than others. This is said to be the "baldness genes." These come in pairs, inherited from one or both parents. If a man has even one gene of the set, he has a greater probability of going bald. Finally, we observe that as men grow older, their hair loss tends to increase. Most men — three out of five — experience their greatest period of hair loss after the age of 50. Thus, an "aging factor" seems to be involved. Obviously, I do not agree with this theory. I don't believe that male hormones cause male pattern baldness or that there is such a thing as a "baldness gene" predetermining that a man will lose his hair at a certain rate as he ages. My years of clinical experience contradict these claims. The MPB theory argues that male baldness is irreversibly determined at birth by fate and the mere fact of being male. If so, how can my men renew their hair growth, and do it whether or not their fathers, grandfathers, or maternal uncles were bald? My experience demonstrates that it doesn't matter if a man's relatives or ancestors lost their hair. Moreover, since I don't alter my customers' hormones, something else must be at work to bring about hair restoration and, by extension, the original hair loss. If my men — and there are thousands of them — can grow their hair back, hormones and genes can't possibly be the cause of their original baldness. No, I don't agree with the MPB theory any more than I do with Aristotle's. Doesn't it seem strange that the same hormones that cause hair  growth everywhere else on a man's body should suddenly turn around at puberty to cause hair loss, and, what's more, solely on the temples and the front and crown of the head? And here are some other important questions that the MPB theory leaves unanswered: Why is hair retained at the sides and back of the head, even in fairly advanced baldness, when it is lost at the temples, front, and crown? Why do certain individuals in balding families not go bald, while others with no family history of baldness do? And why and how does the aging process increase hair loss? Medical science cannot offer acceptable answers to these questions. Some doctors talk about the follicles at the top of the head being "somehow more sensitive" to the effects of the androgens, while the follicles at the sides and back are more "hardy," but the possible reasons for this are "secrets locked in the genes." Dr. Walter Unger in The Intelligent Man's Guide to Hair Transplants, tries to explain why one brother in a balding family loses his hair and another doesn't in terms of something called "variable expressivity." "In layman's language, variable expressivity means that the MPB genes will affect some people more than others for a wide range of reasons, some known, others obscure," he says; in other words, he concedes that an explanation isn't available. If you're the first to go bald in your family, "why this happens remains one of the many unsolved mysteries concerning hair growth and hair loss," he concludes. And as to why an "aging follicle" lets its shaft wither, no one ventures a guess.

One of the reasons the MPB theory disturbs me is that it leads to a costly and wasteful approach to research that ends up misguiding the public. Because the cause of baldness is believed to be hormonal, medical science is seeking a cure in the form of an antihormone. Underlying this approach is an attitude that Aristotle would have approved of: its goal is to somehow remove the "maleness factors" from your follicles. Dr. Herbert Feinberg in his book All About Hair  explains it this way: "Probably this [hormonal] factor will be the first to yield to some type of hair follicle 'castration' by a local application of an anti-male hormone substance." In other words, medical science is aiming to castrate your follicles in order to help you hold on to your hair! Following this hormonal approach, some physicians attempt to slow down hair loss by injecting female hormone (estrogen) into people's scalps, but there is absolutely no evidence that this costly and dangerous procedure has ever succeeded. Others announced that they were able to stimulate new hair growth by rubbing male hormone into the scalp. (I know, you thought male hormone caused hair loss. Confused? You're not the only one.) What happened was that a few follicles went through a final growth cycle, stimulated not by the hormone, but (you guessed it) by the rubbing! I have a different theory that explains why more men than women go bald and that enables me to answer other previously unanswerable questions. What's more, it leads me to a method of treatment that successfully grows hair. Here it is: Baldness is caused by impaired circulation in the scalp. The scalp contains the most complex network of capillaries found in the body and sets up the greatest demand for blood. At the same time, the temples, front, and top of the skull are the hardest places for- the blood to reach, since it has to defy the force of gravity to get there. Decreased blood flow starves the papillae, causing them to shrink and fall dormant, unable to produce new scalp hairs. Now let me show you how this theory can answer all the questions. We retain hair at the sides and back of the head because these areas are easier for the blood to reach. Also, they possess thin layers of muscle and fat, which cushion the blood vessels and prevent their constriction. The temples, front, and top of the skull have only a very thin fatty layer and no muscle tissue. The tighter the scalp, whether as a result of plastic surgery or of tension and stress, the greater the constriction of blood vessels and, therefore, the less the blood flow to the papillae. The result: greater hair loss. It is by constricting the capillaries in the scalp that the stress and t ension of modern life can contribute to male baldness. Baldness can run in families because a poor circulatory system — and/or poor hair-care habits — can be passed from one generation to the next. Women bald less than men because women are taught "a hundred strokes a day." They pull, yank, pluck, comb, brush, and massage their hair and scalp regularly in an effort to look their best. All this attention provides stimulation to the scalp, and this stimulation is good for the circulation. Good blood circulation keeps women's hair nourished and regularly replenished. It is only recently that men have been allowed — no less encouraged — to lavish attention on the appearance of their hair. Because of their training in our culture, men have been prone to neglect their hair and scalp. As a result, circulation in their scalps is not very good and progressive baldness ensues. I don't imagine you know many eunuchs (neither do I) but I can tell you one thing about them: they tend to be very effeminate. Throughout history eunuchs were desexed so they could live close to women, usually in the role of servants or caretakers, and be trusted by their masters not to become sexually involved. Living in a very feminine environment, eunuchs tended to adopt womanly ways. They enjoyed luxuriant heads of hair for the same reason women did — lifestyle, attitude, and grooming habits, and not directly because of the substances in their bloodstream. Why did some eunuchs lose their hair when given massive injections of androgens? I don't know, but if you received these injections, you might lose your hair too. Hormonal injections of any kind are a shock to the body. We know that injections of certain drugs bring on alopecia areata, or sudden spotty baldness. We might have here a case of non-MPB balding. Male hormones may be associated  with baldness — both in men and in women — but it doesn't necessarily follow that male hormones cause male pattern baldness. The same is true for those women who allegedly lose their hair after taking male hormones in the form of contraceptive pills. We know that these pills cause blood clots in some of the women who

take them, a negative side effect on the circulatory system. Perhaps these women lose their hair as an indirect result of circulatory changes, or perhaps, again, as a form of alopecia areata. Some women lose their hair at the menopause because their psychology changes, their self-image deteriorates, and they stop grooming themselves. As a result, scalp circulation deteriorates. Yes, some women suddenly go bald because of a tumor on the adrenal gland, but this fact doesn't tell the whole story. Once the tumor is removed, their hair grows back. This is a temporary form of baldness that should not be used to draw conclusions about male pattern baldness. Why do men bald more with age? Because if you are not regularly rubbing or massaging your scalp, your circulatory system gradually deteriorates. Let's face it: at 35 your circulatory system is not what it was at 18 or 19 when you were exercising and playing sports. What's more, as scientists have discovered, we lose blood vessels in the scalp as we get older. Fewer blood vessels means that less blood bathes the papillae; less blood means more hair loss. Why do certain individuals in balding families not go bald? I know the answer to this one from personal experience. My father was completely bald, and baldness went back through both the maternal and paternal sides of my family. Now, one of my two brothers started to thin and recede when he reached his late teens, but the other didn't. Why? Because one wore a crew cut for many years and consequently gave his hair and scalp almost no attention. The other was advised at the tender age of 15 by his Uncle Joe — who out of seven maternal uncles was the only one to preserve his hair and not go completely bald — to be sure to put his head between his knees and rub his scalp every morning. He followed that advice and preserved all his hair. His brother didn't, and receded, but kept what hair he has because he started grooming later in life. Grooming, attitude, and habit make all the difference. Finally, those people who go bald without a family history of baldness do so because of their bad hair-care habits, possibly compounded by a poor circulatory system. Now you have two theories, but are the differences between them only speculative? Not at all. The biggest difference between the MPB theory and my circulation theory can be found in the practical conclusions you are left to draw. The MPB theory fosters a sense of hopelessness; it reinforces the "pattern" in male pattern baldness, the pattern of negative expectation compounded by defeatism. At the first sign of hair loss you automatically expect to go bald, following in the footsteps of your father or uncle or whomever, and you give up, either neglecting your hair care completely or adopting haircare habits that further contribute to your baldness. The MPB theory requires you to think of yourself as a pawn shoved around by mysterious and powerful forces. "The most important thing to realize," advises Dr. Unger, "is that the odds are at least 99.99 out of 100 that your baldness is due to factors over which you have no control whatsoever." Your only alternative is dependence on the medical and scientific establishments, which offer you three choices: resign yourself to your fate; buy a wig; or buy a hair transplant. My customers tell me all the time about the depressing experiences they have had with doctors trained in this theory. Here are two representative examples: I remember one trip to the dermatologist. I had a bad case of poison ivy. I figured while I was spending twenty-five dollars, I'd at least find out why my hair was falling out. I walked in and could have sworn I was looking at a character out of the movie "Planet of the Apes"! The Doctor had more hair than a gorilla. "It f igures," I thought. He then proceeded to tell me how he loved to have his hair cut once a month. Meanwhile, he yanked at my head, pulled out a few hairs, and began to tell me I had one of two problems, either a vitamin or mineral deficiency (the following week it cost me fifty bucks in blood tests to find out I had plenty of vitamins and minerals), or, more likely, MPB (male pattern baldness). He called out the initials — I guess he wanted to let me know that he knew what he was talking about. I know better now. (John Pehoviak, Ashland, Mass.) I went to see a dermatologist, which was a mistake. I guess I was hoping he'd tell me it was all a bad dream. He didn't. Instead, he confirmed my fears coldly and routinely. Apparently doctors give the same sort of speech all the time. This guy was quite the scientist though. He went around my head, tugging at clumps of hair, until he found a loose one in the front. "Ah-hah?!" he said, "Male Pattern Baldness." (Very impressive.) I asked him what could be done about it? Nothing. Was there research? Not much. Did he give a damn? I doubt it. But he warned me not to be an alarmist. He said there were a lot of desperate crazies out there willing to pump estrogen into their bodies; others considering castration (ha-ha) to control the male hormone. Don't try to mess with nature, with fate. It's

funny what some people won't do for something so unimportant, so "cosmetic," as hair. All the while the doctor, who had a mop of hair on his own head, insisted upon playing with it, as if to taunt me. As I left he gave me some shampoo designed to hide my hair loss as long as possible, to "cover up" my problem, to play the game, I went out the door (relieved of twenty-five dollars), feeling I luul been taken. (Gary McManus, Weymouth, Mass.) If you accept the MPB theory, you can't believe that I achieve the results I claim with my customers. You paint yourself into a corner. You have to dismiss me as a quack, a charlatan. Well, believe it or not, unlike the MPB theory, my theory has led me to develop a method of scalp care that generates new hair. It's simple, it's practical, I've tested it, and it works. And it doesn't require you to castrate yourself. I'm here to tell you that you don't have to make yourself less of a man to have a full head of hair. You are not doomed. Using my method, you can reverse the balding process and grow thicker, fuller hair through your own efforts. You can take control of your life. Try it and you'll discover why MPB should mean "Margo prevents baldness."

Chapter 4. Where There's Hair, There's Hope IMAGINE that

you're in my chair for the first time. Although you've probably been recommended by one of your friends or business associates, you are nevertheless still skeptical. But the fact that you've come demonstrates that you care about your appearance and want to look, and feel, your best. In addition, you are unhappy that you are losing your hair. You could be any age. Thinning can start as early as puberty and by age 18 leave you with little more than a peninsula or island in front. It would be an understatement to say that you are apprehensive, for I am about to cut your hair, including what I call your "blankie," those long strands you've cultivated and swept forward from the back of your head to cover your balding area. You've developed this artificial look to compensate for your receding hairline, trying to make the most of what's left. Changing your hairstyle may have been one of your first reactions to your hair loss, together, perhaps, with wearing a hat. Then, again, you may not be preoccupied with camouflaging your thinning areas. You may be well adjusted and less self-conscious about losing your hair. One thing, however, is certain: as your thinning has advanced, you have begun to avoid touching your hair and scalp for fear that any mechanical manipulation will cause even greater and more rapid hair fall. When you comb or brush, you do it ever so gingerly, so that your grooming tools don't touch your skin or pull or yank on your remaining hairs. That's why you are horrified when I take my towel to your scalp and proceed to rub it in a way it hasn't been treated for, perhaps, years. Unaccustomed to this type of exercise, it is very tender. And because you've been brainwashed by the so-called experts to believe that this is the end, your heart leaps into your throat as you think to yourself, "Oh, my God, she's rubbing out all the hair I have left!" I know when you're thinking this, because I can see the terror in your eyes. That's when I try to calm your fears by reciting the phrase that has become my calling card in this business — and that only experience will enable you to believe and understand. Take it from me: « You can't rub it out; you can only rub it in! » Think about it. Isn't the best way to increase blood supply to any area of the body to rub or massage it? If hair loss is caused by constricted circulation to the papillae found in the scalp, doesn't it make sense that in an effort to revive them we must rub our scalps? This would be particularly true of the thinning areas. Here, blood flow would gradually be diminishing but it would not be completely cut off. There is still sufficient blood in the thinning areas to provide the dormant papillae with nourishment. That's why I say that where there's hair — even if it's in the process of being lost — there's hope. Without doubt the most difficult task I face in my profession is convincing you to rub and scrub those thinning areas; you're so afraid of losing what you have left. What makes matters worse is that your fears are regularly reinforced by the "medical experts" advising you that vigorous massage will cause "mechanical damage." I want you to know that in thirteen years of working with men's hair, I have never seen this happen. What you do to the hair shaft does not affect hair growth. Hair growth and replenishment depend solely upon the nutrients brought to the papillae by the circulatory system. The "expert" advice is worse than ridiculous; it's unconscionable. Follow it and you're bound to go bald. No one disputes the therapeutic benefits of body massage; why deprive the scalp? Women have avoided serious thinning problems precisely because of their long history of daily care, massaging, and brushing. A woman's full head of hair attests to the fact that you cannot injure hair by overattentiveness. Since hair has no gender, it strikes me as absurd to believe that men will go bald by applying the same hair-care practices that have promoted luxuriant growth in women. That's why I predict, on the contrary, that baldness will be less of a problem for the next generation of men thanks to the longer hairstyles that are now in vogue and to the increased brushing and care they require. Fortunately, the crew-cut era has gone its way (something I take partial credit for) and the attention paid by a man to his hair is no longer considered a sign of effeminacy. I think it's wonderful that we've returned to grooming the male of our species: what would the stallion, the lion, and the peacock be without their plumage? I have seen repeated evidence that vigorous rubbing with my towel method brings in new growth. Not overnight, mind you. After all, you didn't thin overnight: the process took years. Filling in also takes

time but I can promise you that if you show a little patience you can grow new hair on your head. Here's how one of my customers described his experience: After my first visit to your shop I started rubbing. I've been at it every day. I've had doubts, but I have persisted. The wait can be difficult but you've gotta have faith. After every shower I take a rough towel and rub hard, back to front. I rub until I can feel the blood flow and then I rub some more. It usually takes from two to four minutes because I take my time. There's no need to make work out of it. In mid-September, about three and one half months after I started, I began to notice an annoying roughness on my scalp. Something was dragging the towel, making the rubbing more difficult. When I realized that this was new hair growing in I was elated. I spent a week congratulating myself, and touching, watching, and telling other people about my new hair. It is about an inch long now and I can comb it. My hairline is coming forward, bare spots are being filled in. I am enjoying the fact that my hair will continue to grow in and the pride that comes from knowing that I did it myself, without a shot or a pill, without the benefit of modern "medicine." MARCO'S TOWEL METHOD To get the most out of your rubbing, I recommend that you use a bath towel. A bath towel is soft and fluffy but it generates a lot of friction. Test it on your body. Rub an area of skin with the towel and watch the skin turn pink as it becomes engorged with blood. The towel will do the same to your scalp. Rub where your hair is thinning and you want more (that is, where you are most afraid to rub); rub the naked areas of your scalp, too, but concentrate on where you have hair, even if only one. You cannot rub too much, and you cannot rub too hard (short of rubbing your skin off in the naked areas; don't). The purpose of the rubbing is to gradually resupply the capillary network of the scalp. To do this we stimulate the farthest points the blood presently reaches: the leading edge of the hairline; the upper edge of the horseshoe; the inner circumference of the crown; and all over the top of a thinning pate. Over time we observe the crown gradually fill in; the hairline in front and at the temples grow forward and descend; the edge of the horseshoe move up the skull; and the hair on top of the head thicken.

Figure 11. Rub your scalp vigorously with a bath towel to engorge your papillae with blood.

I have observed that it takes three to four months from the time you begin rubbing for the first new growth of hair to appear on your scalp. The exact amount of time seems to depend on the condition of your circulatory system. Looking and feeling like a crew cut, the new growth comes in beneath the longer hair strands. The time required for this new growth appears to conform to what we know about the hair cycle. You recall that the "resting stage," the period when the hair stops growing, lasts for three months. During this time, the papilla apparently undergoes certain chemical processes that prepare it to send forth a new hair. It is after the resting stage that an old hair is pushed out of the follicle by a new one. By  extending the reach of the blood in the scalp, rubbing seems to put a newly revived papilla into its  resting stage, during which it assembles the raw materials it needs to build a new hair. After three  months the new hair shaft begins to emerge. A month or so later, now a little less than one-half inch tall, it is noticeable. (When papillae are transplanted, too [see p. 89], the shafts shed, followed three months later by the emergence of new ones.) The hair that falls out when you rub is hair that is naturally shedding. Hair that is not ready to shed cannot be pulled out, even with the most vigorous rubbing. In the normal course of replenishment, one hair grows back for every hair that sheds. When you are rubbing, two hairs grow in for every hair that sheds. After three months, the shafts sent forth by your reviving papillae Start to break through the surface and you can begin to feel a roughness on the scalp, as if you were growing a beard of new hair on the top of your head. This new growth will be noticeable more quickly if your hair is coarse and dark; your hair will grow as much and as quickly if it is fair, blond, and fine, but it will be harder to make out. You're shedding every day. If you're thinning, your hair is not shedding fast enough because of decreased circulation and, therefore, decreased papillae activity. And when you're not shedding, you're in trouble. Now the hairs making up your blankie are very old. After you start rubbing and providing their papillae with new nourishment, they are going to shed. I am forewarning you that you are going to gradually lose your blankie, but you must in order to get new hair. Be strong. Once you start rubbing you will notice more shedding. Just keep rubbing. You are losing these old hairs because you are reviving the generative activities of the papillae. The new hairs replacing the old are short and hard to notice at first; with time they will grow into full-sized scalp hairs. You're going to get a new wave of growth every three months. Say you have only ten hairs today. In four months you'll have twenty, but you are not going to be able to notice twenty on a head that usually holds more than 100,000. You may well notice forty, though, so give the process at least six months to a year to show noticeable results. From the moment you begin to rub, you call a halt to the thinning process and begin to replenish your hair. Two hairs will grow in for each one that is shed until the hair on the top of your head is as thick as the hair on the sides. A complete hair comeback can take from one to five years, or more, depending on the degree of thinning. In general, you can expect it to take as long to completely replenish your hair as it did to lose it, so don't stop rubbing, especially once you see new growth, when you may be tempted to relax your efforts. Your new hair will need constant nourishment. Should you stand on your head? No, because that posture does not increase blood flow to the top of your skull where you need it most; on the contrary, it constricts the capillaries and decreases the blood flow there. If you want to understand why, press the pad of your thumb against this book. When you do, is blood stimulated to flow into the tip, turning it pink, or is blood blocked from entering, turning it gray? It can be helpful to massage your scalp while bending over and positioning your head between your knees, because in this posture the flow of blood to the head is facilitated, but it is not necessary. Can you grow hair on a naked pate, the proverbial "billiard ball"? I don't want to hold out false hope, but theoretically, the answer is yes, provided that the capillary network of your scalp hasn't deteriorated beyond repair and that your dormant papillae can be revived. Several of my customers have enjoyed remarkable results, but only after many years of regular rubbing. No matter how bald you may be, however, it would certainly do you no harm to rub and massage your scalp, if only to

relieve whatever tension may be there. I cannot promise that you will sprout new growth on a naked scalp, but I can guarantee anyone without reservation that if he is in the process of thinning, he can put an end to his hair loss and begin to reverse it the moment he starts following my rubbing advice. Where should you rub? Wherever it's convenient. How long should you rub? Until your scalp is pink and tingly, and this is where heredity enters in, because this could require ten to thirty seconds for someone with relatively good circulation or three to five minutes for someone with a tight, tense scalp and severely constricted blood vessels. As with any exercise, the more you do it, the more your blood flow improves and the less time it takes. Similarly, you will find that with practice, your scalp's sensitivity diminishes and the rubbing no longer hurts as much. Just remember that you cannot overdo it. The important thing is to resolve to rub your scalp every day for the rest of your life. When is the best time to rub? Since you can't overfeed your hair, or "rub out" the shafts starting to grow in, you can rub as long and as often as you like, but I recommend that you give your hair at least two minutes of vigorous attention a day as a regular part of your shampooing routine. You are shampooing daily, of course, to rid your hair of dirt and residual oils. Rubbing your scalp at the same time will restore blood supply and nurture your hair's growth and replenishment. What's more, by towel-drying — if only to remove excess moisture from your hair before blow-drying it into place — you will polish the shafts, giving them a high gloss. Caring this way for your hair and scalp will eliminate 95 percent of the problems you may be having with them. Afraid of daily shampooing? Nonsense. You cannot wash your hair away. I began instructing my men to shampoo daily more than ten years ago, when I realized how odorous and offensive hair can become. Has washing the rest of your body ever led to the loss of other body hair — your eyebrows, say, or beard? Regular washing does not contribute to baldness. Some experts may caution you that shampooing too often will dry out your hair and rob it of its natural oils. More nonsense. Washing away the oils already on your scalp is desirable, not something to be avoided. These oils become rancid after a day or two. Because hair is porous, it absorbs and holds odors of every sort, including those originating in these stale oils. In addition, the old oils attract and hold dirt particles. Daily shampooing is a must to rid the hair of its oily film and this clinging grime. Rub your scalp vigorously when you wash and dry. Rather than robbing your scalp of oils, rubbing stimulates your oil glands to secrete a fresh supply. Your sebaceous glands are usually underactive when you're thinning, making thinning hair dry and brittle. Since rubbing stimulates the activity of your oil glands, expect your new hair to be shiny, soft, and manageable. We shed hair and skin every day as a natural process. Daily cleansing and massage of your scalp gets rid of the older, dying layers and promotes the new. This is true for all other hairy parts of your body, including the pubic area. When you shampoo, first wet your hair thoroughly under the shower. Apply the shampoo to your palms, then run your hands through your hair. Wash vigorously, then rinse thoroughly, using hot or cold water, whichever you prefer. Soaps are mild but they tend to leave a film on the hair shaft. This film becomes odorous (like a damp, soaped facecloth left in an unventilated space) and can leave your hair dull-looking. Detergent shampoos are preferable because, even though they too leave a dull residue, they're easier to wash out, and were developed for just this reason. Rinse thoroughly until your hair squeaks as you run your fingers through it, to make sure you have removed all the shampoo residue. This goes for all the hairy parts of your body: scalp, face, underarms, and pubis. Shampooing should be an indispensable part of your daily hygiene. All you really want of a shampoo is that it clean your hair while not burning your scalp (the cause of flaking). Find the mildest shampoo you can, and see to it that it's gentle enough to use on any part of your body. It should not irritate your eyes or your scalp and should be safe enough to use on a baby, Beware of cheap shampoos containing alcohol, which will scorch your scalp. I don't think much of most of the commercial shampoos on the market. That includes the so-called baby shampoos as well as the "medicated," "dandruff-removing," "protein-enriched" products, and those "specially formulated" for dry or oily hair. Medicated shampoos too often leave the scalp irritated and scaly; shampoos for oily hair often worsen the problem they're trying to solve by so

stripping the scalp of its oils that the sebaceous glands compensate by overproducing; and shampoos for dry hair, by coating the hair with oils, deprive the glands of the stimulation they need to become self-sufficient. If you are washing daily with a genuinely mild shampoo, and rubbing, you do not need a conditioner. Conditioners and cream rinses are unnecessary unless your hair is "damaged." Hair is said to be mechanically damaged when its outer (cuticle) layer of cells has been chipped or cracked. This can be caused by the chemicals used in permanents, straighteners, bleaches, or harsh shampoos; the chlorine found in swimming pools; or harsh sunlight. Or, the ends of your hairs can be frayed (or "split") if cut with a razor or thinning shears. (Obviously, damage to the dead matter comprising the hair shaft has absolutely no effect on hair growth and/or regeneration. Moreover, it should be equally obvious now that hair cannot be "damaged" by rubbing, washing, or brushing.) Damaged hair is unmanageable, frizzy, and lusterless. Conditioners coat the shafts to increase their manageability and sheen, but this can be accomplished just as well by brushing and rubbing. Dry hair can be relieved by regular rubbing. Do not use a shampoo formulated for dry hair; instead, use a very mild shampoo and rub to give the glands the stimulation they need to resume their healthy functioning. People said to have oily hair actually have baby-fine hair, together with oily skin. Because the hair is so fine, it picks up the oil on the scalp and shows it. I do not recommend a shampoo formulated for oily hair; rather, I suggest more frequent shampooing with a mild shampoo, once in the morning and once again in the evening. Similarly, if you have baby-fine hair, towel-rub before you shampoo so that shampooing will wash your scalp oils out. I've taught many of my customers who are television personalities and happen to have this problem to shampoo within two hours of an appearance. This ensures that their hair is light, fluffy, and shiny. I've taught my athletes to shampoo before games so their perspiration won't make their scalps itch and so they'll look — and play — their best. Do you have a dandruff problem? If so, this may come as a shock to you, but there's really no such thing as a dandruff-removing shampoo. Dandruff consists of shedding epidermis (the uppermost layer of dead skin cells); it is the natural scaling of the scalp. Since we shed these cells daily, any shampoo will aid in their removal. By shampooing daily and rubbing vigorously, you should eliminate your dandruff problem, provided your shampoo is mild so it doesn't cause dryness and excessive scaling. The condition of your hair reflects your body's general health. Eat a balanced diet light on junk food and fatty meats, which clog your circulatory system with cholesterol. At the same time, remember that vitamins will sooner grow teeth than they will hair; rubbing is your first priority. It is widely acknowledged that nicotine has a constricting effect on the capillaries and that smoking diminishes the blood supply to the areas farthest from the heart. That's why smoking contributes to baldness. Give it up (your sex life will probably benefit as well), and spend the money you would ordinarily put toward tobacco on your grooming (how about a face-lift?). The more physically fit you are, the better your overall circulation and the nourishment reaching your papillae will be. Exercise moderately to keep the blood f lowing. But don't kill yourself to get into shape to regrow your hair. Horseshoes grow on obese men as well as thin. Rubbing is the answer, not  jogging. An alcoholic drink from time to time is good for your hair because it bursts the capillaries in your scalp, flooding nearby tissues. That's why so few alcoholics — and derelict winos — are bald. Sex also is good for your hair. It relieves tension, and anything that relieves constricted blood vessels caused by tension is good for your papillae. Recent studies have shown that an active sex life — even if only in fantasy — can cause scalp and facial hairs to grow faster, so I urge my men to develop that "five o'clock shadow." It's better for them than tranquilizers, and it's terrific for my business. So, start rubbing today, and in four months go to your mirror, where you will see your new growth and, like many of my men, probably jump for joy. Then you will believe me when I say: « You can't rub it out; you can only rub it in!  » and you will understand why I am called "The Hair Guru."

Chapter 5 Making Less, Look Like More My customers often ask me to advise them about choosing a cover-up for their baldness, either for the period their new hair is growing in or because their hair loss is so extensive they realize it might take years for them to fill in to their complete satisfaction. Today's alternatives range from hairpieces to weaves, implants, and transplants. I recommend the use of only those methods that do not interfere excessively with regular shampooing and scalp care. Made, maintained, and worn properly, these devices can be very successful in helping you overcome whatever feelings of psychological discomfort your thinning hair may arouse. But they must look natural, or you end up defeating your own purpose. Before I recommend a cover-up to any of my men, however, I try to make less seem like more by styling the remaining hair in a way that makes the most of what is available. The goal in styling is to emphasize the hair that remains while preserving the balance of the face and taking attention away from what's missing. You want an honest, natural look, the exact opposite of the blankie's artificiality. The blankie brings attention to precisely those areas of the head we want to de-emphasize, while it is hard to manage, especially in the wind and rain. When hair loss becomes obvious, I often recommend a permanent. A perm will give your hair greater body and the appearance of fullness. Curls also cover the scalp more effectively than does straight hair. Men with more advanced thinning are almost always best advised to wear their hair cropped close to the head. Because short hair has more bounce, it gives the impression of greater fullness. No matter how much or how little hair you have on your head, always get a blunt cut, in which your hair is cut with a scissors straight across the ends, the way it grows in. To maximize its thickness, your hair should be contoured to your head in layers. Don't allow your hair to be cut with a razor or a pair of thinning shears. Both damage your hair, leaving it split and frayed at the ends and frizzy looking. The razor and thinning shears whittle away at the hair ends like a knife whittles down a wooden match. You don't want this, because you need all the thickness and bulk you can get. It also makes it impossible to gauge how much new hair you have coming in. The best way to do this is to compare the distance between strands at the ends, which shows you how much hair you had growing in six months ago, with the distance between the strands nearer your scalp, which shows how much hair you have growing in today. If you thin out your hair when you cut it, you lose this means of comparison.

Figure 12. Identifying your new hair. Watch for new growth at the frontal hairline and at the leading edge of receding areas. After four to six months, compare the distance between the ends of your hairs with the distance between strands close to the scalp. The greater thickness apparent near the scalp means that you have new hair growing in.

God gave you your looks. A good stylist only provides the frame, by cutting and shaping your hair for maximum coverage and aesthetic effect. The more you have receded at the hairline, the less you should permit what hair remains to grow. Don't try to compensate for fewer hairs in front by growing longer hair in back. Those stringy hairs falling around your shoulders almost always appear oily and unkempt. Similarly, teasing your hair or growing muttonchop sideburns down to the jawline merely draws attention to your hair loss rather than playing it down. These styling efforts are counterproductive. Keep it short and simple. Shampoo daily. Washing removes the oils that can mat your hair. Freshly washed hair always has more lift, giving it the appearance of greater fullness. Blow-drying your hair also can give it a fuller look. Another styling possibility is shaving it all off. You can always try this without fear, because your hair will grow back; shaving the head doesn't affect the growth of the hair one way or the other. If tasteful styling alone isn't enough to enable you to feel comfortable and self-assured, it's perfectly all right to wear a hairpiece. If it takes years off your appearance and complements your features, why not? Hairpieces come in various shapes and sizes. Each piece is designed to cover a well-defined area and blend into the surrounding hair. A piece is safe to use and easy to put on and remove. If you have a bald scalp, you can attach it with adhesive Velcro tape. If you have underlying hair, you can tie or clip the piece to it. If the piece is properly secured, there is no risk of its falling off. Hairpieces are easy to buy; try on several styles and shades until you find the one that suits you best. I recommend those made with synthetic fibers rather than human hair because, in addition to being cheaper, the synthetics look more natural and are easier to maintain. Lifelike and lightweight, a hairpiece is very versatile when it comes to styling. Some men, particularly younger ones in their twenties and thirties, don't like pieces because of the feeling that they are wearing something on their heads that isn't their own hair. Hair weaves and implants were developed to give such men the feeling of greater permanence. I do not think they are a good idea. With a hair weave, replacement hair is woven directly onto the perimeter of a man's own existing hair. The hair on the sides of the scalp is tightly braided so that a toupee can be attached to it. The braid anchors the hairpiece to the scalp. The hair weave is thereby attached tightly to the top of the head. But a hair weave poses problems. First, your own hair continues to grow, causing the piece to ride above the scalp and requiring it to be re-anchored frequently, costing money and causing some discomfort. Second, the tight fit makes proper hygiene very difficult. Scalp scales, dirt, and leftover shampoo can accumulate within the braid to form a soggy mess. This residue can result in bacteria build up, irritation, and an unpleasant odor. Second, because the piece obstructs the scalp, vigorous massage is out of the question. To wear a weave, therefore, you almost have to forgo proper scalp care, and this is not a sacrifice worth making. Ironically, the younger men attracted to this process are just those with the energy — and opportunity — to benefit most from vigorous rubbing and shampooing. Hair implantation is a minor cosmetic surgical technique that requires the participation of a doctor. The procedure consists of sewing nylon stitches into the scalp. Like the weave braids, these stitches act as anchors to hold a toupee or several wefts of synthetic hair in place. Since the piece is not anchored to growing hair, there is no need for frequent rebraidings, and because you don't need any hair of your own to anchor it, you can be totally bald and still receive an implant. Unfortunately, however, the stitches are foreign irritants that you are inserting into a very sensitive part of your skin, and infections can result. If and when they do, the stitches must be removed and new ones sewn into other areas of the scalp; after a while, your head can end up covered with a patchwork of scars. The implant's greatest disadvantage? Because it's anchoring a close-fitting piece, you can forget about proper shampooing and massage. Hair transplantation is unique. This is a technique of hair replacement that uproots hairs growing in the side and rear fringe areas of your scalp and replants them in balding areas. It is the most common form of cosmetic surgery for men today and requires a physician to carry it out. It's expensive and bloody, but I recommend it to those of my men who can afford it and want it badly

enough. Transplanted hair can grow successfully if the procedure is carried out properly and if the scalp areas receiving the transplants have enough blood to nourish the new hairs. Hair transplanting is usually done by one of three methods. In the "flap" technique, rectangular pieces of scalp are cut out on three sides and swung over to the bald area to create a new hairline; in the "strip" procedure, a narrower patch is removed from the back of the head and replanted. But most hair transplantation is accomplished in the form of "plugs," small cylinders of hair-bearing scalp moved from the sides and rear of your scalp to the crown and frontal areas. Figure 13. Creating a new hairline with the "flap" technique

Figure 14. Creating a new hairline with a narrow rectangular "strip."

Figure 15. Cutaway section of a donor scalp graft. Note the presence of the papilla.

When working with these hair-bearing cylinders, the physician uses a punch about 5/32-inch in diameter. With this instrument, he punches out grafts from the donor area, then bores out an equal number of "plugs" of bald scalp from the receptor area. Into these plugs he relocates the donor grafts. Since the skin is from the same person, the body accepts the tissue. (I expect science to someday enable us to graft whole scalps from one person onto another; to do my part, I've bequeathed mine to be used in research.) The grafts become encrusted with dried blood, and when the scabs fall off after a week or two, they are usually securely attached. A very interesting thing happens when you transplant hair. Within a few weeks or months after the surgery, all the transplanted hairs fall out of the scalp. Fortunately, however, in a scalp offering sufficient nourishment, new hairs eventually grow, so that within a year the full cosmetic effects of the procedure are visible. This tells us, if you haven't already guessed, that the procedure is not really a "hair" transplantation at all; it's a "papilla" transplantation. It's the papilla that undergoes the trauma of the operation and retreats into a resting period, and it's the papilla that eventually generates the new hair that fills in the balding area. The hairs that are actually moved from one part of the scalp to the other fall away; they aren't too important, but their generating organ is, and that's why the donor graft must include it if the procedure is to work. That's also why caring properly for a transplant means keeping the papilla happy and well fed. Not surprisingly, most transplant specialists claim in their books and speeches that hair transplants can be expected to "flourish for a lifetime," because the "follicles" (!) are genetically programmed to produce hairs forever (unlike those on the receptor areas) and because there is always enough blood in the scalp to sustain them. Unfortunately, I have seen far too much evidence to the contrary to believe that transplants "always flourish." The success of this procedure cannot be guaranteed; it depends upon the physician's skill and the recipient's scalp condition and scalp-care habits. Men come into my shops all the time bearing the scars left by fallen transplants and failed expectations. I remember a psychology professor at school who never took off his hat in class, until one day I asked him why and he showed me his scars. The truth is that the transplanted papillae from the hairy fringes of the head are not  "genetically programmed" to live forever. Like all papillae, they depend upon blood supply for their survival, and without adequate nourishment they will fail, just like those that preceded them. Since having removed the papillae from the fringe areas, you can't renew the hairs that once grew there, it's a double tragedy when you lose these papillae after they've been transplanted, for then you're left with far fewer hairs than you started with! That's why, if you have gone to the expense and discomfort of hair transplantation, the most important advice I can give you is that if you want to protect your psychological and financial investment you had better rub, and then rub some more. Finally, find the right doctor. Be sure to talk with some satisfied patients before finalizing your choice of a physician. The art of this technique is as important as the medical expertise involved. I've seen some examples of terrible butchery. Exercise caution.

Chapter 6. Margo's Fountain of Youth The better I get to know my men, the more helpful I try to be. This is especially true for those of my customers who live without the grooming advice of a caring mate, although it is frequently true for my married men as well. Now, over the years I've found that most men harbor a passion for preserving a youthful appearance, but that this desire is almost always coupled with a frustrating lack of practical know-how. I've noticed, that is, that most men worry about growing old without doing a single thing about it. And the worry ages them faster than anything else. So I've developed a list of recommendations on how to stay youthful and attractive. I offer my recommendations to my customers once they've started to restore their hair, and I'd like to share them with you. The first thing I recommend is that you establish a daily routine that gets you off to a fresh and confident start, while maintaining the suppleness of your skin and body. You'll need to set aside about twenty minutes every morning, probably not much more than you presently devote to your grooming. I assume you already shower in the morning if only because it leaves you feeling fit and awake. Another reason you should bathe now is that your morning shampoo rids your hair of the oils it collects during the night, making it more manageable and easier to shape. This is true for everyone, but especially for those of you with fine hair. Before you step into the shower, I want you to reach for your bottle of mineral oil. Mineral oil is an indispensable grooming aid that you should never be without in your bath-Yes, it's a laxative, but it also happens to be an extremely mild oil, free of potentially irritating alcoholic perfumes-Because I like my men to have well-lubricated, soft skin, \ want you to pour this oil into the palms of your hands, then apply it to your body, particularly any rough, scaly areas such as on the elbows and feet. Rub the oil into your beard to soften it in preparation for shaving; it can protect your face from irritation caused by your razor. During your shower, the mineral oil will guard your skin from possible soap irritation. Afterward, it will leave your skin feeling soft and velvety smooth. If you have psoriasis or eczema, rub the oil into the dry patches on your scalp before you shampoo, making sure to use your fingertips, not your nails. Massage your scalp to bring blood into the area and to stimulate the oil glands to greater activity. I recommend mineral oil because I subscribe to the commonsense principle of skin care: oil the dry areas; dry the oily ones. My confidence is reinforced by something I learned from my grandmother when my first child had a severe case of cradle cap. After going from doctor to doctor, I ended up with a dermatologist's prescription for Selsun. I nearly panicked when I read the instructions for its use — keep away from the eyes and apply not more than twice — but I followed them, and within a few days my child's scalp was covered with a double scab characteristic of psoriasis. Fortunately my grandmother appeared and applied warm mineral oil every day for a week, and that ended the dryness. I've been using mineral oil for dry skin conditions ever since. If you have oily skin, use the oil sparingly. One place you can apply it without fear is under your eyes, an area of inactive oil glands that tends to wrinkle. The second item that should be in your bath is baking soda, the most effective deodorizer I know. If you want to smell fresh and natural, rub this finely granulated powder into all the hairy parts of your body, especially your underarms. Axillary hair holds odors for weeks, and in fact is never odor-free. Moreover, how many times has your deodorant failed you, making the problem many times worse? (Because this hair serves no useful purpose and is unrelated to a man's masculinity, I urge my customers to shave it off, sparing themselves — and others — the unpleasantness it can cause. Too much trouble? Not at all. A couple of swipes with a razor once a week can keep you odor-free. Too radical? That's what people said about long hairstyles and permanents for men, and about the "foxy look," which I originated and which I'll talk about later. No matter what people think, I'm convinced it's only a matter of time before men start shaving under their arms.) To give the oil another minute or two to soak in, brush your teeth now. You can use the baking soda as a dentifrice. It works well and it's inexpensive.

Once under the shower, adjust the water temperature according to your preference. Some people recommend hot showers (a steam-filled shower will help soften your beard in preparation for shaving), others cold. Either can be invigorating, neither of them is harmful. Use the mildest soap you can find, a castile, for example. Avoid perfumed soaps; they can be irritating, leaving your skin red and scaly. To clean the hairy parts of your body, especially your underarms, pubic area, and beard, a mild shampoo is best because, unlike soap, it won't leave an odorous residue. One soaping should be enough. While under the shower, you have an excellent opportunity to give your scalp an extra minute of daily attention. As you shampoo, rub vigorously, then follow with a thorough rinse. (Condition your hair only if it is damaged.) Now, help your body renew itself by brushing your skin. For this purpose you should have a back brush with medium-stiff bristles and a removable handle hanging in your bath. (The bristles can be either natural or synthetic.) Using a circular motion, brush vigorously until the skin all over your body is pink and tingly. While stimulating the blood to nourish your skin's living layers (turning them ink), vigorous brushing helps your body shed the dead cells in its uppermost layers. It also cleans out the pores. Because it stimulates and cleans so effectively, the brush is preferable to both a facecloth and a loufa, which tend to hold odors. When it needs freshening, rub baking soda into the bristles and let the brush float facedown in a sink filled with a water-and-baking-soda solution. Brushing your skin is an inexpensive, marvellously effective form of dermabrasion that I cannot recommend highly enough, especially if you are suffering from acne. Brushing wears away the top layers of your skin, stimulating the blood to nourish new layers. If you have acne, brush right over it. The pimples will break when they are ready. Don't squeeze, them, because squeezing causes scarring and damages the blood vessels, leaving blue marks on your skin. Just dab them W ith a tissue dipped in a little alcohol or witch hazel until they empty. They will heal by themselves. Continued brushing should result in definite improvement. (How do I know? Because I suffered from a severe case of acne, which was no teenage flare-up, until only a few years ago. I always felt painfully self-conscious about my complexion, the way a lot of men feel about their thinning hair. My skin dominated my self-image: when I was married, I made up before going to bed; I would cry inwardly if someone looked at me; I would lose track of conversations because I thought whoever I was talking to was looking at my complexion. I tried everything. One doctor put me on a diet; another gave me herbs and enemas; another subjected me to ultraviolet lamps and needles. I either got thinner, making my pimples look bigger, or walked around sunburned and bleeding. Finally, I discovered the brush, and within a few months I was a new person. Today I love my complexion; I've literally brushed away the scars and holes. You'd never know I ever had a problem. If I had only known the simple truth, that under tension I secrete excess oil and this oil leads to acne, I could have avoided years of pain and suffering.) After a final rinse you are ready to step out of the shower. To dry yourself, use a bath towel and rub briskly all over. The friction you apply to your skin this way renews it, so don't stint. While you're toweling, you might want to limber up by doing some isometric and stretching exercises.

Figure 16. With curly hair, push your curls forward.

Whether your hair is curly or straight, you should initially towel-dry it because this is your best opportunity to rub your scalp, and you won't rub as hard with your fingers as you will with a towel. In addition to getting your hair dry, you're improving its luster. But if after giving your scalp the stimulation it require you want to dry and set your hair with a blow-dryer, go ahead. If you have curly hair, use your fingers as you towel-dry to push your curls inward so they dry in the direction of your face. If you have straight hair, brush it forward from the center of your head toward your face, where you can dry it with either a towel or blow-dryer. If you dry it in this way, and then comb or brush it into place, you'll find that it won't flip up in the back or on one side.

Figure 17. To dry it, brush straight hair forward.

If you part your hair on the left, part it on the right while it dries, then comb or brush it into place; if you wear your hair straight back, let it dry forward then brush it back. In other words, dry your hair in a direction opposite to the way you are going to wear it.

Figure 18. Dry your hair in a direction opposite to the way you are going to wear it.

In choosing a brush, I prefer synthetic bristles because they stay firm; find the shape that's easiest for you to handle. The only requirements for a comb are that it be made of unbreakable plastic and not have sharp teeth that might break the skin. After you shave, don't torture yourself by applying alcoholic after-shave lotions or colognes directly onto your sensitive skin. (I'll never understand why TV commercials make this masochistic custom seem like a pleasure.) Just splash your face with cold water to close the pores, reserving your cologne for use on the hairy parts of your body. These are the areas that hold odors, so here is where you want your favorite scent. If you look in your mirror and see a pale face staring back, don't pour on the tanning lotions. Instead get yourself a tube of blush gel in a department store or five-andten. I prefer this gel to a cream because the gel won't rub off and isn't greasy. To apply it, put some on the end of your finger and run it gently down the center of your forehead, over the bridge of your

nose, across the cheekbones, and down the center of your chin, blending the gel into your skin as you go. Applied properly, it should give you a natural suntanned look and accentuate your eyes. Do you have deep circles under your eyes? This hereditary problem can make you look very old, and many of my customers are extremely self-conscious about it. I suggest you pick up an "erase," a cosmetic sold by several leading manufacturers. All you do is dab a little into the corner of your eye, then blend it gently into the area you want covered. If you are troubled by red-rimmed eyelids and have an important appointment or special date coming up, use a green eyeliner pencil to cover the red area. The two colors neutralize each other. If your sideburns are graying, the white patches may look washed out, and the contrast with the rest of your hair can be unflattering. I first had to deal with this problem thirteen years ago, when one of Boston's leading television announcers asked me for help. His white patches looked terrible on screen, but we couldn't color his hair because it grew in too fast. That's when I came up with the idea of using brown mascara. He tried it, and it worked. All you do is brush a little onto the hairs in the graying areas every day. It's waterproof and won't run, although it washes out easily when you shampoo. This little technique completes and strengthens the frame of your face, making you look more youthful. Try it; you'll be amazed at the difference it makes. If you want to lighten the color of your hair, apply lemon juice before going out into the sun. Lemon juice is a natural bleach. It gives blonds that "surfer" look. If you have fine hair, give it extra body with what I call an organic treatment (or "O.T."). An organic treatment in my shop is a neutral henna. (Be sure to use a neutral; it won't affect your hair color.) This treatment will apply a natural coating to your hair and give it body and sheen. It should last for about a month, and for those of you with very fine hair that is in the process of thinning, it can provide that little extra bulk you need until you fill in on your own. If you're bothered by bags under your eyes, ears that protrude, or a nose that doesn't sit right, my advice is: fix them. Find a reputable plastic surgeon and have them made just the way you've always wanted them to be. Cosmetic surgery can take ten to twenty years off your appearance. My nose was broken when I was young and it left me so self-conscious I would never allow myself to be photographed. Come into my shops today and you'll see on my "walls of fame" hundreds of photographs — of me with my well-known clients. A simple thing like straightening my nose gave me so much more self-confidence, it changed my life. I've found that most men whose ears flare are very self-conscious about them, and one of the reasons I promoted long hair for men was to cover the ears and ease the pain. I advise mothers whose children's ears flare to have them done when the children are still young; think of it in the same category as putting braces on their teeth. The pain adult men suffer because of protruding ears starts in childhood. You can eliminate it with one of the simplest forms of plastic surgery. I know that many of you will encounter strong resistance to cosmetic surgery. People may tell you your nose looks fine just as it is, but it doesn't matter how it looks to anyone else if it doesn't look right to you. Having been raised in a society that represses men's concern for their appearance, you will probably criticize yourself for being vain for even considering cosmetic surgery! Well, my advice is: be vain. Invest in your appearance. You deserve it. Do you think it was easy for Tommy Heinsohn, Derek Sanderson, and Ken Harrelson to be the first in their sports to wear long hair — and in front of a national audience? Red Auerbach, Milt Schmidt, and Dick Williams (the managers of the Celtics, Bruins, and Red Sox, respectively) were furious at me for what I had done (we all laugh about it today), and I doubt that they made life easy for their men. Vanity requires courage, self-confidence, and willpower. Nurture it. One thing I do not recommend is changing your hair color if you have turned gray. Rather than color your hair, I urge you to use a vegetable rinse every day after you shampoo to eliminate any yellow that may be present and to accentuate the white. Why? Because white is the most exciting hair color you can have. It highlights your complexion, emphasizing the ruddy pigments, and it softens the lines on your face, making you more boyish looking. Because it's so sexy, I've named it "the foxy look," and before I'm through I'm going to end the ridiculous misconception that associates this look with old age. I've been working at this image change for more than eight years, when I first announced the creation of "the look" through the Boston media. I was helped when Johnny Carson, followed by Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Peter Lawford, Gary Grant, Phil Donahue, and a host of other