Man Wears Iron Shoes to Regrow Hair Loss

Even though there is a clinically-proven solution to hair loss in men, the lengths that some people will go to to find alternative methods of regrowth seem to know no bounds.

The old wives' tales books are littered with stories about everything from onions and garlic to ginger and even cow urine being wonder cures for the genetic condition male pattern baldness and now a man in China thinks he has a new one that can be added to the list. A man known only as Mr Xiao claims that he is quietly regrowing hair on his crown thanks to a daily workout wearing extraordinarily heavy shoes.

Daily walks in 165lbs iron shoes

The Daily Mail picked up a story that first appeared on a Chinese website in which it is claimed that the 165lbs iron shoes that Mr Xiao wears on each foot have helped his hair to grow back. Clearly dedicated to this pursuit, Mr Xiao says that every day he walks at least 1 km or four hours with his heavy boots on.

The man, from Shenzhen, claims to have learnt about this heavyweight hair restoring trick from two ‘masters’ who discovered it. Naturally, the burning question is: discovered what, exactly?

Male pattern baldness is a widespread genetic condition that will affect the hairlines and crowns of at least half of all men by the time they are 50. The most effective way of addressing it is with a male hair loss treatment course featuring either or both of the only two clinically-proven drugs for this purpose - finasteride 1mg and minoxidil - to halt shedding, encourage regrowth and help in preventing baldness.

To the best of our knowledge, there is absolutely nothing in the medical books to suggest that strapping bits of metal to your feet will cause hair to regrow. Nor, more broadly, is there anything that shows exercise makes hair lost to androgenetic alopecia come back.

It is true to say that overall fitness levels can play a part in the health of the hair and body generally, but it would be untrue to say that spending more time at the gym would cause the hair to grow back in someone with male pattern hairloss. This is because the hormone DHT, the underlying cause of hair loss in men with a genetic sensitivity to it, is not eradicated by exercise.

Treatment for male pattern baldness

DHT (dihydrotestosterone)

 is ultimately responsible for causing hair to gradually thin along the top and front of a man’s head if he has male pattern hairloss. DHT binds to the susceptible follicles and causes them to shrink and weaken; as a result, increasingly thinner hair ensues gradually over time until eventually it falls out, leading to hair loss and potentially baldness in these specific areas such as a receding hairline and/or a thinning crown.

The two MHRA licensed and FDA-approved medications are finasteride 1mg - which hinders the production of DHT, helping hair to grow uninhibited and preventing further deterioration of these susceptible follicles - and high-strength minoxidil which is available in a number of formulations and is applied directly to the scalp, where needed, in order to promote hair growth and prevent further hair loss.

While treatment can be bolstered by several further hair growth supporting products products, the chances of cast-iron footwear being added to any established range of treatment options any time soon are unsurprisingly zero.