Bald as an Egg: Baldness Remedies Through the Ages

January 2023 in “ Acta historiae medicinae, stomatologiae, pharmaciae, medicinae veterinariae ”

Radivoj Radić

baldness remedies Pliny the Elder Naturalis Historia Byzantine medical treatise The Hodoch Code Serbian folk medicine

TLDR Historical baldness remedies were varied and often based on superstition.

The paper explores historical remedies for baldness from antiquity to the 19th century, starting with Pliny the Elder's 1st-century Naturalis Historia. It then summarizes treatments from a Byzantine medical treatise (11th-14th century) and presents recipes from The Hodoch Code, a Serbian therapeutic anthology (14th-15th century). The study also includes medications and superstitions from Serbian folk medicine.

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