GroWell Cap Review: I Have Hair for the First Time in 15 Years
GroWell Cap Review: I Have Hair for the First Time in 15 Years
GroWell 生发帽评测：15 年来我第一次长出了头发
From reviewing archival footage—scrolling back 63,979 or so photos on my iPhone camera roll—it appears I shaved my head for the first time sometime in the spring of 2011. I was 30 years old, and it seemed like a logical choice given the slow thinning of my always-thin hair and the pleasantly round shape of my head, the one physical trait I consistently receive compliments on from complete strangers. 回顾存档资料——翻看我 iPhone 相册里大约 63,979 张照片——我似乎是在 2011 年春天的某个时候第一次剃了光头。当时我 30 岁，考虑到我原本就稀疏的头发在慢慢变薄，加上我那圆润的头型（这是我唯一能不断收到陌生人赞美的地方），剃光头似乎是一个合理的选择。
It didn’t feel like an especially momentous decision at the time. Looking back after 15 years of smooth-headedness, though, shaving my hair off that first time feels like a significant milestone that I galloped past without taking appropriate notice. 当时这感觉并不是什么重大的决定。然而，在保持了 15 年光头之后回望，第一次剃头感觉像是一个重要的里程碑，而我当时却匆匆掠过，没有给予足够的重视。
When you don’t have hair on your head, everyone assumes you’re bald. I’ve always been quick to correct them that I, in fact, have hair—and it’s not even receding. It was, however, very thin and getting thinner. Since I was the kid whom nature denied a Vanilla Ice haircut a few short years after my mother denied me Hammer pants, my hair has always been fine and wispy. Once age thinned it enough, I just buzzed it, then kept buzzing a couple times a week for so long that no one remembered me having it. 当你头上没头发时，每个人都以为你是秃顶。我总是很快纠正他们：事实上我有头发，而且甚至没有发际线后移。只不过，我的头发非常细，而且越来越稀疏。因为我小时候就没能拥有那种“香草冰”式的发型（就像我妈当年不让我穿哈默裤一样），我的头发一直都很细软。随着年龄增长，头发变得足够稀疏后，我就干脆剃了光头，并且保持每周剃几次的习惯，久而久之，没人记得我曾经有过头发了。
Well, now I have hair again, thanks to eight weeks of using an LED cap made by GroWell. I don’t have a lot of hair, but I have at least as much as I did when I was 30, and maybe even as much as I did when I was 25. I wear the brand’s cap for 25 minutes every other day, which is about average for these devices, and I’m using the brand’s proprietary shampoo to strengthen my strands, though I’m not doing any other treatment. 好吧，现在我又长出头发了，这要归功于我使用 GroWell LED 生发帽的八周时间。虽然头发不算多，但至少恢复到了我 30 岁时的水平，甚至可能达到了 25 岁时的发量。我每隔一天佩戴该品牌的帽子 25 分钟，这在同类设备中属于平均水平，同时我还配合使用该品牌的专用洗发水来强韧发丝，除此之外没有进行任何其他治疗。
How It Works
工作原理
LED hair regrowth treatment is not for everyone. If the top of your head has been rendered completely smooth, it’s very unlikely to make any difference. But if you have dormant follicles, they can be enlivened by the use of specific red-light wavelengths that stimulate those follicles through increased blood flow to the scalp. Results can take up to six months, but after eight weeks, the difference is noticeable enough to merit review. LED 生发治疗并不适合所有人。如果你的头顶已经完全光滑，它几乎不可能产生任何效果。但如果你还有处于休眠状态的毛囊，通过特定波长的红光照射，可以促进头皮血液循环，从而激活这些毛囊。效果可能需要长达六个月才能显现，但在八周后，差异已经明显到值得我写这篇评测了。
There are dozens of LED hair-growth gadgets on the market, ranging from a $50 product on AliExpress that’s been shopped onto a model to comically bad effect to the $2,500 Capillus Spectrum, which boasts an aggressive array of laser diodes. Contrary to what I would have suspected, women are actually the current dominant consumer group for LED hair-regrowth therapy. As it was explained to me, women are accustomed to spending money on their appearance, and thinning hair is often experienced as a crisis. Men, on the other hand, tend to take the path I did and buzz it all off, then go about their day. 市面上有几十种 LED 生发小工具，从速卖通上 50 美元、P 图效果极其滑稽的产品，到售价 2500 美元、拥有强大激光二极管阵列的 Capillus Spectrum 应有尽有。与我预想的相反，女性实际上是目前 LED 生发治疗的主要消费群体。据解释，女性习惯于在外表上投资，而脱发往往被她们视为一种危机。相比之下，男性往往会像我一样选择剃光头，然后继续过日子。
I agreed to test the FDA-cleared GroWell, which sits in the middle of the price range at $550. It contains a total of 63 diodes, including 24 lasers and 39 LEDs. Beyond its attractive price point, comfortably between sketchy drop shippers and well-marketed products that cost nearly as much as the top-end MacBook Pro, the GroWell stands out for offering treatment at a level supported by clinical research without an overkill approach that can be counterproductive. 我同意测试这款获得 FDA 认证的 GroWell 生发帽，它的价格处于 550 美元的中档水平。它总共包含 63 个二极管，包括 24 个激光器和 39 个 LED 灯。除了极具吸引力的价格（既避开了不可靠的代发货产品，又不像那些售价堪比顶配 MacBook Pro 的营销产品那样昂贵），GroWell 的突出之处在于它提供的治疗水平有临床研究支持，且不会采用可能适得其反的过度治疗方案。
Also, unlike the helmet-style caps on the market, it’s an insert attached to a control unit with a small 1,800 mAh Li-ion battery, which GroWell says should be good for several years of regular use. Because it’s in three small pieces (a control pack that’s the size of an old Motorola Razr, a USB-C cord, and a flat pad that’s only as thick as a piece of cardboard), it’s easy to fold up and pack on a trip. That’s clutch, as you don’t want to miss treatments when traveling. (Note that if you stop using the device, your follicles will return to their previous state.) 此外，与市面上的头盔式生发帽不同，它是一个插入式装置，连接着一个带有 1800 mAh 小型锂电池的控制单元，GroWell 表示该电池可支持数年的日常使用。由于它由三个小部件组成（一个老式摩托罗拉 Razr 大小的控制盒、一根 USB-C 线，以及一个只有纸板厚度的扁平灯垫），因此很容易折叠并装入行李中。这一点非常关键，因为你肯定不想在旅行时中断治疗。（请注意，如果你停止使用该设备，毛囊会恢复到之前的状态。）
Growing Pains?
生长痛？
It couldn’t be easier to use: Tuck the light pad inside the provided cap or one of your own, connect it via USB-C to the control module, and press the button. It will light up for the next 25 minutes while you go about your business. Because it goes in your own hat, the fit may not be perfect, and I did find myself adjusting it a bunch, which probably wouldn’t happen with some of the helmet-style devices. 使用起来非常简单：将灯垫塞进附赠的帽子或你自己的帽子里，通过 USB-C 线连接到控制模块，然后按下按钮即可。它会持续工作 25 分钟，期间你可以做自己的事。由于它是放在你自己的帽子里，贴合度可能不够完美，我确实发现自己需要不断调整，而这在某些头盔式设备上可能不会发生。
In a 2013 study, the levels and duration provided by GroWell with every other day of use over 16 weeks helped everyone who participated in the study regrow some hair, on average 35 percent more for men and 37 percent for women. The same study showed that using more powerful lasers for longer may actually stunt growth a bit. I’m only estimating here, but I would guess I have at least 30 percent more hair than I would have without the treatment, and maybe more. 在 2013 年的一项研究中，GroWell 提供的这种强度和时长（每隔一天使用一次，持续 16 周）帮助所有参与者长出了一些头发，男性平均发量增加了 35%，女性增加了 37%。同一项研究还表明，使用功率更强的激光器或延长使用时间反而可能会抑制生长。我这里只是估算，但我敢说我的发量至少比不进行治疗时增加了 30%，甚至可能更多。
GroWell’s therapy-grade laser and LED diodes are proprietary to Apira, the company behind iGrow and GroWell. Unlike most competitors, GroWell says to only use the product every other day, rather than every day, to give your scalp a rest day to process the cellular stimulation. Also, unlike others, they limit wattage to avoid oversaturating follicles past the optimal 3 to 4 Joules. Studies suggest that more powerful lights or more frequent use can fry your follicles and actually inhibit regrowth. GroWell 的治疗级激光和 LED 二极管是 Apira 公司的专利技术，该公司也是 iGrow 和 GroWell 的幕后推手。与大多数竞争对手不同，GroWell 建议每隔一天使用一次，而不是每天使用，以便给头皮留出一天休息时间来处理细胞刺激。此外，与其他产品不同，他们限制了功率，以避免毛囊过度饱和，超过最佳的 3 到 4 焦耳。研究表明，更强的光照或更频繁的使用可能会“烧坏”毛囊，反而抑制再生。
I have not yet tested other LED therapy devices to compare efficacy, but the results after two months of use with the GroWell have been dramatic. After about six weeks, a female acquaintance whom I ran into in a bar said, “I didn’t know you had hair,” and then asked to touch it. Most other people seem to have come to the same conclusion—I was bald by choice, and now I’m not. Maybe that’s true. Maybe, as my brother-in-law says, any problem that can be solved with money isn’t a real problem. I’m not sure if that’s true, but if $550 and two hours of passive treatment with no side effects can get you hair, you’re really not bald. 我还没有测试过其他 LED 治疗设备来比较功效，但使用 GroWell 两个月后的效果非常显著。大约六周后，我在酒吧遇到的一位女性熟人说：“我不知道你还有头发，”然后要求摸摸看。大多数其他人似乎也得出了同样的结论——我以前是主动选择剃光头，而现在不是了。也许确实如此。也许正如我姐夫所说，任何能用钱解决的问题都不是真正的问题。我不确定这是否正确，但如果 550 美元和每天两小时的被动治疗且没有副作用就能让你长出头发，那你确实不算秃顶。
People now ask me if I plan to keep my hair after completing my testing. I probably will. Right now, I’m still just letting my hair grow. 现在人们问我测试结束后是否打算留头发。我可能会留。目前，我只是任由头发继续生长。