Men’s Health Tackles Hair Loss Myths

There are many hair loss myths that are ‘common knowledge.’ Men’s Health magazine recently tackled the top 5.

• Baldness – it’s your mom’s dad’s fault.
• Bald guys have more testosterone
• Tanning will bake off your hair
• Wearing a hat too much suffocates your hair
• Stress is making your hair fall out

I’ll give you a quick overview. False. (A small caveat to stress causing hair loss as stress related to significant illness can cause temporary hair loss). Let’s take on a few more myths.

Daily hair washing causes hair loss

False. With daily hair washing you may see more hair in the drain, but it doesn’t actually cause hair loss. Any hair that falls out with shampoo massage is already destined to fall out. Good hair hygiene, washing only 2-3 times per week and using conditioners, helps hair to look full and healthy.

Tight braids cause hair loss.

True. Pulling on the hair tightly with braids or pony tails can cause permanent hair loss. If the braid causes discomfort, it is probably too tight. Tight braids cause the hairs to be pulled from the follicle creating a traction alopecia. This creates scarring of the follicle and the hair will not grow back once the follicle is scarred.

Hair coloring and straightening cause hair loss.

False. Unless the coloring or straightening is done poorly and burn the skin, they do not cause hair loss. Coloring and straightening do cause hair to break prematurely. This can cause hair that does not look healthy. Fortunately if you stop, new hair will grow and take the place of the damaged hair making everything look great again.

Taking more vitamins grows more hair.

False. Think of hair growth like making concrete. I can put in as much sand as I want but the rest of the machinery only moves so fast to make concrete. In the same way, numerous vitamins and minerals are needed for hair growth but putting more than needed into the system won’t create additional growth.