10 Common Myths about Hair Loss

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10 Common Myths about Hair Loss

10 Common Myths about Hair Loss

Uncontrolled hair loss is a person’s worst living nightmare. Even the mere thought of losing hair can be extremely stressful for some people. And, it’s completely justified. However, with the dread of hair loss comes the list of unproven myths that often don’t have any scientific explanation for their existence.

Despite how common hair loss is, there are a string of misconceptions that needs debunking. So, that is precisely what we are going to do here. We will break down the most common hair loss myths that you likely didn’t know about.

Feel free to skip ahead if one topic catches your eye

Myth: Biotin Prevents Hair Loss
Myth: Wearing Hats Make you Bald
Myth: Too Much Testosterone Causes Hair Loss
Myth: Dandruff Causes Hair Loss
Myth: Shampoo Makes you Lose Hair
Myth: You Inherit Hair Loss from your Maternal Side
Myth: Masturbation Makes you Bald
Myth: Vitamins Can Stop Hair Loss
Myth: Only Older People Suffer from Baldness
Myth: Stress Causes Hair Loss

Takeaway

1. Myth: Biotin Prevents Hair Loss

Biotin or Vitamin H is a water-soluble vitamin that is naturally sourced from several foods that we eat. With the consistent hype and commercialization of this vitamin, more and more people believe that biotin is nothing but a miracle substance for hair loss when that is actually not the case.

Although biotin might help promote keratin production, thereby helping strengthen your hair follicles, there are not many conclusive studies that show notable impacts of biotin on reversing hair loss.

According to studies, the impacts of biotin are often just limited to improving the keratin function in the body and nothing else. So, if you are reaching out for biotin supplements with hopes that they will contribute to hair loss prevention, they won’t.

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2. Myth: Wearing Hats Make you Bald

To clear out the misconception, wearing hats doesn’t directly contribute to hair loss. It is one of the biggest hair loss myths that people harbor in their minds. If you find hair inside your hat, it is likely because of a genetic predisposition or other issues that your body is going through - your hat has nothing to do with it.

The only time wearing hats can make you lose hair is when you are constantly pulling on your hair strands. It commonly contributes to a condition called traction alopecia that is one of the rare hair loss causes.

Wearing tight fitted hats during extreme weather conditions, hot or cold, can restrict the scalp’s blood circulation, limiting the blood supply to the hair follicles.

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3. Myth: Too Much Testosterone Causes Hair Loss

People blame and correlate the higher levels of testosterone with hair loss because of a derivative of this hormone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT is a leading factor behind premature hair loss and the signs of baldness in men.

However, the reason why testosterone levels aren’t directly associated with hair loss is that it doesn’t impact the hair follicles or the roots of the hair. It is an underlying genetic anomaly or sensitivity to DHT that contributes to hair loss and not testosterone directly.

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4. Myth: Dandruff Causes Hair Loss

If you were blaming the white, flaky residue on your scalp as one of the hair loss causes, you need to take it back. Even studies have shown that there is no significant evidence that proves that dandruff causes hair loss.

The reason why many people have this misconception is that dandruff makes your scalp itchy. And, excessive itching without any control can lead to scalp lesions and hair breakage. However, that’s all there is to it. There are no conclusive results that exactly correlate dandruff and hair loss.

5. Myth: Shampoo Makes you Lose hair

Washing your hair daily with shampoo is not going to make you lose your hair. Contrary to popular belief, shampooing your hair daily can help eliminate the excess oil buildup on the scalp and make the dead hair strands fall out from the follicles. So, if you are losing up to 150 hair throughout the day, especially after shampooing your hair, it is normal.

The only thing you need to keep a check on is the kind of shampoo you are using. Try and stick to less-chemical-rich ingredients instead of the formulas that will strip your hair off the natural oils.

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6. Myth: You Inherit Hair Loss from your Maternal Side

While there are correlations between genetics and hair loss, it doesn’t necessarily have to be from your maternal side. It can be anyone in your whole family tree. Even a study from the National Centre for Biotechnology Information suggests that hair loss is 80% a hereditary trait, the chances of it coming from either side of your family being 50-50.

Sometimes, individuals inherit issues with the expression of DHT in the body, which further contributes to hair loss and hair thinning over time.

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7. Myth: Masturbation Makes you Bald

You can blindly believe in the hair loss home remedies and give them a go but believing that masturbation is a vector for hair loss is nothing but a hoax. The primary reason behind this belief is because of ejaculation. It is believed that since semen has a high protein concentration, ejaculation deprives the body of essential proteins.

This is far from the truth, mainly because there is no scientific evidence to back up these claims. Another possible reason behind this belief that masturbation causes a spike in testosterone levels, which further enhances the levels of DHT that cause hair loss. However, there is no conclusive evidence behind the same.

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8. Myth: Vitamins Can Stop Hair Loss

Every Instagram influencer and beauty guru wants you to believe vitamins are the make or break for hair loss. A little knowledge is often worse than good, and that is exactly what applies here. We aren’t saying that vitamins can’t stop hair loss; we are saying that vitamins are only effective in people who are deficient in a specific vitamin in their body.

So, consuming too many Vitamin E capsules every day or the assorted multivitamins every morning can do your body worse than good. Even studies have found that too much Vitamin A and selenium contribute to further hair loss.

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9. Myth: Only Older People Suffer from Baldness

While you will find more fraction of the older people who are bald, it doesn’t imply that ONLY older adults suffer from baldness. That is a complete myth. On the contrary, male pattern baldness affects men as young as 25 years old.

Not just male pattern baldness, young people are struggling with alopecia struggle with premature hair loss for their condition, especially during the teen years.

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10. Myth: Stress Causes Hair Loss

To say that stress doesn’t contribute to hair loss at all is a misconception. Yes, it might contribute to temporary hair loss, but it is not the predominant cause behind hair loss diseases like alopecia and male pattern baldness.

Stress isn’t a contributing factor to permanent medical conditions but temporary hair loss only. So, make sure that you don’t confuse between the two.

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Take Away

If there’s one thing you need to take away from this article, it is the fact that there are an abundance of hair loss myths that you likely don’t know about. And, instead of believing the random hair loss reasons blindly, you need to fact-check them and ensure if they are true or not.

At Dr. Kalra’s skin Clinic, we strive to build transparency with our patients to ensure that they get the necessary treatment for their hair loss issues at affordable costs.