I'm new to this site, so please pardon me if this is a frequently asked question.
I'm wondering if there is any truth to what I've had barbers tell me repeatedly - that longer hair tends to cause thinning for males? Obviously, some of you have terrific hair, and have had for years. I've got a full head of fairly fine blonde hair, am 40 and not yet thinning too badly but wondering if I am courting danger by growing my hair long...
Your advice is appreciated!
Absolutely not. I have waist length hair and no thinning.
That is an ol' wives tale that keeps men from growing their hair long. Thinning is genetics. Only time will tell.
I can see where one might get the impression that long hair causes thinning.
To grow out the hair to terminal length can take five years or more. During that length of time, the hair on the top will just naturally become thinner for many men just because that is their genetics.
So that could cause somebody to make the association that growing the hair out causes thinning on top!
What about all those guys who get their hair cut every month, but go thin on top anyway. Do they have a case to sue their barbers for 'causing' the thinning of their hair? :-)
Above posts are correct. Length of hair has no bearing on androgenetic alopecia (medical term for hormonal-related hairloss). It is genetically determined.
A handy rule of thumb. The age of a man also approximately equals the percentage who are bald. In other words, at age 40, about 40% of men are appreciably bald, at 50, 50% are, etc.