new thread
Recently I recieved email from a person claiming to be a physician, saying that long hair causes baldness. I'm skeptical, and I'm wondering if any of you have any comments:
He said:
...I noticed in the photos of your hair that you are balding at the front...[Balding] happens at a MUCH faster rate when your hair is long and even faster when it's pulled into a ponytail...When my hair started to come out in front...I...got it buzzed...I had been growing it for almost ten years...my hairline started to fill in again almost immediately. I no longer have the recessions or thinness in front...
I replied:
...I suspect your experience may have been more coincidental than universal. But even if you are correct, I'd rather lose hair in front and have the rest long, then cut it short...
His reply:
My experience...certainly is not coincidental. I am a physician
and a big portion of my practice relates to hair loss and it's
prevention, so I have a bit of knowledge about it. Before prescribing Rogaine or Propecia, I always evaluate physical causes of hair loss in men. The most common ones are long hair tied back or medium length hair that is "slicked" back with gel, grease, etc. Both of these create tremndous tension on the hair follicles--both pulling the hair and in the opposite direction (back) from which it grows (forward). I have found that more than half will experience re-growth of lost hair when they cut their hair and/or quit slicking it back. On another 25% or so, they seem to have the loss arrested.
Any thoughts about his claims?
FWIW, I was balding long before I started growing it out, and the balding process hasn't seemed to accelerate with longer hair length.
Thanks,
8-)
Greg
well, i'm certainly not a physician and thus not qualified to refute the good doctor's claims scientifically. i must resort to perceptual common sense. continual pulling of hair such as when it is tied into a ponytail could uproot a few strands, but simply wearing it long as a cause of baldness makes no sense to me.
perhaps your practitioner friend has misread an observation he has made... when the dreaded MPB process begins, the growth cycle of hairs on the crown & in front shortens... all the hair is there- it just doesn't grow as long as the rest b4 falling out (& being replaced). the differences in terminal growth cannot be observed on a buzz cut as none of the hair is allowed to reach terminal length - thus the illusion of arresting the thinning process.
it's bad enough that regular folk spread myths about hair loss, but when a (supposed) M.D. volunteers misinformation...
Dr., huh? All the men in my dad's family have gone through hair loss and not one of them have ever had long hair, let alone enough to pull back into a ponytail. My cousin went bald before he was 25 and he always had short hair. My other cousin is 35 and has lost almost all of his hair in the top, again he has always had short hair. If a man is destined for baldness, then baldness it will be regardless of your hair length.
I can only tell about personal experiences.
My brother has always had his hair short, but he has also combed it
always backwards, also using some gels to make it go that way.
His hairline has significantly receded (several centimeters) from what it used to be and his hair has also thinned perceptibly on the front.
I have always had longer hair than he has, and now the difference is
larger than ever before. I have never combed my hair back (I don't
like my looks that way). Careful measurements using school time photos taken over 20 years ago showed absolutely no change of the
hairline, which confirms my subjective feelings.
What is see is different between us two, however, is that in pulling his hair back, my brother *exposed* his hair follicles to the elements. It may be that only some people get balding as a result, but he surely has gotten it. (Of course there can be a lot of other reasons for this difference between us, but I've always used to think it was because of this.)
What I have done myself, is that my hair is cut short in the front
(just a few cms) and it curves downwards. This is mainly because
I like the looks, but it may also protect my hair follicles as a side effect.
What our doctor friend does not realize is that even though he knows that a significant part of balding incidents can be helped with certain treatment, it does not necessarily follow that disregard of that treatment would cause baldness in other people.
Why not? Because he only sees people who are balding! Other people never see him, because they have no reason to. Hence, it may be that most people don't bald because they pull their hair back, but out of those who do, a significant percentage may be just because of that.
But anyway, I'd like to see my haircut style become more common.
Often the hair in the front does not even grow long enough to stay put in a pony tail, and comes into your eyes and mouth. I've not had that problem, because the short hair on the front cannot reach even my eyes.
Tehanu
