Do hats cause balding?

Do you remember when you’ve first heard this? Do you remember maybe when your uncle told you he got bald because of that “damn” hat? Do you still believe that? Is it a fact or a myth or somewhere in between? I imagine balding is quite a concern for a lot of men who look in the mirror and see themselves slowly losing their hair. If you Google it, there are a lot of forums where this problem is discussed and a lot of blogs on companies’ websites advertising their anti-hair-loss products who have the effect of reducing the effects of constantly wearing hats. Let’s debug this myth!

Do hats cause balding? 

Hats do not cause balding, at least not in the way we wear them every day, according to this website. A baseball cap would have to be painfully attached to your scalp, be so tightly- strapped to your head that it would hurt like hell in order for it to cause any kind of damage to your hair. The idea that hats prevent the sweat glands from breathing and block the follicles responsible for hair growth is completely fictitious. It is basically a myth made up by grandpas and uncles to explain their gradual loss of hair. I bet they even had fun when they came up with this story, but somehow it caught on and people took it seriously. At least this is what I like to believe.

Why do people really go bald?

Balding is mostly a hereditary condition and begins to show its first signs sometimes after puberty. Known as Androgenic alopecia, the male hair loss pattern progresses with the decreasing of hair follicles. The male hormone testosterone can sometimes disintegrate into dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which can bring the growth of hair follicles to a halt.

DHT makes the hair follicles smaller and thinner and causes shorter and less pigmented hair in time. The first signs of balding can be seen at the frontal hairline and in the crown areas. In the end, the follicles will be completely inactivated by DHT and thus lead to complete loss of hair.

Do ponytails cause baldness?

According to hair loss geeks wearing hats on a daily basis does no harm to your hair and does not cause balding. You would have to wear a hat so tightly strapped to your scalp that it would hurt like hell for it to cause any damage to your hair. Nevertheless, wearing a dirty cap can cause serious scalp infection in certain situations. Yes, this is possible, but it is not directly linked to balding and hair loss, but more to certain viruses or bacteria. 

There is also another kind of myth regarding hair loss. It is believed that braids or ponytails can have a negative effect on your hair, that by repeatedly pulling and twisting your hair, you can damage your hair follicles and that in time, this can lead to hair loss problems. Well, authorities in this field have said that this is not possible. As with wearing hats, you would have to provide a lot more pressure on your scalp than it is humanly possible when you put your hair in a ponytail or braids. If you’re struggling with hair loss or thinning, having a hair transplant staten island might be the solution to your problem.

People start wearing caps after going bald.

Well, this is a pretty valid fact. People do turn to wear all kinds of hats and caps after they realize their hair is gradually leaving their scalp. Some take extraordinary lengths such as using Womens Vitamins for Hair Loss to prevent hair loss. The truth is, hair gives your face a certain frame, a certain je ne sais quoi which makes you, you. Losing your hair can be a quite frustrating thing, mostly because your face loses something from the shape it used to have when you had hair. Still, do not despair! There are solutions. Wearing hats, yep! That’s the solution.

People with a tendency to balding usually wear hats because hats can reframe their faces in a youthful way. So, yes, as you can see, the exact object that would cause balding in the first place is now the savior of the day. How about that?

The bottom line is, wearing hats does not cause balding. Moreover, wearing hats can hide balding and give your face its proportions back. At the end of the day, though, it’s not the number of hairs on your head that matter, but the way you’ve made people feel. Peace!