so through a combination of my job and the fact that I’m now working out in the middle of the day and that puts a damper on hair, I’ve been wearing my Red Sox hat quite a bit lately. My dad offhandedly mentioned the other day that wearing a hat a lot (ironically) will make you go bald faster. Is there any merit to this? It seems like one of those things that’s just crazy enough to be right.
It’s just an old wive’s tale, I mean by what mechanism could someone even explain that a hat would cause the hair follicles to go dormant?
I’ve heard this also. (I am a member of the tall face society). It may have come from the observation that bald men wear hats. But it’s the baldness that causes the hats to be worn, not the other way around. As the formerly hirisute start balding, they (we) notice it sooner than some others, and we cover our heads for protection, when many peole have not noticed our condition quite yet, and thus make the assumption that the hat, having come before they percieved the baldness, must therefore have caused the baldness.
And it still annoys me that I pay the same for a haircut even though it takes a third as long.
I always figured that going bald made guys wear hats more often (sunburned scalp hurts!). Really, for male pattern baldness, it’s pretty much genetic. Rogaine and Propecia can help slow it down, and I’ve read smoking cigarettes can speed up balding since nicotine is a vasoconstrictor.
Anyway, Googling hats and hair loss brings up a whole lot of hits that say hats causing hair loss is a myth.
Yup. Going bald makes your weat a hat.
I had an aunt who studied to be a nun back in the day when they wore those elaboate wimples. Sometimes the wimple would rub down the hair where it contacted the scalp. My aunt had a bald spot for several years after she left the convent, but eventually the hair filled back in.
In any case, I doubt if a baseball cap – much less a fedora – would have the same effect.
If it were true, there would be millions of bald, 40-year old military men (and women).
The only thing that I can think that might possibly be true about this is that the spot on your head where the hat band rubs your scalp might possibly rub hair away. But then you would probably see more guys with bald rings around their heads, which I have never seen.
But you do wonder. Over the years the hair on my legs has lightened significantly in volume. I’ve been told by many people, doctors included, that it’s because of wearing pants all these years. Arms have lightened too, though not to the same extent.
Is it just aging?
I suppose there are some possible ways a hat will contribute to hair loss in some cases. Certain materials with close fitting hats may tend to pull hair out repeatedly. Eventually it won’t come back. Some hats used in hot conditions might tend to overheat follicles causing some damage. Other hats may cause hot moist conditions creating bacterial or fungal growth that damages follicles over time. The trouble is proving any of it. For any one person you have no idea when they will start losing their hair so comparative studies between individuals would be useless. You could compare large groups of people with varied physical characteristics and occupations over a long time with some wearing hats daily and others going hatless, but any one study would be skewed and you’d need several to find consistent results. Good luck finding volunteers for that one. But perhaps close examination of follicles over time with and without hats in individuals would reveal changes to follicles over time. I for one would have stopped wearing hats long ago if this was something known.
Wouldn’t increased sweating under a hat add more oils and dandruff to the scalp? Perhaps build up on the scalp irritates the hair follicle and causes hair loss?
It’s just speculation, but I too have been warned about wearing hats.