Dealing with baldness can be very frustrating and we try to make sense of it.
In the process, we invest a lot of different theories about why it’s happening and sadly, most of those theories, especially those passed down via word of mouth are false and just myths.
Here are 5 of them we’ve debunked.
1. You inherit hair loss from your mother
This is one of the most widespread myths. The thing is, you have a chance of going bald even if your mum doesn’t have baldness in her family. The baldness gene is found on the X chromosome which is donated by the woman but there are several other genes scattered across your other chromosomes can also turn you bald.
This means your dad can pass on some of those other baldness genes to you. You have a chance of going bald even if your mom doesn’t have baldness in her family.
2. Wearing hats often can cause baldness
People think the scalp needs to be left alone to “breathe” and wearing a hat can stifle that which one turn causes baldness but that’s false. Hair follicles need oxygen alright but they don’t get it from the air but from the bloodstream so you can wear your hat/cap all you want.
3. Stress causes hair loss
This is only partially true. The type of stress that can cause hair loss has to do with traumatic events like a long term illness and not stress from your kids stressing you out or your job. We are talking major issues.
4. Only older men start going bald
A lot of men start balding in their 20s and 30s before they go older. Technically, you can start balding at any point after puberty, so this issue can affect men of nearly any age.
5. Hair loss affects only men
The process may be different but this affects women too. For men, it’s characterized by the receding hairline but women rather experience thinning hair more evenly across the entire scalp.
