It might be challenging to know where to begin debunking the baldness myths and stories because we have heard so many of them. People are quick to assign blame. Since it is hard to address every conceivable myth about hair loss, we will focus on the four main ones.
Physical Trauma and Mental Stress
It is a widely held—yet false—belief that mental and physical stress, such as agony and anxiety, can result in hair loss. Men frequently claim that they didn’t notice their baldness until their daughter began dating, they started to feel the burden of their financial situation, or they were going through a divorce. Others assert that their hair loss started as a consequence of a head trauma or physical blow, usually as a result of an accident. Are these arguments reliable? No. Although stress, particularly in women, might hasten hair loss, it is not the main factor.
From a psychological perspective, what these individuals think to be the root of their hair loss is actually a postponed response to a preexisting process. In other words, before the accident or before their daughter started dating, their hair started to thin. The guys didn’t begin to focus on their receding hair until afterward, in a state of increased awareness brought on by the shock or stress, and this is a common psychological response.
The Defective Highway System
One of the most pervasive ideas regarding hair loss is the “faulty freeway system” myth, which is still taught in some barber and beauty schools. This hypothesis is supported by the finding that the top of the head receives less blood flow than the lower parts of the scalp. The hair follicles are denied of essential nutrients as a result of this alleged “flaw” in the circulatory system—the flawed highway system—which permits “toxins” to build up. The result is starvation and hair loss. The idea goes on to say that wearing a hat or other headgear, which is necessary by several professions, restricts blood flow to the head and worsens the already diminished blood supply. The outcome? hair fall.
Branching off of the left and right carotid arteries, which rise from the heart, wrap around the ears, and continue to the very top of the head like the branches of a tree, give blood to the scalp. The conclusion that all men and all women would start to bald in a central line that starts at the top of the head travels to the frontal hairline and gradually widens toward the ears is that if the circulatory system determined baldness. Clearly, this is not how things work. On the other hand, for the majority of men, the thinning of the hair above the temples is the first indication of common baldness. Temporal recessions, also known as triangular or “V” recessions on the sides of the hairline, are the result of this. But even though this region receives more blood than the very top of the head, frequent baldness starts here.
Other evidence contradicts the hypothesized link between hair loss and the circulatory system. For instance, people tend to acquire unwanted hair in their brows, ears, and nostrils as they get older—between the ages of 35 and 55. How may this phenomenon be brought on by the circulatory system? Is it feasible that all men’s blood supply to their ears, noses, and eyebrows suddenly rises in their middle years without any apparent reason? It’s conceivable but unlikely.
The experiment conducted by Dr. Norman Orentreich in 1955 dealt a fatal blow to the idea of diminished blood supply. He removed a 4-millimeter bald graft from the patient’s top of the head, where there had been significant hair loss and a 4-millimeter hair-bearing transplant with intact follicles from the patient’s back. Dr. Orentreich then swapped the placement of the two grafts, inserting the bald graft into the space left by the hair-bearing graft and vice versa. Dr. Orentreich observed these grafts for several months and found that the “hairy” graft thrived in the huge baldness while the bald one stayed naked in the sea of hair surrounding it. If blood supply has an impact on hair development and/or loss, hair in the graft on the top of the head should have fallen out by now. The bald graft implanted in the back of the head, on the other hand, ought to have sprouted hair.
Next to hairiness is cleanliness
In accordance with this notion, the hair shaft becomes clogged with a deadly concoction of extra oil, air pollutants, sebum, and dead cells, which chokes off the hair and prevents it from growing. The logical query is thus, “Why does the hair on the other areas of the head—specifically the sides and back—continue to flourish?” The trichologist, or hair-clinic specialist, can expound that because these hairs develop downward, the lethal buildup slides down the hairs and away from the shaft and follicle, shielding the hair. However, this is absolutely untrue.
Numerous slovenly guys with filthy yet full heads of hair as well as legions of clean men who are bald defy the assumption that hair loss is caused by a dirty scalp. If this hypothesis were accurate, both male and female residents of communities in nations with little access to personal hygiene opportunities and resources would face rapid hair loss. Nothing could, of course, be further from the truth. If the entire scalp is unclean, wouldn’t it all go bald at once?
Creating a routine of daily shampooing is a desirable grooming habit that will improve the appearance of your existing hair. It won’t, however, stop hair loss or stimulate new hair growth.
Because of Your Food
According to the “you are what you eat” or “vitamin supplement” idea, men who experience hair loss are depriving their hair follicles of vital nutrients, which causes the follicles to die. According to this hypothesis, taking dietary supplements that contain vitamins and trace minerals like zinc, cysteine, and the B-complex vitamin biotin is the most effective way to prevent baldness.
The trichologist at a hair salon will claim that a laboratory study has revealed that hair, which is primarily made of protein, needs to be given specific vitamins, minerals, and amino acids in order to grow, as well as deceptive advertisements. Typically, the argument goes that these essential minerals are woefully underrepresented in the diet of the typical American male. Because of this, he has baldness.
Does dietary malnutrition have the potential to lead to hair loss? Yes, but the person must be genuinely starving to death due to this insufficiency. The average healthy American may occasionally experience nutritional deficits, such as transiently low magnesium or zinc levels, but this is not the same as acute clinical hunger. Additionally, therapeutic fasting cannot and does not result in hair loss in the patterns that are known as typical male pattern baldness. Instead, it results in diffuse or generalized hair loss across the entire scalp. Additionally, hair loss is typically the last symptom of clinical malnutrition and is never the sole one. In addition to disorders or diseases of the internal organs, teeth, gums, skin, and nails are further signs. Therefore, it is safe to presume that a nutritional shortage is not the cause of your hair loss if you have diffuse unpatterned hair loss but no other symptoms of acute clinical famine.
Understanding the Inuit
Perhaps the Arctic Inuit people serve as the best illustration of a society that dispels the prevalent baldness beliefs. Male Inuit wear hats the majority of the time and hardly ever wash their hair. Additionally, they typically use whale and fish oils to give their hair a gloss that is deemed attractive in their culture. Additionally, their limited diet, which consists primarily of protein and fat, lacks the variety of foods necessary to be considered balanced. The culture’s very short life expectancy—the typical Inuit male lives to the age of sixty—serves as proof of this.
The Inuit male is a victim of every mythical cause of baldness, including poor circulation brought on by cold weather, further reduced blood supply brought on by wearing hats, a scalp clogged with sebum, and a diet deficient in essential vitamins, all of which, according to the myths, should result in an unusually high rate of baldness. The Inuit, like people of comparable racial makeup, have a far lower likelihood of going bald than the typical Caucasian male.
