Does long hair cause baldness?

[Francois]

Hello! This is my first post here.

I've been letting my hair grow for about 6 years now, and several family members have been continually pressuring me to cut it ever since. Their latest argument is that long hair is so heavy that it's basically pulling itself off my head on weight alone, and that I'll be bald before I know it if I keep it long.

I'm not inclined to believe this at all. The claim seems ridiculous to me. But I figured I should still verify if there's any truth to it, just in case. I didn't find any mention of this on the Internet so far, so I figured that if anyone knows, it's you people.:)

I am beginning to lose hair slightly, but I'm blaming genetics for that as my father starting going bald fairly young. Knowing this, I feel like I have to make the most out of my hair while I still have some!

[Kuchen]

There's such a thing as traction alopecia, when tugging caused by tight braids or badly balanced, constant updos can cause hair loss, but I doubt long hair on its own could cause that. I'm pretty sure that if there were ever such a thing as a hair growing too heavy for its follicle it would just drop out and start a new hair.

[Nevermore]

I'd say it's a myth. Baldness for most people is genetic or caused by illness, minus traction alopecia as Kuchen said. If long hair caused baldness, no one would have had floor length hair, but women have routinely had hair around floor length for as long as we've had recorded history. It's been fairly common for men to have long hair as well and keep it until death (Native Americans are a good example of this, among others) without balding. Surely if long hair causes baldness, those men would be bald and the men who've never had hair longer than an inch would have their hair still.

[noelgirl]

It doesn't make much sense to me - if length were a cause of hair loss, then why would it grow long in the first place? That said, when my sister, who usually wears her hair short, wore it longer a few years ago, it did seem to thin out a lot. But it was probably traction alopecia - she wore the same ponytail in the same place on her head most days, and she really wasn't taking care of it, so there was probably some breakage, too. Can't say I was too shocked that she eventually went short again - her hair probably would have looked nice long if she'd put more care into it, but I'm not sure that she has the patience.

[EdG]

Welcome to the board Francois!

I've heard that myth too. It is probably the worst piece of disinformation that parents use to keep their sons from growing long hair.

Male pattern baldness is caused by genetics. If MPB happens, it happens (beyond one's control).

Rest assured, there are a lot of guys and gals on this board who have had long hair for many years. :)
Ed

[Xandergrammy]

It hasn't made me bald yet. :gabigrin:

[vidgrl007]

Welcome to the board Francois!

I've heard that myth too. It is probably the worst piece of disinformation that parents use to keep their sons from growing long hair.

Male pattern baldness is caused by genetics. If MPB happens, it happens (beyond one's control).

Rest assured, there are a lot of guys and gals on this board who have had long hair for many years. :)
Ed
i couldnt agree more.i also think it just a scare tactic for whatever reason to get you to cut your hair.not to hijack but edg you have the most marvolus hair:eyebrows: lol.

[EdG]

not to hijack but edg you have the most marvolus hair:eyebrows: lol.Thank you vidgrl007! :)
Ed

[vidgrl007]

you are welcome:).

[Francois]

Ha! Just as I thought. Thanks so much for confirming my suspicion that this is basically codswallop!

That probably won't stop the constant recriminations, though. You'd figure they'd give up after six years... Oh well. At least the tiny doubt I had is gone and that's what matters. Thanks again!

[Kirin]

Yes, this is a scare tactic and old wives tale. People will point out "that long haired man with the bald patch in the back of his head, see see!" when in reality, that man's bald patch is genetic, not due to long hair.

If they find hairs around your house, clothes, car, they'll point out that see, you are losing your hair. The reality is, you were always shedding hair, just didn't notice them because they were short.

[doodlesmart]

I'm not a genetics person, but I thought I'd point out also that MPB is thought to be an X-linked trait, so what your father has doesn't play into it. You want to look at males on your mother's side of the family to see rather than on your father side.

[Francois]

Wow, really? My maternal grandfather still had most of his hair at 70 years old, and in fact didn't even start to gray until well into his sixties. I think I like the sound of that!

[<She>]

Long hair doesn't cause baldness, unless there is some genetic predisposition as it is already mentioned. And if that claim was true, there wouldn't be all the longhair folks here on this forum. So there's the proof :)

And welcome to LHC!:)

[Saranne772]

Hasnt made me bald and Ive been long haired most my life! As soon as it grew that is ;)

My Gt Grandmother is 98 here is her hair- no balding, only thinning

[lilalong]

Yeah. If long hair really caused baldness, there wouldn't be many people with long hair, no?