Author: Dr. William Rassman

Yes, if your pony tail pulls tightly on your hair, then you could develop ‘traction alopecia’ common in both men and women who wear pony tails.

So it isnt true that hair is more susceptible to fall out when its longer? I ask you this because i am from a pretty bald family, and i grew my hair out pretty long when i was 17, and three years later my hair has never been the same density wise as it was before i had long hair. I was only wondering if growing ones hair out longer could kick start the genetic balding trait, if youve ever heard of that happening.
thanks!

That is a myth. The length of your hair has nothing to do with genetic balding, unless of course you are pulling on your long hair or getting it caught in things and having it ripped out… but that is another story.

Remember that as you age, if you do have male pattern baldness (genetic hair loss), your hair will thin until your final pattern is achieved. Get yourself checked out for miniaturization if you think that you may have genetic hair loss.

I have an itching scalp in the area where I experience hair thinning. Could this be a symptom of MPB, or could it be a symptom of something that is unrelated to MPB but causes hair thinning?

I also have dandruff, if that matters. Although I use Head and Shoulders, there are still flakes when I itch my head.

Some people have reported an itchy scalp when they are balding. I often wonder if what these people are complaining about a scalp that gets more sun, more air movement, and gets exposed to more drying.

Perhaps in your case it’s just the dandruff causing the itch and the location of the loss is coincidental.

There was a study done by a Cornell University professor named T. Collin Campbell in conjunction with Oxford University entitled “The China Study”. It’s an entire book, but basically he says genes are expressed by nutrition, and many of his arguments revolve around animal based protein v. plant based protein and cholesterol, cancer, heart disease — not necessarily balding. But this peaked my curiosity. Can male pattern baldness not be genetic at all but instead the balding aspect is expressed by some type of diet balding men eat whether that diet is heavy in red meat or whatever?

I have been aware of this thesis for some time and one has to give it credibility. There is no doubt that diet does play an important role in one’s health. It is classic “nature versus nurture” type of argument, but things are not so simple. I did not read The China Study book, so I really cannot comment on that, but with respect to balding, although it is genetic, diet may very well influence the ‘expression’ of the process. Some people ascribe diet as a cause of the racial differences in balding when comparing Asians (in Asia) with Caucasians in America, but the science for this is clearly not available.

No. Minoxidil is not a DHT blocker so I wouldn’t expect the type of side effects seen with finasteride.

If you developed arm and chest hair with minoxidil and not scalp hair, that means that you are either taking it orally or absorbing a lot of the medication through your skin. I gather it is not working on your scalp hair?