Category: Hair Loss Causes

Hi Dr,

Around four years ago (when i was 24) prior to every worrying about hair loss I hasd a bout of dandruff/itchy scalp.

This mainly affected my temple area. Naively, i remember sitting there at my desk scratching away at the area for a couple of weeks (before it cleared up) and seeing how much dandruff would fall as well as how much hair would fall (lots at the time of scratching it).

Not long after I saw pictures of my hair and became worried about going bald. In those four years, my hair hasn’t got a whole lot worse but I do have a receded hairline in those areas that I was scratching away at (and later using minoxidil on).

Could this have caused permanent hair loss in these areas? I do have a family history of baldness anyway.

A visit with a good doctor will probably tell you the answer after a thorough examination of your hair and scalp is done. It would be unusual for a 2 week bout of heavy scratching to produce permanent hair loss, but a doctor will tell you what he sees and make the diagnosis you need. Considering your family history and age, I’d expect genetics are at play… not scratching dandruff 4 years ago.

Hello Doctor Rassman,

Love your blog. My question is, is there a link between consuming gluten and premature baldness? I’ve read quite a few articles about it, and part of me believes it’s just crazy talk, but I’m wondering. Obviously, there are plenty of people who eat gluten and never bald, but if it’s a person’s destiny to be bald and they consume a lot of gluten at a young age, can that cause the onset?

Thanks for your time!

I think gluten free diets have gained popularity and boasts many health benefits. With respect to hair loss and its link to gluten, I remain fixed on my stance. Male pattern hair loss is a genetic issue (not a diet issue). Perhaps certain diets may accelerate or trigger the balding process, but these things are all speculative.

Hey doctors,

I found this slideshow of popular hair loss myths that Dr. Bernstein wrote that I thought you’d like.

Link: CBS News – Hey, Baldy: 10 Things You Need to Know about Hair Loss

We’ve covered practically every hair loss myth I can think of (most of which I’ve never heard before I started this site), but the slideshow mentions a few of my favorites — Genes for hair loss come from mom, hats make you go bald, and clogged pores cause hair loss.

There’s not much substance beyond 1 liners and stock photos, but CBS has the myths on their site at the link above.

Hi,

I just wanted to share with you our latest infographic: Bald Power

Feel free to give me a shout if you need an alternative sized version for you blog. Hope you like it!

Feedback appreciated.

I meant to post this a little while ago, but it slipped through the cracks. The graphic is quite large, so click the image at right to see the full size.

I haven’t looked at photos of Congress members for myself, but does your graphic account for thinning hair or strictly those that are bald? The infographic is nice if your numbers are right, but you spelled “United” wrong twice.

The presence of balding in the 5-8% range amongst members of the legislators (more men than women) is much less than the general population. In men, the balding rate (some degree of hair loss) is about 50% in men over 45, the age of most of our legislators. Except for Eisenhower, there has not been a bald president since before World War II.

I have written before that men with hair on the head have a better chance at getting elected than balding men. There is considerable prejudice against balding men in the population, and I’ve written about that here and here.

Will having sex cause an increased rate of hair loss on men? And if so, is it better to have sex without ejaculating?

It is probably true that there is a relationship between testosterone and sexual appetite. There is also a relationship with testosterone and hair loss and if, for example, a man (who has the genes for androgenic alopecia) applied testosterone creams, he would increase his testosterone blood levels and probably have more hair loss due to the increased DHT. That is where this conversation ends.

Ejaculation (present or not) should not increase testosterone levels. There is no connection between ejaculation and hair loss. If you want to have sex without ejaculating… good luck!

Hi Dr,

I recnetly went to visit a hair transplant surgeon and asked him to assess my hair and in particular to do a miniaturisation study. I told him about your blog and said that I had learnt from your site and wanted to get an analysis of where my final balding pattern would be.

He said that I clearly have some frontal recession at the corners (not a mature hairline because there was miniaturisation apparently) but overall a good hair of ableit fine hair. I am in my late 20’s.

My reason for this appointment was because my father is a NW6-7 and his hair loss turned aggressive at age 30 and my maternal grandfather is probably about a NW3-4 with vertex thinning.

I was hoping that the surgeon could give me an accurate idea of where my final hair loss pattern would be from the miniaturisation study that I insisted on (taking microscopic photos to count hair thickness and density at various points of my head), but he did say that using these methods it was just not possible to really know what my final pattern might be because in his words “Just because you are receding a bit now, and don’t have any apparent thinning elsewhere – doesn’t mean you won’t start going bald in those areas later as you’re still quite young -family history is the best guess”. So I suppose you could say that he was disagreeing with some of your ideas?

Anyway, having had this study done, I am still no wiser as to what my final hair loss pattern will be. I don’t want to take propecia and minoxidil didn’t work for me but I wish I could have a better idea of things so I could consider maybe a transplant to the front in future if no other areas are to go bald. I suppose that if my final hair pattern is similar to my grandfathers then I could have a transplant but this would be much more risky if i take after my father.

Interested in your comments…

There are no absolute ways to determine what your final balding pattern will be with 100% accuracy; however, good measurements are the basis of good science. Miniaturization mapping and bulk measurements of the hair where balding is not appearing to the naked eye will absolutely show signs of reduced bulk if your pattern is moving in the direction of your parents or grandparents.

I do not believe that preventive hair transplantation has a role, but knowing where you are going with all of the evidence you can muster will give you an idea what is going to happen to you and what may not happen to you.

So your doctor is correct in that just because you have thinning, it does not mean that you are going to go completely bald in that area… but his assessment is limited to what the eye can see, while what I am discussing puts good clinical science behind where you may be going with your hair loss. I would want to know.