Can Poor Hair Washing
And Hygiene Cause Hair Loss?

If your standards of hair washing and hygiene are poor, any existing hair loss problem you have can be made worse.

Some hair care professionals believe these things can actually cause your hair loss. But this is simply not true!

Hair loss will sooner or later affect nearly all men and most women on the planet!

Most experts agree that your genes, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and 5 alpha reductase (an enzyme that converts testosterone into DHT) are the underlying cause of androgenetic alopecia (male and female pattern baldness).

However, there is still much debate about the actual mechanism that will cause hair loss of this type. And as a result, a number of different theories exist.

The "hair washing" theory involves a lack of hygiene - as opposed to over washing hair:

So, can poor hair washing cause hair loss?

This theory focuses on the overproduction of sebum.

Sebum is an oily substance produced and secreted by sebaceous glands in the follicles that grow hair. Its job is to condition the hair, allowing it smooth passage as it grows along the follicle. It also provides a degree of waterproofing. The amount of sebum produced is related to the quantity of DHT present in the scalp (more sebum is formed if more DHT is present). That's why, during puberty, many men get very greasy skin:

So, can all this excess sebum cause hair loss?

If sebum is produced much more quickly than the rate at which the hair grows, it will do far more than simply lubricate the hair as it moves along its follicle. Any excess can easily ooze back down the hair shaft and fill the follicle with oil. This hardens to form a waxy plug, which then obstructs the passage of the hair shaft as it tries to grow along.

And, if the hair roots become clogged, hair production begins to choke. It can slow down or even stop completely if the follicle becomes totally blocked.

This theory claims that, for both men and women, hair loss can be permanent if the rate of sebum production is not reduced, or sebum is not removed (i.e., by hair washing frequently in order to maintain an extremely high level of hygiene). Note: Given that sebum has waterproofing properties, simply hair washing with water is inadequate. Some people believe that living a more "natural" life is preferable.

Most hair loss experts agree that far fewer women than men suffer MPB simply because they produce far less DHT.

However, this theory offers an alternative reason - hair follicles in women lie at an angle within the scalp, which means their hair will grow at an angle to the skin. This could allow sebum to slide along the hair shaft away from the follicle. But, in men, hair grows out from the scalp at a more perpendicular angle, and so sebum could more easily slide back down to the hair roots.

This idea can be extended to explain why male pattern baldness only seems to affect the top of the head.

Hair on the crown of the scalp grows upwards as it emerges from the skin. And so, as before, sebum can easily sink back down into the follicle. But, hair at the back and sides of the head grows in a more downward direction, and so the sebum produced there is much more likely to slide along the hair shaft away from the root and out from the surface of the skin.

At first glance, this idea seems quite convincing, doesn't it?

But, can a lack of hair washing actually trigger male pattern baldness?

No, and these are the reasons why:

First of all, there are many people who lack proper hair washing and hygiene levels but still retain a full head of hair.

Also, this theory fail to answer these questions:

Q1. Why does remnant hair sometimes last long after baldness has developed? (Remnant hair is thick, strong, healthy hair that grows within the MPB region despite extensive hair loss all around it).

Q2. Why do 20% of men start losing hair at puberty, whilst others don't start until much later on in life?

Q3. Why do some people lose hair from the front, back or both these regions of the scalp?

Q4. Why is it that hair can fall faster in one region of the scalp than it does in the other?