mane image news & blog

Can Wearing a Hat Cause Hair Loss?

When a person starts to lose hair, it can be stressful or unsettling. However, for millions of people, hair loss is just a natural part of the aging process. It often runs in the family. No matter what the cause of thinning hair, there are ways you can slow it down. Examining your daily lifestyle can help you make some changes to prevent any additional loss.

Wearing a hat can't make you go bald, but an old wives' tale suggests this is the case. You won't lose hair simply by putting on a hat in the winter or summer. However, some ways wearing a hat can exacerbate things that are already causing hair loss. So no, simply wearing a hat can't cause you to lose hair. There are a lot of factors at play when you're coping with losing hair.

A few ways that wearing a hat can affect your scalp:

• If you're already dealing with hair thinning, and your hat is too tight, it can irritate hair follicles when you remove it or put it on.
• If part of your hair loss is due to inflammation, such as alopecia (an autoimmune disease that attacks the hair follicles), then you could, in theory, irritate your scalp by wearing a hat.
• Exercising or sweating with a hat on can lead to fungal infections and increase inflammation in your scalp. If you are prone to such diseases, never wear a tight hat. You're trapping bacteria and fungus inside with your scalp, which makes them a breeding ground for infections.
• If your hair is brittle and breaking due to a nutritional deficiency or thyroid problems, then having a hat rub against your head can cause hair to break off, just like when you comb it.

Primary Causes of Hair Loss

Unfortunately, the most common cause of hair loss is genetics. Male pattern baldness usually runs in the family, and it can begin as early as in your 20's. Typically, women start to notice thinning hair when they are in their 30's. This hair loss, also known as androgenetic alopecia, is caused by DHT hormones preying on weak hair follicles. Typically, hair goes through a particular growth cycle, where first it grows, then it rests, then it resumes growth again. The hair growth cycle is disrupted and causes your follicles to remain in the "rest" phase more than the growing stage. For both men and women, this is the beginning of hair loss.

Stress is another cause of hair loss that fortunately you can fix on your own. This means learning to cope with stress in healthy ways such as meditation, mindfulness or exercise.

Hormones also can have a dramatic effect on the hair cycle. For many women, pregnancy can cause their hair to grow in thick and lush, only to experience hair loss when they have the baby, and their hormones begin to turn to normal. Women also can undergo dramatic changes when they start hormonal birth control, especially the injections.

Hair Loss Treatment

You can see, if you're already having problems with hair thinning, there's a chance you could lose additional hairs if you aren't mindful. If your hair has just started thinning, you may want to consider hair transplants. Non-surgical treatments for hair restoration are also available to our clients.

Mane Image Hair Replacement Center has been helping men and women transform their thinning hair into fabulous looks since 1987. We offer full range of cosmetic, non-surgical, and surgical solutions. We'd love to help you, too!

When you look good, you feel good! There are many causes of hair loss, but there are also many solutions. Contact us to come in for a free consultation and get customized hair solutions tailored specifically to you!

Facebook TwitterLinkedin
  • get a FREE consultation


First Name
Please enter you first name.

Last Name
Please enter you last name.

Please enter a valid email address.


Please provide some comments

Invalid Input