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5 Believable Hair Growth Myths, By Which You Have Been Duped
Let’s Chat About Hair Growth
There’s a lot of misinformation out there, and I don’t want you to be hoodwinked into wasting money or believing something that’s false. Here I bust several common hair growth myths that are rampant on the internet. Let’s get into it.
Hair Growth Myth #1
You Can Speed Up Hair Growth
So this is a half-truth. Let me explain...
Healthy hair grows ½ inch to ¾ of an inch per month on average. If you’re one of the lucky men whose hair grows an inch per month, you’re a rare breed. We’d like to capture you, bring you in for an examination, and see if we can replicate the findings 😂
If you’re like the rest of us mortals and you want to know how to hit that ½ inch to ¾ inch threshold, I made another video that goes into the science of speeding up hair growth.
The short version is, if you’re not deficient in any essential nutrients for hair growth and your lifestyle is optimized, there’s really nothing else you can do to make your hair grow faster.
So if you see headlines like, I grew my hair 1 inch in 1 week!! and they’re rubbing castor oil on their scalp and saying you must buy it...run away! It’s trash.
Hair Growth Myth #2
No Fap or Semen Retention Will Make You Bald
You may have seen these claims on the internet. The reason these are being made is that when you do no fap or semen retention, your testosterone levels increase. When that happens, your DHT levels also increase as a byproduct of testosterone.
The belief circulating is that too much DHT makes your hair fall out.
This isn’t 100% true. Yes, DHT does cause hair loss, but only in individuals who have a genetic predisposition to male pattern baldness. The cause of Male Pattern Baldness is not an overproduction of DHT, it is your follicle sensitivity to DHT, which is entirely determined by your genetics.
If you have hair follicles that are genetically over-sensitive to DHT then yes, an increase in DHT will speed up the hair loss process, which is why you see some men, for example, who take steroids and lose their hair. But there are also steroid users who don’t lose their hair because their follicles aren’t genetically predisposed to DHT sensitivity.
The only way it would make you go bald is if you’re a man who is already predisposed to genetic hair loss, which would eventually happen anyway. In that case, an overproduction of DHT could speed up the process.
If you’re not a man who is genetically predisposed to hair loss, then you should be worrying more about getting enough sleep, eating well, exercising, and managing your stress levels, which can cause non-genetic hair loss. No fap could actually help in that case.
A study done in China at Hangzhou Normal College[1] showed that 27 men who abstained from ejaculating for 7 days had an increase in testosterone by 145.7% and the self-reported benefits were better sleep, improved confidence, and a happier mood which are all part of an optimized hair growth lifestyle. So no fap will not make you go bald, but in fact, could improve hair growth.
Hair Growth Myth #3
Split Ends Stop Your Hair From Growing
This is another half-truth.
Hair growth happens at the roots, not at the ends. The reason split ends need to be trimmed is because a split can travel up the follicle, reaching the root and causing breakage. Broken hair doesn’t grow. So if your split ends are traveling up the roots and breaking off faster than that ½ inch per month of growth, then you will see a significant slow down in growth.
With that said, it’s not the split that stops your roots from growing, it’s the breakage of hair that’s still in the anagen growth phase that slows growth down. So be sure to trim any split ends before they travel up the root.
A great product to prevent breakage and split ends is Miracle Fruit Seed Oil [2]. A human study found it significantly reduced hair breakage at a much higher rate than argan oil.
Hair Growth Myth #4
The Blow Dryer Is Evil & Will Damage Your Hair
Again, the devil is in the details. I used to be 100% anti-blow dryer.
In November 2011, a study was conducted at the Yonsei college school of dermatology in Korea. They measured hair shaft damage from heat and the drying time of hair dryers[3]. So if you remember how the hair shaft is built, you have the medulla which determines hair thickness, the cortex which holds the proteins and determines hair color, and then you have the protective cuticle layer.
The study found that as the heat increased, damage to the cuticle increased. It also found that as the blow dryer distance from the scalp decreased, damage to the cuticle increased even more. But surprisingly, there was no damage to the cortex which holds the vital proteins.
It gets even more interesting.
The study also found that letting your hair air dry damaged the cortex more than the heat drying did. That’s because wet hair causes the cortex to swell up and pushes the protective scales of the cuticle outward, leaving it vulnerable. The longer the cortex was swollen, the more protein was lost.
The least damage was found when a blow dryer was used on the lowest heat setting, 6-inches away from your hair & constantly moving. So as long as you’re not turning up the heat and concentrating on one area for too long, you can blow dry with minimal damage.
Hair Growth Myth 5
What Works For One Man, Works For Every Man
What works for my hair will not necessarily work for yours. Everyone’s hair is different and tools and products should be selected based on your hair type.
Your hair profile is made up of:
If you’re not sure what any of that is, then check out my video, THE ULTIMATE GUIDE To Men’s Hair Types. I explain everything and break down how you can identify your own unique hair type.
Not only will understanding your hair type go a long way in determining what kind of tools and products to use, but also what kind of styles will tend to work well for you.
Hair Growth Myths Busted
Truth matters. There is a ton of content on the internet peddled by “hair gurus” who make claims without hair education or actually doing the research. If you fall into these traps, you could potentially damage your own hair, or ingest something you don’t need.
So before you buy into these hair growth myths, or go out and buy a bunch of products, do your own research through reputable sources.
I don’t claim to be an expert in cosmetology or trichology. I’m just a guy who loves learning and teaching guys the best ways to improve their lives through style and grooming, and I always do my research.
If you like this article, connect with me through any of the channels listed below. Good talk!
Sources
- Jiang M, Xin J, Zou Q, Shen JW. A research on the relationship between ejaculation and serum testosterone level in men. J Zhejiang Univ Sci. 2003;4(2):236-240. doi:10.1631/jzus.2003.0236
- Del Campo, R., Zhang, Y., & Wakeford, C. (2017). Effect of Miracle Fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) Seed Oil (MFSO®) on the Measurable Improvement of Hair Breakage in Women with Damaged Hair: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Eight-month Trial. The Journal of clinical and aesthetic dermatology, 10(11), 39–48.
- Lee, Y., Kim, Y. D., Hyun, H. J., Pi, L. Q., Jin, X., & Lee, W. S. (2011). Hair shaft damage from heat and drying time of hair dryer. Annals of dermatology, 23(4), 455–462. https://doi.org/10.5021/ad.2011.23.4.455 5
Trav White
Founder of Mannered Manes, Travis is a men’s style & grooming expert with a passion for helping guys look & feel their best—inside and out. Life and hair growth is a journey, and you’re most fulfilled when you’re always growing.
See all Trav’s guest posts for The Longhairs.
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Website: https://www.manneredmanes.io/
