Does wearing a hat have anything to do with pattern baldness?
One of the most prevailing myths about hair loss is that baldness can be caused by the frequent wearing of hats. Like most beauty-related myths, there is only a shred of truth to this common misconception. If this myth were entirely true, how do we account for the millions of men and women who wear hats who aren’t bald or suffering from hair loss?
Wearing a tight hat may abrade the hair shaft in an area where it rubs against it, but this does no harm to the follicle. The hair will grow back again with a new hat or no hat. Some people believe that the hair needs to “breathe.” They believe that the continual wearing of a hat might cut off air circulation to the hair- that the hair needs an airing out once in a while. The hair follicles are not nourished by air; they are nourished by the blood supply at the base of the follicle. I wear a hat always when I go out in the sun. Although both ultraviolet A and B are dangerous to the skin and possibly to the hair, UVA penetrates deeply in the skin (165-250 micrometers). This could damage the DNA and cell membranes in the follicles.
