Is wearing a hat everyday at work bad for my hair?

Question

I want to transplant my hair the next year, and I wonder if wearing a hat frequently will damage my donor area or the rest of my hair over time?

Emrah Cinik, MD · Answer

Wearing a hat or a head covering does not cause the scalp to be stuffy and cause male pattern hair loss.

Rahil B. Roopani, MD · Answer

Hello,
Wearing a hat normally will not increase your chances of balding/hair loss. This is generally considered a myth. However, if you wear your hat or ballcap very tight, there can be some damage to the underlying scalp/follicles. I would not worry too much about this. That being said, if you're losing your hair or have noticed shedding/hair loss/etc and if you have a strong family history of hair loss, it may be more likely that you have a higher propensity to lose your hair as well. This will not be due to wearing a cap daily but rather due to genetics as well as other factors such as androgen sensitivity. If hair loss is a concern, it's always a good idea to see a hair loss specialist to discuss further to educate yourself and empower you to make the right choices for your hair.

Jayanthy Ravindran, MS, DNB, MRCS · Answer

It's true that wearing a hat will cause your hair to become flattened at the pressure points on your head. But this doesn't mean that wearing hats is bad for your hair in general.

However, when you're considering a hair transplant, you should use extreme caution when wearing hats. The reason is because the follicles in hats are generally of poor quality and many times transplanted hair loss can happen. This can occur because poor quality follicles have less blood supply, which is an important requirement for healthy hair growth.

It's true that the donor site is protected when you wear a hat, but this doesn't mean that there aren't any risks involved. Since an average person wears a hat around 4 hours per day, this will expose their follicles to harmful UV rays and other damaging elements such as pollution and dust particles. Also, make sure not to wear a tight-fitting hat because it can cause sores on your scalp and damage to the donor area.

Camille Cash, MD · Answer

Wearing a hat will not cause hair loss.  Just be sure that the hat fits well and is not so tight that it pulls on the hair.  When looking into hair transplant options I encourage you to consider SmartGraft.  This is an FUE approach with minimal discomfort and no linear scar.  Final results are seen in just nine months!

Epameinondas Bonaros, MD · Answer

Contrary to popular belief, wearing a hat doesn't cause hair loss. It is simply a myth, and you do not need to worry about it.

Kevin Blumenthal, MD · Answer

Wearing a hat should not affect hair loss (or every baseball player would be bald). There is an acception however. If wearing a hat results in your hair being pulled back tightly as in a ponytail or tight braids, then it is possible it could cause hair loss due to traction (similar to hair loss around the edges which is common among African American women). But this would need to be done chronically and consistently for many years and the hair loss distribution would be around the edges and not the typical male pattern loss. Following a hair transplant we counsel our patients to not wear anything on their head for 3 days but after that they can wear scarves and hats and it should not affect the growth of the new hair or the old hair. I hope this helps.

Sait Gokhan Bircan, MD. · Answer

Hello,
It is not recommend to wear a hat for the first 15 days after the procedure and then you can wide and comfortable hats which will not touch the implanted area. Donor area cannot be affected by a hat. After the first month, you can be relaxed about anything.

Jeff Donovan, MD, PhD · Answer

It’s simply a myth that wearing a hat causes hair loss or damages hair. Wearing a hat is fine. Wearing a hat probably even helps reduce hair loss over decades of a person’s life by reducing chronic ultraviolet radiation exposure... but those studies still need to be done. Wear a hat.

Randy Dean, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

Hi and welcome to our forum. 
Hat wearing will not in itself cause baldness , but a tight fitting hat or cap may pull on the hair. Chronic tension upon the hair may cause scarring and miniaturization of the involved follicles (traction alopecia). 
Best wishes...

Is wearing a hat everyday at work bad for my hair?

Answers (9)

More Hair Transplant Questions

WE SEND PRETTY
EMAILS

Answers (9)

More Hair Transplant Questions

Do you think a hair transplant/graft is a suitable solution? And how many hairs do you think it will take? (photos)

8 month mark of a hair transplant. I don’t feel like it’s dense enough. How much more growth will I see? (photos)

WE SEND PRETTY EMAILS

WE SEND PRETTY
EMAILS