Many patients believe they can tell how bald they will become by looking at their close relatives. In reality, there is no way to obtain an accurate picture of future balding by examining a family tree. Furthermore, the balding gene does not run only on the female side of the family as is commonly believed. Far too many genetic variables come into play to accurately predict whether someone will develop male pattern baldness, and if he does, how extensive it will be.

Some men are under the impression that wearing hats will constrict the blood flow to the scalp or keep the hair from getting enough oxygen thus leading to hair loss. Fortunately, there is absolutely no truth to this. I say “fortunately” because if someone is losing hair, he is placing himself at higher risk for skin cancers and precancers on his scalp if he does not shield that sensitive skin on a regular basis from the sun, and nothing works as well as a hat. As a dermatologic surgeon who removes many such lesions on balding men, I can assure these men that these treatments are often painful and scar inducing.

The type of shampoo or hair care products people use should have no influence on their hair loss. The only time this might not be true is if they have a marked sensitivity to one of the products, but, in that case, they would not be using it anyway because they would develop an itchy, reddish reaction that would be driving them crazy. In my opinion, any company with a shampoo or topical hair care product, except for the ones mentioned later, that claims to regrow hair is employing false advertising tactics. Listen for catch phrases like “fuller, thicker hair” which really means nothing. These companies may claim their hair products remove debris and chemicals that “get in the pores and kill the hair”; however, blocked pores have nothing to do with male pattern baldness.

I am also skeptical of companies that advertise the use of lasers to regrow hair. Charlatans are well aware that simply using the word “laser” invokes an almost magical connotation. I am not aware of any real science that backs up their claims.

If men take anabolic steroids for bodybuilding, they should not believe claims that there are no side effects. Most of the serious and dangerous side effects are hidden and delayed, but from a dermatologic standpoint, these products definitely lead to accelerated male pattern hair loss (that is not dangerous, of course, but it is certainly serious to the majority of the men I deal with) and cystic acne.

Finally, men will often tell me they have stopped balding. They feel fairly certain that they will not lose any more hair over time. Unless they are using a scientifically proven medication for hair loss, they are deceiving themselves. Once balding starts, it does not stop. If a man feels as if his has stopped, probably one of two things are occurring. Either his hair loss is so slowly progressive that he does not notice the difference, or he is balding in steps or stages (for example losing hair for a year, then remaining stable for several years, and then losing again for a period of time).