A Doctor Told Me I Should Cut My Hair Short to Alleviate Thinning

Hi ! I am a 23 year old male NW2 and I have long hair that is thinning diffusely on top with scalp visible. I heard from another doctor that I should cut my hair very short and frequently for the next 6 months to a year to alleviate the thinning. She said that if the hair is too long, the capillary matrix underneath the scalp is deprived of too many nutrients and additionally the sebum glands in each follicle, whose sebum output are allegedly in a positive feedback loop with respect to the length of the hair, will burn out from being overworked, causing the hairs to eventually fall out if the man’s long hair is not cut short.

Is this true ?

That is false.

I do not like to correct other doctors recommendations or explanations, because what they may have told you may have been misunderstood. While the explanation that you were allegedly given may sound semi-plausible and even scientific, it is false. Cutting hair shorter or shaving your hair will not alleviate male pattern balding. Male pattern baldness is genetic.

Hair length has nothing to do with hair loss, unless perhaps your hair is getting caught on things and being pulled out. Men with short hair still go bald, and there are many men and women with long hair that don’t see thinning.