Does a blow dryer on medium setting cause hair loss?

[olmert]

Most blow dryers have 3 settings: hot, warm and cold.

 

I have read in many places that a blow drying on the hottest setting will cause hair loss. I have tried the blow dryer on the cold setting, and it takes an hour to work. Will a blow dryer on the warm/medium setting cause hair loss?

[Jotronic]

It it takes an hour you must have a lot of hair but hair dryers have zero effect on hair loss unless you are holding the end nozzle against your scalp thus causing a deep burn.

[olmert]

But I have read on 100 doctor sites that hair dryers cause hair loss.

 

See for instance this site: AgingSkinNet Article - What Causes Hair Loss?

 

"Frequent use of a blow dryer tends to damage hair. The high heat from a blow dryer can boil the water in the hair shaft leaving the hair brittle and prone to breakage."

 

On the cold setting, it will take even a bald guy an hour to dry his hair.

[Spanker]

Breakage and balding are two different things. I don't think a how setting from a distance will make you go bald. If it did, there would be a lot more balding females.

[olmert]

The National Institute of Health says blow drying can cause hair loss: Hair loss: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

 

Web MD says the same: "All of the things women do to manipulate their hair -- dyes, chemical treatments, bad brushes, blow dryers, and flat irons -- can result in damage and breakage, Roberts says." Causes of Hair Loss in Women: Medical Reasons and More

 

This doctor's web site says: "The reason is that extreme heat damages the proteins in the hairs making them fragile and liable to break off. Brushing the hair during blow-drying causes more damage. If you use a hair dryer, it should be set on the coolest setting." Hair Transplantation | Derma Laser Centers FL

[Icecreamman]

I think the way in which women blow dry their hair coupled with flat irons daily, over time, will cause damage to hair, but like spanker said breakage and damage is different than balding. The way a man will use a blow dryer is not going to cause balding, it may very well damage hair but won't cause mpb.

[Jotronic]

Frequent use of a blow dryer tends to damage hair. The high heat from a blow dryer can boil the water in the hair shaft leaving the hair brittle and prone to breakage.

 

Just because a "medical" website says so doesn't make it so. Do you have any idea how impossible it would be to boil anything with a hair dryer? Assuming sea level atmospheric pressure you are looking at a requirement of 100C (225F) to boil water. The coils of a typical 100 watt hair dryer probably get slightly higher than 100C but when ambient surrounding air is sucked in the back and then blown out the front the temperature of the air, on the hottest setting, you'd be lucky to have air as hot as 60C.

 

Hair DAMAGE is what one can get from a hair dryer, curling iron, flat iron etc. The hairs can break and fall off but it is not hair LOSS. When you talk about hair loss on a hair loss website it is assumed that you are talking about actual loss, meaning, it won't come back without a pill or a transplant. I blow dry my hair daily, as does my wife and millions of other people and it hasn't caused any hair LOSS.

[olmert]

England's national institute of health says the hair loss caused by blow dryers is just temporary. Hair loss myths - Health tools - NHS Choices (it is one of the 20 questions on hair loss)

 

So I think the other web sites are saying that blow dryers cause only temporary hair loss.

[RCWest]

Water boils at 212 degrees F. There is no way a blow dryer can get that hot. A blow dryer can cause hair to become dry and brittle, therefore making it break off, but it doesn't cause actual hair loss.

[Stuart01]

The only hair loss that blow drying can cause is breakage. The root is 5mm below the scalp and that is the only part of the hair that is alive. That is why when you cut your hair you do not feel anything, that part of the hair is dead. Blow drying will not cause permanent hair loss unless you were to burn your scalp severely and cause damage to the roots, which is highly unlikely.

[Sean]

I think this is one of those myths like how some people say gel causes hair loss. Anything you do can cause it if you do it in a damaging way. I don't think NORMAL everyday use can cause it though.

 

Hair dryers may change the texture of the hair with long term use. Some of the new ones have these extra addons like ion charging and other funky things. Even hair straighteners that are ceramic or tourmaline based and what not. There are variations, so maybe it may cause damage to the hair shaft. But, as far as making you lose hair forever by impacting the hair root itself, I highly doubt it. Some people take hot showers daily, they don't lose hair? They may shed some hairs while washing, or may damage the hair from excessive shampooing or chemical treatments. But, the temperature shouldn't do it. Some people also say hot water and then cold water increases blood flow to the scalp. Bloodflow to the scalp can be a good thing as it allows nutrients to nourish hair follicles.

 

If these people using blow dryers are putting it so close to their scalps causing skin burns, then yea, that would do damage no doubt. Normal everyday use, I don't think so. I agree with what a lot of people have mentioned already.

[michaeljames]

Most blow dryers have 3 settings: hot, warm and cold.

 

I have read in many places that a blow drying on the hottest setting will cause hair loss. I have tried the blow dryer on the cold setting, and it takes an hour to work. Will a blow dryer on the warm/medium setting cause hair loss?

 

Hey Mate;

 

Unfortunately there are far too many myths regarding hair loss. People often confuse hair damage with hair loss. Hair abused from many styling options, excessive high heat, excess use of cosmetic chemicals to colour and treat hair and even excessive styling can cause breakage and severely damage the hair. Sometimes the breakage can be very severe. However hair loss treated medically is specific to hair loss in which the hair shaft is going through miniaturization from the adverse effects of DHT on the hair follicle. The hair shaft can be damages but not the follicle usually from excessive heat. The exception to this is traumatic injury for fire in which the skin or scalp itself is severely damaged. I hope this helps. All the Best, Michael.

[Dr. Ricardo Mejia]

no, except for what has been called bubble hair from overblow drying and causing fragility or fracture of the hair shaft but not real loss of the follicle.