Last Updated on December 29, 2017 by Robert Price
The supposed sex to hair-loss link is discussed frequently on internet. Many young men have reportedly observed the phenomenon: they claim that the more they have sex or masturbate, the faster their hair seems to fall out. Could this be true? Does sex or masturbation cause hair loss?
No! Gentlemen, enjoy yourselves and the company of others. You only live once.
Male pattern hair loss is genetic. I’ve yet to come across a credible study that shows a correlation between hair loss and sexual activity of any kind — and no physicians believe in this myth that I’m aware of.
But Doesn’t Masturbation Increase My Testosterone Level?
Yes, masturbation or sex will increase your testosterone level to some extent, albeit briefly. And in theory, your body could produce more DHT — the hormone that causes hairs to shrink and fall out — as a result. But your body is already producing both testosterone and DHT. Sex isn’t going to alter your hormones enough to cause hair loss.
And ultimately, as I said earlier, male pattern baldness is genetic. People who never have sex or masturbate still go bald, like monks and priests and so on. And there are men who masturbate and have sex like heathens who keep their hair forever. Like David Bowie. It’s all in the genes.
Can Sex Make My Hair Fall Out Faster?
The medical community says no, it can’t. I’m a little skeptical of that claim personally, and I believe excessive sex or masturbation may expedite the balding process to a negligible extent in some people. The key word being negligible. And I’m no doctor, so keep that in mind.
My Masturbation & Acne Experience
Let me tell you a quick and embarassing story. When I was a teenager, I had horrible acne — the worst case in my Jr. High school. So not surprisingly, I had some long and very frustrating weekends, if you know what I mean. That led to some vigorous masturbation marathons via a dial-up modem. Sorry to be crude, but this is pertinent to hair loss, I assure you.
Now, DHT plays a role in causing both hair loss and acne.
Sometimes, after a long and frustrating weekend, my acne would flare up. Not always. I don’t think there was a direct link between acne and masturbation, and my genetics primarily caused the breakouts. But it’s possible my weekend masturbation marathons played a small role in making my face look like a pepperoni pizza on some Monday mornings.
I imagine the same principle could be applied with hair loss, given the DHT link. But most experts would probably disagree with me!
You Gotta Live
That’s the main takeaway here. Sexual activity, with yourself or a partner, isn’t ultimately causing your hair to fall out. And there’s no proof it accelerates hair loss, either. Getting castrated would also stop hair loss, but I don’t imagine you’re interested in doing that!
So have a good time and protect yourself. Hair loss treatments are available, which can slow or even partially reverse the balding process. And acceptance is another great option, as well. But there’s no reason to go through life like a monk or priest. Unless you want to, in which case, God speed!
Robert Price is a writer, consumer advocate, and hair loss researcher with thousands of hours of experience in the field. His goal is to keep you out of the hair loss rabbit hole, underworld, or whatever you want to call it. He founded Hair Loss Daily, the unbiased hair loss blog, in 2016. You can learn more about Robert in the my story section of this website.
Those two years it took me to go bald were like a second honeymoon for my wife and me. I couldn’t have been more thrilled about it and it was a huge turn on for my wife. Even though I was in my early 50s, I felt like I was a 20 year old all over again and my wife couldn’t keep her hands off me. She loved running her fingers through my thinning hair and kissing me in my expanding bald spot. There must have been a lot of extra DHT elevating my sex drive and I can’t help but believe that it also accelerated my male pattern baldness. I believed so at the time and it was another reason to indulge my desires, especially since my wife was also so turned on by it. When she was in the mood, all she had to do was call me ‘baldy’ or ‘shinytop’, or comment on how bald I was getting. That’s all it took to turn me on. As we made love I could almost feel the hair follicles on top of my head shrink and the hair fall out. In the morning after lovemaking there seemed to be more than the usual amount of hair on my pillow. Maybe it was just my imagination or just ‘wishful shrinking’. 🙂 High DHT + the right DNA = MPB. Anything that elevates DHT will accelerate MPB for anyone lucky enough to be programmed to go bald. I was one of the lucky ones. It worked for me.
I’m a lot older now and things have calmed down a lot, but I still get turned on when she calls me baldy or shiny top and I still go wild with desire when she kisses me on top of my smooth, shiny bald head. The very best thing that ever happened to me is marrying my lovely wife. The second best is having our wonderful kids. A close third best thing is my male pattern baldness.
Interesting, so you had a similar experience to the men in all those hair transplant ads! You know, when they’re in the pool, and their girlfriends/wives are all hot-to-trot for them as a result of their new, lush hair. Only your wife became hot-to-trot as a result of your MPB! Sort of a twilight zone episode! HA, I’m sure it happens though, and I’ll bet plenty of older women especially dig the distinguished, full MPB look.
When I started going bald, I told all my mother and all my other relatives who lived on the other side of the country. My elderly mother congratulated me and said she hoped my wife didn’t mind my going bald. I assured her that not only did my wife not mind, she was ecstatic about it. The first time she saw me after I was bald she showed me a photo of her grandfather, my great grandfather, who was Norwood 7 bald, much like Dr Phil. I was shocked, as I am almost a ‘spittin’ image of him. My mother told me she always believed that I would someday go bald and that I would look just as handsome and distinguished as her grandfather. Apparently she loved male pattern baldness and secretly wished my dad had gone bald. Sadly, my dad’s hairline never receded at all. His younger brother, my uncle, did go bald. My older brother is like my dad and will never go bald. So male pattern baldness does run in our family, but it is hit and miss and I knew it. So all my life I worried that I would be one of the unlucky ones whose hair would never recede, like my dad and my older brother. My mother also told me that in her family those of us who do go bald, go bald late in life and we go bald fast, like my mother’s grandfather, who went bald in less than five years when he was about 50 years old. I wish I had known that all those years. Had I known, instead of worrying, I would have just waited patiently for the ‘MPB fairy’ to show up. My chances were 50-50, not bad odds, all things considered. But what were the odds that I would marry a girl who also loved MPB? Remote, I thought, but maybe not so remote. I’ll bet there are a lot of girls out there who are all hot to trot for MPB guys like me.