Some people live in hot climates or, during the summer, it becomes seasonally hot. Add in all the times you exercise and encourage your body to sweat, and the question naturally arises whether this has any effect on hair growth or hair loss. For those of you who like to get a little technical, sweating is the way in which the body cools itself down. It’s all to do with evaporation reducing the temperature by one or two degrees. To achieve the right amount of moisture on the skin, the human body is designed with glands all over. There are sebaceous glands in the hair follicles that produce sebum to keep the hair smooth. Next to them come the apocrine and the eccrine glands. Under normal circumstances, the production of sweat is not a problem but, if production becomes excessive, this is called hyperhidrosis. Eccrine sweat is a relatively inoffensive, odorless fluid but apocrine sweat is more viscous and has a higher water content.

Some studies have suggested that the lactic acid contained in apocrine sweat can affect the keratin in the skin and hair, and either reduce growth or cause loss. In part, this is a reflection of the way in which antiperspirants are designed to work. The metal salts in antiperspirants also affect the keratin and slow the flow of sweat from the glands to the skin’s surface. The FDA requires evidence of sweat being reduced by 20% to be able to market an antiperspirant as effective. The question is whether the amount of sweat and the effect on the keratin changes the hair.

The answer is negative. The sweat does not, of itself, damage the hair but bad hygiene can make hair loss more likely. Over the rest of the body, dead skin cells are shed on a continuous basis. But because of the amount of hair and the build-up of sweat and grease, dead skin cells can accumulate on the scalp. The combination can produce dandruff and infections. Untreated, this can cause hair loss. The answer is therefore to keep the scalp clean. This is not an invitation to wash the hair more than once a day or to use any strong medicated shampoos. All that’s necessary is that you remove excessive sweat and all the junk you pick up from the surrounding environment using a very mild shampoo and cool water. If the water is too hot or you use too many strong chemicals, it can lead to a dry and itchy scalp. Assuming your hair hygiene is good, it should be easier to detect the first signs of male pattern baldness. Remember the earlier the diagnosis is confirmed and you begin using Propecia, the more effective the treatment. The more hair you have lost before starting treatment, the more slowly the body reacts when you finally begin with Propecia. Do not let this stampede you into taking pills on a preventive basis. This drug should only be used when the diagnosis is confirmed.

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