FACT CHECK: Does masturbation cause hair loss in men?

A social media post claims that masturbation is one of the primary causes of hair loss in men. 

The post which was originally posted by a Twitter user, Eric @amerix claimed that frequent ejaculation can be responsible for receding hairlines in men. 

“One of the primary causes of hair loss is masturbation. Indiscriminate ejaculation leads to the intentional loss of vital nutrients responsible for hair growth. Every time you meet a man with a receding hairline, remind him about semen retention,” the tweet reads.

One of the primary causes of hair loss is MASTURBATION.

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Indiscriminate ejaculation leads to the intentional loss of vital nutrients responsible for hair growth.

Every time you meet a man with a receding hairline, remind him about semen retention.#BetterTogether

— Eric (@amerix) August 23, 2022

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The post has gathered over 1, 400 retweets and 8, 800 likes. 

On Facebook, the same post was shared several times on different accounts. One of such is Emem Nelson who claimed to be a medical doctor with over 8, 000 followers. 

Another user, Jay Ade reposted the claim on Medriod Elite City, a public group on Facebook which has over 9, 000 followers. 

Verification

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defined masturbation as the erotic stimulation, especially of one’s own genital organs commonly resulting in orgasm.

According to the definition,  masturbation can be achieved by manual or other bodily contacts exclusive of sexual intercourse, by instrumental manipulation, occasionally by sexual fantasies, or by various combinations of these agencies. 

The Cable reached out to medical experts to confirm if there is any scientific evidence to back up the claim that masturbation or indiscriminate ejaculation might lead to hair loss. 

Best Ordinioha, a professor of public health and community medicine, dismissed the claim, stating that there is no correlation between receding hairline and masturbation. 

According to him, the Twitter user probably put out such a post to attract traffic to his page.

“I think he’s just doing scaremongering and this could also lead to stigma to men who are going bald, when people see them, they think that’s what they do,” the professor of medicine said.

“In health sciences, increased testosterone level is responsible for receding hairline, testosterone is the male hormone. However, there is no scientific evidence to back the claim that indiscriminate ejaculation causes baldness.

“Those with higher testosterone levels may have higher sexual drives but this can be modulated and decreased by a lot of factors: stress can make someone impotent, and sex will probably be the last thing on their minds. I think the poster overstretched it.” 

POSSIBLE CAUSES OF HAIR LOSS

Francis Agbaraolorunpo, a medical expert at the University of Lagos, said a couple of factors which include, genetics, medical conditions and excessive usage of chemicals can be responsible for hair loss in men, but definitely not masturbation. 

“One of the fundamental causes of baldness is genetics, a person is born with the tendency. The other thing is that a person can inherit it from parents,” he said. 

“Some persons who have alopecia or debilitating medical conditions such as cancer can also lose their hair. In such situations, a  female can as well experience hair loss.

“If you see a man with a receding hairline, most likely, there is that gene in the family line, it could have been an unexpressed gene, but the person could express it when the gene aligns with certain environmental conditions.”

However, the medical expert emphasised that masturbation is more of a psychological issue and has nothing to do with hair loss or the physical appearance of a man. 

He further disclosed that inferiority complex might also be one of the causes of masturbation in men, adding that “it could lead to infertility issues”.

“A man who masturbates and loses sperm frequently might suffer low sperm count when meeting with a woman.”

Verdict

The claim that masturbation is one of the primary causes of hair loss in men is false. According to science, masturbation and receding hairline do not have any connection.