One of the scariest things that can happen to you is to wear a helmet and find out that your hairs are falling off. A lot of people are afraid of this and I know many people who have a hair loss problem and are very scared to ride with a helmet because they don’t want to risk their hair.
So, does wearing a motorcycle helmet cause hair loss? Yes, wearing a motorcycle helmet over time can cause your hair to fall out, and this happens due to several major reasons. The main reason is that in some cases, the helmet can be squeezed to pull your hair and cause a condition called Traction Alopecia, where the helmet rubs your hair and scalp, and causes your hair to fall out. Also, know that if you have hair loss problems, you have greater chances of experiencing more hair loss.
I remember this day when my sister asked me to drive her to her friend’s place for the first time with my motorcycle. I gave her the old helmet we had at home, and after a few minutes, I suddenly began to notice that my sister had some hair falling out. She was very nervous and I was shocked to see her throw the helmet. Today, she still insists on telling me she can no longer wear motorcycle helmets.
But with all that, hair loss from motorcycle helmet is relatively rare and only happens in a few cases, while there are also some things you can do the helmet to prevent hair loss. In this guide, I will show you how to avoid hair loss from the motorcycle helmet and what you can do about it.
So, let’s get started.
What are the reasons why wearing a motorcycle helmet cause hair loss?
There are a few main reasons why wearing a helmet cause hair loss while it is important to first know all the reasons for hair loss before moving on to how to avoid hair loss from a helmet so that you can understand what to avoid first:
- Sweat – Sweat is a very healthy action for the body, helps to keep you cool, and removes toxins from the body, but the disadvantage of sweat in the head is that it can cause you to lose hair. This is because the sweat contains lactic acid which causes a pore to build up and damages the hair root and the sweat toxins that may crystallize with other bacteria to cause a simple hair loss. But do not worry because I will show you later in this post how you can sweat the head off. Nonetheless, know that the main way to prevent sweat is to ensure you have vents in the helmet and you should also wash your hair with a regular shampoo after each ride.
- Prolong riding – Motorcycle riding with a helmet for up to half an hour can cause hair pulling, resulting in what is known as Alopecia scalp which means there is a rubbing of the scalp with the helmet. This causes terrible hair loss and it mostly happens if your helmet is very small and pressed to your head.
- General hair loss problem – If you have a hair loss problem in general, don’t be surprised that the helmet will only help you increase the rate at which you lose your hair.
- Blockage of air into the helmet – If you have no vents in your helmet, don’t be surprised to see your hair falling out. This happens because there is no ventilation to your hair which causes your scalp to start experiencing claustrophobia that causes shedding of hair. So, you must at least have vents in your helmet so that your hair can get the necessary air.
- Dandruff – Dandruff can also be the reason why you can experience big hair loss from a helmet while those who have hair scales and suffer from Scalp Psoriasis that happens to about 7.4 million people in the United States will suffer hair loss from a helmet and the hair loss will only get worse. So, you should take care of your dandruff by using conditioner to keep your hair moisturized and wash your hair regularly; this will make your dandruff disappear.
- Helmet Pressing – If your helmet is small on you and squeezes your head very tight, it can cause irreparable damage to your hair, which significantly increases your chance of having hair loss due to the helmet pulling your hair, so always buy a helmet that fits your head size.
- Unclean helmet – I personally see so many riders putting their helmet on the floor, which causes dirt and dust to enter into the helmet, and guess what? Wearing a dirty helmet causes hair loss, so you must clean your helmet at least once a week.
- You have too much hair – Naturally, a helmet will cause a feeling of buzzing with hair friction, but the question is, how tight is the friction? For people with a short haircut and relatively little hair, there is less chance of pulling and dropping of the hair, but if you have much hair like an afro or long hair, you are more likely to have your hair pull out by your helmet. So, if you have long hair, I would recommend you tie it in a ponytail so that you can prevent the helmet from friction on the scalp.
How to prevent loss of hair from a motorcycle helmet (In 10 ways)
After showing you the main causes of hair loss from a motorcycle helmet, it is time to give you all the possible tips through which you can prevent hair loss while wearing a helmet. It is also vital for you to note that no matter how much hair you lose, you should never give up and always wear your helmet because your life is more important than losing some hair, and even before giving up, try at least one of the following tips:
1. Clean your motorcycle helmet regularly
You have to make sure you clean your helmet regularly at least once a week to remove germs and even fungi because your sweat will blend in with those germs which can make you lose much hair. So, you should never ride with a dirty helmet, especially if it is dirty in the inside because if you do, there is a higher chance you will lose some hair.
So, here are some steps you need to take to clean your helmet properly:
- Step one – Before you start cleaning your helmet, you should first get ready the necessary cleaning equipment that includes a toothbrush, shampoo, water, compressed air or pan, a rag, as well as a clean environment.
- Step two – Disassemble all the interior accessories such as Bluetooth, macropods, batteries, antenna, in short, every electronic component, and also disassemble the helmet’s interior.
- Step 3 – Take the helmet’s face, the insoles, and sponges, and rinse them firmly with warm soapy water while you can also use your sink for this purpose, and make sure you remove all bacteria, sweat, dirt, and dust that have accumulated while riding.
- Step 4 – Once the helmet’s face is perfectly clean, clean the outside of the helmet.
- Step 5 – Once your helmet is completely clean both inside and outside, put every part of the helmet back together and give it time to dry in the sun.
That’s a brief explanation of how to clean your helmet while if you want the Revzilla detailed helmet cleaning guide, you can watch the overhead video or click here to read their helmet cleaning guide.
2. Buy a quality helmet
You need to make sure your helmet is quality and reliable and has all the necessary devices because I know a lot of illegal helmet companies that sell helmets in poor conditions with very harmful materials, which causes hair loss. So, you have to be very careful.
Amazon also has lots of illegal helmets sold very cheap.
These helmets are not in any way safe, so it is important to be very careful
and I personally would not advise you to buy your helmets online but rather in
a local store so as not to fall into bad quality ones.
In addition, make sure there is at least a vent in your helmet so that there
can be an exchange of air in and out. You also need to make sure that the
helmet doesn’t squeeze or small on you because not only would it stop blood
flow to the scalp but would also raise the chance of the helmet drawing your
hair, which will cause hair loss.
3. Wear a bandana/handkerchief to prevent hair loss
The most effective way by which you can prevent friction between your hair and helmet (Traction Alopecia) is to wear a handkerchief, ba6p;/.’ndana, or a scarf to cover your head before putting on your helmet. This will prevent friction between your hair and the helmet, which causes terrible hair loss, and will keep your hair moisturized and absorb sweat.
Plus, the advantage of wearing protection under the helmet is that you won’t get cold when riding in the winter while I would highly recommend you replace the handkerchief after each ride because using a handkerchief a couple of times can be very harmful to you.
But if you use a bandana, you can still use it a couple of times but not for a long time because the bundle accumulates a lot of bacteria, which for a long time is not effective in coping with hair loss.
4. Wear the helmet gently
A very common mistake I see a lot of people make when wearing a helmet is that they wear the helmet very fast, which causes hair pulling and falling out of hair in a matter of seconds and is very painful.
So, you must not be reckless with your helmet, instead, be careful and wear it gently while it is also important to make sure the strap does not catch your hair because it can really be very painful.
5. Keep your hair healthy
Maintaining your hair on a daily basis is healthy for your hair and prevents hair loss, and the truth is that there are a few key things you can do to nurture and keep your hair from falling out. By not maintaining your hair, there are greater chances of having hair loss problems, so, it is important that you do the following things daily:
- Wash your hair – Washing your hair with shampoo is the best thing you can do to prevent hair loss that can be caused by wearing a helmet. You have to wash your hair with shampoo at least every day to wash away all dirt and sweat that accumulated while wearing the helmet.
- Avoid dandruff – If you have dandruff on your head and wear a helmet, you will probably experience hair loss because dandruff is dreadful and cause hair loss, and the helmet will even increase the chance of hair loss, so it is important to first treat the dandruff on your head.
- Keep your hair moisturized – Hair moisturizing significantly lowers the chance of experiencing friction of the helmet and hair while you can perform hair moisture with medical herbs such as cocoa, aloe vera, or even green tea, which are really good for hair moisture.
- Spread olive oil – Applying olive oil to the hair is very healthy for the hair and helps those with dry hair to cope with their hair. It also raises the level of moisture in your hair, so I highly recommend applying a few tablespoons of oil to the hair, especially before very long riding.
Those are some excellent ways to keeping your hair healthy and grooming your hair while it is important to note you should never wear your helmet immediately after washing your hair because, at that time, your hair will be wet and weak which will make your hair itchy and the helmet uncomfortable and will also increase the chance of losing your hair. So, always ensure your hair is dry before wearing the helmet and avoid using a hairdryer because it damages the hair and scalp and makes the hair less durable.
6. Get medicines or medical treatments
If you regularly have scalp and hair loss problems, know that wearing a helmet will make you lose more hair and the truth about this is that this may apply to every item you wear on your hair, even if it is a hat. So, if you do not want the helmet to speed up your hair loss in this case, then you should visit a doctor.
There are many types of hair loss problems such as scalp, scalp disease, and even itchy scalp, so if you have a hair loss problem, I recommend you consult a doctor who will advise you on what to do while I believe most doctors will give you medicines or tell you to go for medical treatment.
7. Do not smoke or drink alcohol
Smoking and alcohol consumption cause your hair to fall out. Alcohol causes your hair and scalp to become less dewy and very weak, which causes your hair to fall out very quickly because your scalp will not be strong to resist the helmet. Smoking, however, significantly reduces blood flow to your scalp and also causes hair loss.
I’m not telling you to completely avoid alcohol and cigarettes because a lot of people are still selling it and you may be addicted to it, but just try to reduce the rate at which you consume them.
8. Do exercises to improve blood flow
There are some great exercises you can do before wearing the helmet to help improve blood flow to the scalp which will make your scalp and hair more resistant to the helmet. I recommend you watch the video above to show you some simple exercises.
In addition, I highly recommend you do a scalp massage and even yoga because they also help prevent hair loss and help with blood pressure.
9. Give your hair a rest
If you go out for a very long ride of at least over an hour, then give your scalp and hair a little rest because by giving your scalp and hair little rest, there is a very good chance that the sweat that builds up in your hair and all the pressure exerted on your scalp will decrease, so it’s important to give your hair some rest.
10. Get a haircut
I don’t know about you, but to me, it is much more fun and comfortable to ride with short hair. So, if you have very long hair and you ride with your motorcycle helmet regularly, I would highly recommend you cut your hair and make it shorter.
What do helmet companies do to prevent hair loss by using a helmet?
The truth is that if you think helmet companies care about your hair, you are mistaken because helmet companies don’t really do anything to ease hair loss, so it is your job to make sure you stop yourself from hair loss through the tips I showed you in this guide.
For any questions, you may have or opinion on the article, feel free to write us a comment, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Thanks for reading, until the next post.
