I got to Japan about five months ago. One of my coworkers said something early on that unnerved me: "You think you got some hair now... Just wait a while. First time I came to Japan, I lost all this hair." Pointing to his slightly receded hairline, "it's from chlorine in the water supply. I'm getting a shower head from Rakuten that filters that stuff out."

This little speech gave me a complex. I already have a sensitive scalp and thin, soft, white-people hair, and male pattern baldness runs in the family. I began to notice things. I'd see a bunch of hair on my hands after running them through my scalp after showering. I'd wake up and see hairs on my pillow. It still happens and it kind of freaks me out.

So anyway I purchased one of them fancy filters he mentioned. It "removes chlorine" and other chemicals with the MAGIC of VITAMIN C! (I am skeptical of this claim.)

But I'm still wondering if there's something else I can do, if it's all in my head or what. As my hair's grown longer since moving to Japan, I think maybe it's just that I have MORE hair to be seen, er, going places. Clearly I've grown paranoid since my friend's little speech, but is it merely neurosis and hypervigilance? I haven't been able to find a good source on the science surrounding this stuff, and I would be grateful if somebody would offer an authoritative or anecdotal Word.

I don't think there's any scientific evidence that chlorine causes hair loss -- they've done experiments with swimmers and I don't think they found any link whatsoever. It sounds like BS to me. I took 2 years of showers in Japan and I didn't lose any hair.

Hair loss is genetic; you'll probably start noticing a receding hairline in your mid-late 20s, regardless of what country you are in.

Get on Propecia. It's a pill you take once a day that blocks DHT, the chemical that causes baldness. Your local dermatoligist can get you a prescription, but it won't be covered/subsidized by Japan's national health insurance plan.

But you have to ask yourself if your hair is worth keeping around for 70 dollars a month

samesong Wrote:Hair loss is genetic; you'll probably start noticing a receding hairline in your mid-late 20s, regardless of what country you are in.

Get on Propecia. It's a pill you take once a day that blocks DHT, the chemical that causes baldness. Your local dermatoligist can get you a prescription, but it won't be covered/subsidized by Japan's national health insurance plan.

But you have to ask yourself if your hair is worth keeping around for 70 dollars a month

Actually look into Avodart. It's a far more powerful DHT blocker and studies are showing that it blows Propecia out of the water.

Also of note don't buy your drugs through your normal doctor/pharmacy. You can order avodart and propecia online from overseas medical suppliers for a fraction of the cost.

Chlorine is bad for you anyway.

That's primarily for prostate enlargement, though; you may have trouble finding a doctor who will prescribe it for preventing hair loss (or maybe not). It's also rather expensive since there's no generic yet, but maybe the overseas thing can solve that.

Chlorine doesn't cause your hair to fall out, ageing does.

It's very easy to get a doctor to prescribe you propecia since it's a drug designed specifically for hair loss. I used to get my doctor to prescribe me Proscar instead (more powerful and much more cheap) and cut it into quarters with a pill splitter. Never tried Avodart.

Let me just say that if you are in fact thinning on top, then just accept it and get on with life. I tried everything in the book to try to fight it for like 7 years and the whole ordeal made my life miserable. The day I learned to accept it was the day I became happy for the first time in a long time.

Anyway, moral of the story, don't freak out and go pumping your body full of crap which might do more harm than good.

Change your shampoo to a chemical-free one. A pharmacist I used to work with would often tout the (still anecdotal) link between methyl laurate, found in most shampoos and hair loss. Also stay away from hair products like wax.

Interestingly, medications like Propecia were developed for treating prostate cancer but now are sold mainly for their side effects (hair growth).

After watching so many Samurai movies, I assumed all Japanese men had massive receding hairlines :-O

yukamina Wrote:Chlorine is bad for you anyway.

That rings true: I got a Pur water filter too, figuring that chemicals I don't want in my hair, I also don't want in my drinking water. I'll look into this Propecia business. It seems there are a number of generics on the market that will be more affordable (if you modify them, or something).

Also, ambassadog, that's interesting to hear. I'm using a Curel which says it's medicated & real niiiice. I'll check the contents of the bottle for (what I can only guess will be) ”メチル ラウレーット”.

ps. Balding suxxx.

I think it's caused by pulling your hair out by doing 14 hour work days followed by the nomikai everynight.

Hey, there's always the Barcoder style.

Or you can just do what I do; shave your head.

Cheap, fast, and easy.

* Jarvik7 rubs chlorine on his beard

shaving is such a pain...

Anyways, the person who the OP quoted is full of it. If it was true, everyone in Japan would be bald. That person is just getting old and wants something to blame.

Vitamin C can dechlorinate water (http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/pubs/pdf/05231301.pdf), but it's not going to prevent baldness, which is a genetic condition.

I'd be weary of the power of suggestion. Believe it's happening bad enough and you might just start seeing it happen. Just chill, they're spinning BS they probably heard from someone else anyway.

At age 40, my hairline is starting to recede a bit. I don't consider it losing hair so much as getting head.

And everyone enjoys getting head, right?

When I lived in the city area my mom would always tell me to never get rain on my skin or scalp because it is so acidic that it'll leave you with a rash or make you go bald. She was exaggerating the facts, of course, but I guess it's best to avoid getting rained on while in a place that has a lot of water and air pollution, if you do happen to be in an urban area.

... also, about said friend -- maybe he has a hereditary tendency of balding. I read somewhere that something like 1 out of 3 men go bald.

"In December 2008, the Swedish Medical Products agency concluded a safety investigation of Propecia and advise that use of Propecia may result in persistent sexual side-effects. The Agency's updated safety information lists difficulty in obtaining an erection that persists even after discontinuing Propecia as a possible side-effect."

That's enough for me to never ever try it regardless of how much hair I lose :p

what about the stress that comes with living in a foreign country and not being able to express yourself as well as you do in your native language? A lot of people come to japan as adults and end up being reduced to children through their dependency on others.

vrtgo Wrote:I got to Japan about five months ago. One of my coworkers said something early on that unnerved me: "You think you got some hair now... Just wait a while. First time I came to Japan, I lost all this hair." Pointing to his slightly receded hairline, "it's from chlorine in the water supply. I'm getting a shower head from Rakuten that filters that stuff out."

This little speech gave me a complex. I already have a sensitive scalp and thin, soft, white-people hair, and male pattern baldness runs in the family. I began to notice things. I'd see a bunch of hair on my hands after running them through my scalp after showering. I'd wake up and see hairs on my pillow. It still happens and it kind of freaks me out.

So anyway I purchased one of them fancy filters he mentioned. It "removes chlorine" and other chemicals with the MAGIC of VITAMIN C! (I am skeptical of this claim.)

But I'm still wondering if there's something else I can do, if it's all in my head or what. As my hair's grown longer since moving to Japan, I think maybe it's just that I have MORE hair to be seen, er, going places. Clearly I've grown paranoid since my friend's little speech, but is it merely neurosis and hypervigilance? I haven't been able to find a good source on the science surrounding this stuff, and I would be grateful if somebody would offer an authoritative or anecdotal Word.

Male pattern baldness runs in your family, there it is a genetic condition... May as well accept it as that. You're a man quit acting like such a baby over a condition that may be entirely natural in your family, or at least do some research before you come winning that the cause may be chlorine. The positive evidence that chlorine causes hair loss from legitimate sources is non existant at best. Good luck with that and ganbare, there are real solutions to that problem, just use them no need to believe in unproved causes to it. Ganbare neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

To further point out the fact that chlorine does nothing to hair loss, I was a competitive swimmer for 14 years, and I still have a thicker head of hair than most people I know.