'One hundred strokes a night' and 4 more hair myths great-grandma believed

1938. A vanity table. A woman sits with her hair down and a boar-bristle brush in her hand. She counts. Ninety-eight. Ninety-nine. One hundred. Her mother did this. So did her grandmother. It is supposed to make hair shine.

Myth one: one hundred strokes a night. The logic was sound for its time. Brushing distributed scalp oil along hair that was washed rarely. But a hundred strokes is friction. On today's frequently washed hair it mostly causes breakage and split ends.

Myth two: cut it to make it grow. Trimming removes split ends, so hair looks healthier and breaks less. But growth happens at the follicle, under the skin. Scissors at the tips cannot reach it.

Myth three: wearing a hat makes you bald. Generations of men believed the hatband choked the roots. Ordinary hats do not cause hereditary hair loss. Only very tight headwear worn constantly can contribute to traction at the hairline.

Myth four: stress turns your hair white overnight. The legend attaches to Marie Antoinette. Sudden whitening overnight is not how pigment works. But severe stress can trigger shedding weeks later — a real condition called telogen effluvium.

Myth five: plucking one grey hair makes two grow back. Each follicle produces one hair. Plucking doesn't multiply them. It can, over time, damage the follicle.

These rules were passed down like recipes. They gave people a sense of control over something that often felt like fate. Some held a grain of truth. Most simply held the comfort of a ritual.

Further reading: Stress and hair loss · Does wearing a hat cause hair loss?