I've read that chlorine is supposed to be detrimental not only to the condition of your hair, but also to its growth. I can't figure out any way to keep my hair dry when I swim (water seeps under my cap), and I really don't know how much I ought to worry about it. I need daily exercise, and swimming beats up my body the least of the workouts I can think of (currently I do weights+cardio intervals 2x week, swim 4x week), but it would be worth coming up with a new exercise schedule if the chlorine is actually contributing nontrivially to my hair loss. Obviously chlorine isn't the cause of pattern hair loss, but maybe it harms the health of the hair in such a way that it's more affected by the DHT than it would be if it were healthier? I don't know how plausible that even is.
I don't know if it is true or not. I use to swim all the time and I had very long, thick hair at the time. After I finished swimming, I would go straight into a changing/shower room and rinse out the chlorine and use a very good conditioner. I would also use a deep conditioner once a week. I know that chlorine isn't good for your hair, it dries it out a lot and causes breakage. I don't know about contributing to hairloss, though. Good luck.
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I know if you leave the chlorine in your hair for long periods of time, it can increase breakage, causing split ends. Rinsing it soon after swimming should help. Also, they make shampoos for those who regularly are exposed to chlorine, or deep conditioning (or using olive oil once a week) should keep the hair strong, hydrated, and prevent breaking.
I tried swimming recently, as I use to quite frequently do it when I was younger, I discovered one of the reasons I no longer do it. Totally killed my hair, making it so so very dry even though I would wash it straight afterwards. I now use a hair moisturiser called a 'mask', its a deep conditioner which you leave in your hair for 2 minutes before rinsing. Most people have to use it once per week, I was advised by my hair dresser to do it twice (and this was after 2 months of giving up the swimming). A moisturising shampoo and deep conditioner helps too! My hair is much softer and easier to handle now, I switched to walking instead of swimming. Good luck! I hope that helps!
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Thanks for the comments. I've calmed down a little about my hair (at least for the moment!), so I've stopped worrying about the chlorine right now. On the days before I swim I've been using Head & Shoulders Dry Scalp Care Conditioner, which is quite heavy. So it probably does a decent job of protecting my hair from drying out. As a bonus, it contains pyrithione zinc, and there are a couple of studies showing benefit in MPB of pyrithione zinc shampoos (although only half the benefit of 5% minoxidil).