Fact Check: Tangled Hair Is NOT A Polish Traditional Hairstyle

Not Tradition

Do Polish people prefer tangled hair as a fashion style? No, that's not true: It was considered as serious medical condition until the 19th century.

The claim comes from a video (archived here) where it was published by @honeyfundictionary on TikTok, on March 26, 2023, under the title "세상에서 가장 지저분한 헤어스타일을 가진 나라" ("This country has world's filthiest hairstyle," translated by Lead Stories Staff). It opened:

Poland is famous for having world's filthiest traditional hairstyle.

This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:

(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Jun 6 01:31:20 2023 UTC)

The video shows a couple of images of "plica polonica", also known as Polish plait. However, Polish plait was mostly considered a medical condition until the 19th century as a consequence of a lack of hygiene. In rare cases, it can refer to a hairstyle.

Plica Polonica (in Polish, Kołtun) was a common symptom in Poland of which mainly peasants were suffering. It was considered as a disease related to rheumatism. Professor Józef Dietl (1804-1878), rector of the Jagiellonian University, finally figured out that plica polonica is not a disease but a consequence of poor hygiene and that cutting the tangled hair off could help cure the symptoms.