Hair turning Grey/White

user1234567user1234567 Posts: 12,378
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I'm in my late 20's and the strangest thing happened to me about six months ago. I woke up and was getting ready as usual. I was about to start brushing my hair (it's quite long) and looked in the mirror. There was one pure white hair at the front of my head. It had appeared over night! I have never had any grey hairs before and this was really odd. The whole strand was white. I pulled it out and haven't had one since.

Is that normal and has it happened to anyone else? I thought the normal process is that you go grey first and then white but how does it happen? Do whole strands go grey or does it start from the roots?
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  • cjsmummycjsmummy Posts: 11,079
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    We lose pigment as we age, some earlier than others! I started getting greys when i was 31/32, and it seems to have accelerated recently.:(

    Not fair.:D
  • user1234567user1234567 Posts: 12,378
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    cjsmummy wrote: »
    We lose pigment as we age, some earlier than others!
    That part I get but if there is already pigment in a strand, why did it go white? Does the whole strand go grey/white or is it gradual, like when you get your hair dyed and you can notice it growing out by the colour of the roots?
  • PencilPencil Posts: 5,700
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    Shock and stress can make a hair turn white.

    It usually takes about 2 weeks to and is totally temporary.
  • cjsmummycjsmummy Posts: 11,079
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    Oh, and i imagine it starts at the roots.:)
  • cjsmummycjsmummy Posts: 11,079
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    Pencil wrote: »
    Shock can make a hair turn white. :eek:
    When my mum gave birth to my younger brother, she ended up with a white streak at the front of her hair.

    Freaky!:eek:
  • MrQuikeMrQuike Posts: 18,175
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    That part I get put if there is already pigment in a strand, why did it go white? Does the whole strand go grey/white or is it gradual, like when you get your hair dyed and you can notice it growing out by the colour of the roots?

    It's gradual in that the hair starts growing without pigment and then one day you notice it.
  • HogzillaHogzilla Posts: 24,116
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    I started going white aged 16 - but was at school with someone who went grey haired during primary school! My brother, father, grandfather and great grandfather all the same so it must be genetic. I loved my hair colour too - it was really unusual and pretty (looked very dark brown but if you looked close I had a lot of red and blonde hairs, too). In the past couple of years suddenly developed vitilgo where you lose pigment in your skin, so I now have pure white hair under the dye not dirty grey, and a big white blotch on my forehead (attractive!)

    It's prolly just a bit of premature greying but keep an eye on it as if it becomes a distinct blob or patch of grey/white amongst otherwsie normal hair - you could have vitiligo.
  • user1234567user1234567 Posts: 12,378
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    Pencil wrote: »
    Shock and stress can make a hair turn white.

    It usually takes about 2 weeks to and is totally temporary.
    Maybe I had a nightmare that I didn't remember!

    That part I didn't know. If there's a next time, I'll leave it to see what happens :D
    MrQuike wrote: »
    It's gradual in that the hair starts growing without pigment and then one day you notice it.
    Thanks for clearing that up :)
  • *Clem**Clem* Posts: 4,101
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    I'm 28, and I get some grey hairs. I noticed my first one at 15! I don't have enough to need to dye my hair though.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
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    I think it's down to stress.

    Hair colour changing is a weird thing, my hair goes auburn in the summer when it's very sunny. :D
  • parsleyisfunparsleyisfun Posts: 4,164
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    I'm 16 and I've found a couple of grey hairs. However, my hair is also falling out strand by strand so maybe I'm just a hair freak.
  • solenoidsolenoid Posts: 15,495
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    Also happens in your pubes :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 402
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    Started happening to me around 23 or 24, no big deal. Hair strands go completely white.
  • user1234567user1234567 Posts: 12,378
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    solenoid wrote: »
    Also happens in your pubes :D
    Never thought about that. Does it start at the same time as your head?
  • SigurdSigurd Posts: 26,610
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    I got my first grey hairs when I was about sixteen. It seems to be a genetic thing, because I gather that my maternal grandfather (whom I never met because he died before I was born) also went grey very young.

    Not a lot one can do about it; just live with it or dye your hair. I've never dyed my hair, but somewhat ironically, when I was in my thirties people used to think I did, because my hair had gone a sort of ash blond colour! :D
  • brillopadbrillopad Posts: 3,226
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    Pencil wrote: »
    Shock and stress can make a hair turn white.

    It usually takes about 2 weeks to and is totally temporary.

    Pal of mine was a rough tough fisherman - lost his father and went white in a few days - was quite dramatic and permanent.
  • AndrueAndrue Posts: 23,349
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    I started getting grey hairs in my mid0-twenties. I'm now almost in my mid-forties but I'm still dark haired. The grey is everywhere but I haven't actually developed the full 'distinguished' look.

    My brother's hair is a different matter - he's well on the way to having a monk's cut :-/
  • KBBJKBBJ Posts: 10,266
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    Mine started going white when I was 13 and I had a Mallen streak at 21. Looked pretty cool. Never bothered dying it as it gets more compliments white than it ever did when it was black.

    Very few people actually go grey, even though we use that term - most go straight to white.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 9,328
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    Pencil wrote: »
    Shock and stress can make a hair turn white.

    It usually takes about 2 weeks to and is totally temporary.

    False. Its impossible for hair to suddenly turn white overnight.
  • SigurdSigurd Posts: 26,610
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    There is said to be one rare condition that might make it appear that hair had turned white quite rapidly:
    ...The problem with sudden whitening, of course, is that hair is dead tissue. So you'd think it would be incapable of becoming entirely white until it grows out from the roots, a process that takes weeks.

    Still, as you say, there does seem to be one way that hair can appear to turn gray in a very short period of time. What happens is that a condition called "diffuse alopecia areata" may occur in somebody with a mix of normal and gray hairs.

    Alopecia can result in sudden, substantial hair loss. For unknown reasons it seems to affect mostly pigmented hairs, leaving white ones untouched. The impression one gets, therefore, is that the patient has become suddenly gray.

    The sequence of biological events resulting in alopecia is not well understood, but it's thought emotional stress can contribute to it. Wherefore, chill. If you're male you're probably going to lose all that hair eventually, but no sense hurrying the process.
    http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/538/can-hair-turn-white-overnight-from-fright

    However, some historical references to someone's hair turning white overnight (e.g Sir Thomas More or Marie Antoinette) seem to be dubious.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,182
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    The exact same thing happened to me recently but instead of one grey hair I had a cluster of about 5 or 6 hairs at the front of my hairline. Never noticed them before as I usually shave my hair quite short but grew my hair out because of the weather. I'm late 20's too but have been told by my parents they went grey much younger than me so I'm lucky! Don't feel lucky, just like my youth is no longer visible on the horizon.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,366
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    I keep having the odd random few appear. Mine seem to be white towards the end as opposed to the root though! Hate going grey :(
  • user1234567user1234567 Posts: 12,378
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    Taboo wrote: »
    False. Its impossible for hair to suddenly turn white overnight.
    Well one strand of mine did. My hair is dark and that's why I noticed it straight away, because it stood out. It's also taken 6 years to grow to it's current length so I think I'd have noticed it.
  • Jane Doh!Jane Doh! Posts: 43,307
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    solenoid wrote: »
    Also happens in your pubes :D
    Something to look forward to. :(
  • MarkjukMarkjuk Posts: 30,384
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    Within the next 10 years there are expected to be non surgical treatments coming available that will reverse grey hair and baldness, as it has been established what causes both.
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