Terminal length on grey hair?

[Martha]

Does anyone know if the terminal length on grey hair is shorter to that of hair with colour?

Thank you!

[Fia]

Should not be in theory as terminal length is terminal length no matter what. I do personally believe there might be a bit of slowing down in growth with age (as all regenerative abilities - cells, body's ability to heal etc. - slow down as we grow older) that could lead to a shorter terminal length over time.

[jojo]

I agree that grey hair should grow to terminal length the same as any colour.

I know of some people who went grey pretty early on in life like late teens and still have very long hair and also evidence would be purely anecdotal due to people dying their hair, as well as the numbers of people in the real world who grow to extreme lengths being rare; its therefore a case of suck it and see!

Good luck, I believe nothing is impossible to achieve if we set our minds to it.

[Periwinkle]

Terminal length is genetic, and so surely is 'hard-coded' when your'e born and will never change?

[EdG]

Welcome to the board Martha!

I have grays down to my very ends. The gray hairs don't seem to have problems growing as long as the pigmented hairs. :)
Ed

[Dianyla]

Terminal length is genetic, and so surely is 'hard-coded' when you're born and will never change?
It is genetic, yes. However, the way that a specific gene is expressed can and does change throughout life. For example, many people with dark brown or black hair color (determined genetically) do not produce the melanin pigment until late childhood. So as children they are bright blond towheads, because the gene to produce color is not activated yet.

I have grays down to my very ends. The gray hairs don't seem to have problems growing as long as the pigmented hairs. :)
Ed
Ah, but you already had lots of greys before you reached terminal length, right?

trolleypup has mentioned to me that the grey hairs he sheds are shorter than the black hairs. Given that he's already at terminal without much grey now, it will be interesting to see if his terminal length changes as he turns fully silver.

OTOH, it can also be confused with the general deterioration of hair that happens as people get older. Hair grows slower, and may be more fragile, both of which reduce terminal length but may have nothing to do with depigmentation. :shrug:

[Martha]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I'm interested because I just started getting grey hair above my ears and it seems like it grows faster than the rest of my hair -- well, of course, it is more noticeable! So I asked about it on another forum and someone thought that hair in that area grows faster than other places in your head and that the area in the front of your scalp usually has a shorter terminal end anyway.

I've just started doing henna and that totally takes care of the grey. In fact, it is kind of nice because you get strawberry blond highlights, but I do notice some ODD texture and that the grey seems to have its own wild ideas, and that they are shorter than the rest of my hair, which isn't so long anyway (comes just above my shoulders).

[sipnsun]

This is a great question, since I quit bleaching my hair last year I've noticed a lot of gray hairs popping up. I never thought about that making a difference in my terminal length. EdG really gives me hope that it will keep on growing!

[EdG]

Ah, but you already had lots of greys before you reached terminal length, right?

trolleypup has mentioned to me that the grey hairs he sheds are shorter than the black hairs. Given that he's already at terminal without much grey now, it will be interesting to see if his terminal length changes as he turns fully silver.

OTOH, it can also be confused with the general deterioration of hair that happens as people get older. Hair grows slower, and may be more fragile, both of which reduce terminal length but may have nothing to do with depigmentation. :shrug:Yes, I've had grey hairs for many years and have only recently reached terminal length.

I have noticed that the thickness of my hair at classic length is less than it was a decade ago. With age, fewer hairs seem to be able to reach really long lengths, and the percentage of grays is noticably increasing. I'm not sure if the two are correlated. I'll probably know more in another decade. :D
Ed

[MeMyselfandI]

My maternal grandmother, had at least hip length white/grey hair with very few blacks in it. I do know that her hair tappered, which know is what I would call fairy tale ends.

Grey hairs grow faster then regular hairs, so in my mind it will be easy for them to reach the terminal length of the other hair, way before the rest of the hairs have dropped off to get al white long terminal hair.

[harpgal]

I do personally believe there might be a bit of slowing down in growth with age (as all regenerative abilities - cells, body's ability to heal etc. - slow down as we grow older) that could lead to a shorter terminal length over time.
Fia!!! What a pleasant surprise! I am so happy to "see" you!

Now about the age thing....I am not 80 years old yet, but at 60 I have noticed no difference at all in speed of growth or thickness. I also have white strands all the way to the bottom and they are much coarser and stronger. An entire head of those puppies would make my day! :D

[trolleypup]

trolleypup has mentioned to me that the grey hairs he sheds are shorter than the black hairs. Given that he's already at terminal without much grey now, it will be interesting to see if his terminal length changes as he turns fully silver.
Although some of my silvers don't shed until they get to the full 42". *shrug*

[Dianyla]

Although some of my silvers don't shed until they get to the full 42". *shrug*
Well I fully intend to stick around until the transition's complete. In the name of research, y'know! :inlove:

[trolleypup]

Well I fully intend to stick around until the transition's complete. In the name of research, y'know! :inlove:
*sheds some long silver hairs on kitty*

[Gia11]

Terminal length is genetic and pre- determined regardless of hair colour.
I am in my mid 40s and have plenty greys; my hair is better than it has ever been and right now the longest it ever has too.
I have done much research on this and with all the information I have come accross ,it is my personal oppinion that the pre-determined hair length for each strand even though pre-determined it is NOT totally fixed for life and so can change. This change does not mean that the length gets shorter with age; the change can go either way at any time.
Although it does not change "at the drop of a hat" it can definitely do so in some people.

You hear of some who had the same length for years and years and suddenly their hair starts growing again. I also know of someone who since she was a little girl had long hair and in her mid twenties cut it to a bob for the first time ever and since then she has never been able to grow it as long as before no matter how hard she tries.

I think it takes deep hormonal changes and other far more complex factors for this changes to occur but they do sometimes. We do not know all there is to know about hair yet........so I would not discount a change as a possibility at all:D

[lapis_lazuli]

I wonder if anyone from 2008 wants to update us? :) I'm curious now. I'd also like to make this transition and see if and how my length changes. Although I'm not at terminal and don't know if I'll ever go there, I'm sure there will be interesting changes to observe if I keep my hair this long forever. A few greys are on their way now, but it will still be a decade until they reach the ends, if at all, since each hair is on its own terminal length.

[MusicalSpoons]

I'm interested in this too.

[At the moment my sprinkling of whites and translucent hairs seems to be mainly at the front where terminal length is very short; the longest I've found so far is about 6 inches and I've definitely had the earliest white hairs growing for more than 2 years now. Any in the bulk of my hair that I can't see in the mirror would need to grow for at least 9 inches but probably more like 12 for me to notice it. I'm willing some of those hairs to start turning … ]

[stephlynette]

This is something I've been wondering as well! I have some that fall out way that only seem bra strap length, others are nearly classic length so I'm not sure.

[ArienEllariel]

Not entirely related but this thread reminded me of a fantasy/fairytale story I read as a child (that I've now forgotten the name of) that described a woman who had really long hair to the floor and it started out blonde at the tips from her childhood, darkened into adulthood and had gone silvery grey/white in her old age.

I remember I was fascinated at the idea and found it incredibly beautiful. The author likely didn't take into account that hairs shed eventually but the image of 3 different colors of hair pooling around the woman's feet was so magical to me.

[foreveryours]

Do gray hairs actually start turning gray at the root as the strands grow out, so half-colored strands are possible, or does the entire strand essentially lose color at once? I really don't remember, but I don't recall any stage where I was half & half and I've never seen a strand from my own head which is not either fully colored, or white. It's never been like growing a dye job out

[ArienEllariel]

Do gray hairs actually start turning gray at the root as the strands grow out, so half-colored strands are possible, or does the entire strand essentially lose color at once? I really don't remember, but I don't recall any stage where I was half & half and I've never seen a strand from my own head which is not either fully colored, or white. It's never been like growing a dye job out

I've got one eyebrow hair that grows extra long and halfway down it loses color so I'd say it's quite possible to have two-tone hair grow.

[neko_kawaii]

Do gray hairs actually start turning gray at the root as the strands grow out, so half-colored strands are possible, or does the entire strand essentially lose color at once? I really don't remember, but I don't recall any stage where I was half & half and I've never seen a strand from my own head which is not either fully colored, or white. It's never been like growing a dye job out

I've seen a few hairs that were brown at the lower part (tip) and silver on the upper (root). I did see one memorable hair that was brown, silver, brown. When I was a kid there was a woman down the street with what my mom described as "Salt and pepper hair" who's hair definitely changed color multiple times on each strand to get the look of silvers sprinkled throughout her dark hair. New strands coming in gray/white/silver or changing mid-shaft to the unpigmented color seems to be more common though.

[AmaryllisRed]

Do gray hairs actually start turning gray at the root as the strands grow out, so half-colored strands are possible, or does the entire strand essentially lose color at once? I really don't remember, but I don't recall any stage where I was half & half and I've never seen a strand from my own head which is not either fully colored, or white. It's never been like growing a dye job out

I've had some that are striped, so the color turns off, then back on, then off again, then back on. I thought it was so weird the first time I saw it but I've been amazed to see how many of my shed hairs actually look like that now.

[baanoo]

Not exactly the answer to Foreveryours’ question but… I once worked with a woman who had the most beautiful classic-length fine locs - each about the thickness of a pencil. Her hair had started greying and the longest silvers reached probably to bsl. Her roots were completely silver and her hemline was completely black and it was stunning.

[foreveryours]

I've had some that are striped, so the color turns off, then back on, then off again, then back on. I thought it was so weird the first time I saw it but I've been amazed to see how many of my shed hairs actually look like that now.

That does sound weird.


Not exactly the answer to Foreveryours’ question but… I once worked with a woman who had the most beautiful classic-length fine locs - each about the thickness of a pencil. Her hair had started greying and the longest silvers reached probably to bsl. Her roots were completely silver and her hemline was completely black and it was stunning.

Was this hair virgin or hair which had been previously dyed before realizing that hiding the inevitable grays was futile?

[baanoo]

Was this hair virgin or hair which had been previously dyed before realizing that hiding the inevitable grays was futile?

Well, based on what I remember about her, I don’t think she had dyed her hair previously. There wasn’t a line of demarcation like you would have with coloring hair and she also was not one to fuss around with color on her exquisite locs. Way too granola for that.

[shelomit]

I've had some that are striped, so the color turns off, then back on, then off again, then back on. I thought it was so weird the first time I saw it but I've been amazed to see how many of my shed hairs actually look like that now.

Anecdotally, I've heard of those "tiger stripes" happening when somebody is graying out of stress. You're under more pressure, you lose your color; things get better, you might get it back again for a while.

[AmaryllisRed]

Anecdotally, I've heard of those "tiger stripes" happening when somebody is graying out of stress. You're under more pressure, you lose your color; things get better, you might get it back again for a while.

Hmm, stress, you say? :hmm:
:lol:

[shelomit]

Hmm, stress, you say? :hmm:
:lol:

Yes, I've heard you might be encountering a bit of that ( ;

[paper.wyrm]

There's a YouTuber, PrettyShepherd, who has knee length grey hair, she started going grey at 13 and is now around 30 I believe. So it certainly doesn't seem like grey hair has a short terminal length in her case!

[Bat]

Back here again, terminal on dyed hair and trimsno set goals for me anymore