Touching hair causes it to grey faster?

[Adelynd]

I found a fourth grey hair today and then realized that they are all growing along my part line and nowhere else (I scoured my hair for them and found nothing). It got me wondering about why hair often greys first along part lines or the temples first. I don't know anything about this and was just wondering if perhaps excessive manipulation stresses those follicles and causes them to grey first. I mean, when you comb your hair or style it, you concentrate your efforts on either making a straight part or making it disappear and you concentrate on combing the front edges to make a smooth updo. Also, whenever we tuck our hair behind our ears or rest our heads on our hands or when we sleep, we brush our temple hair. Oh, and men's beards grey before their head hair generally and think of how often we touch our faces. I googled this briefly and tried to scan LHC threads, but couldn't seem to find any relevant info. Does anybody know if this is a possible factor? I know genetics determines when we grey, but is it possible that manipulating follicles will speed up the process a smidge?

[HylianGirl]

I don't know if there is a relation, but it seems to me that men usually go gray on their temples first and women on the top layers, I believe this is more a genetic think though, since he persons haircut doesn't seem to have an influence on this patter, whether the hair is long or short (whick leads to different way to manipullate it).

[Adelynd]

I wonder though whether women might grey first on top of their heads because they are brushing more often and whether men are greying on their temples first because of manipulation from years of shaving/beard stroking. I think, even with shorter hair, women brush/comb a lot more than short-haired men do, IMO. From what I've seen, a couple of swipes of a comb and maybe some styling products are sufficient for most men, while women often take the time to do different styles. Also, it's not common for a woman to have really short hair from infancy through adulthood so that's a lot of brushing/combing in the years before/after those shorter hairstyles. I'm not sure how I would ever test this theory though. A research group of lifelong, at least semi-longhaired women and men who style regularly and who have both never had facial hair versus shorthairs that rarely comb and never touch their face? Ha! I wonder what studies have been done on this? I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this so I wonder how the theory has been disproved/discounted.

[Kaelee]

I've never heard that, but I suppose it's possible. :shrug: I wouldn't stress about it though.

[minxe]

Hair greys because the cells accumulate small amounts of hydrogen peroxide over time. Eventually, that buildup inhibits melanin synthesis, resulting in a lack of pigmentation in new growth.

Possible reasons for this are outlined in this study (http://www.fasebj.org/content/23/7/2065.full). Here's a handy dandy little excerpt:

"So far, the biological process of hair graying has been attributed to the loss of the pigment-forming melanocytes from the aging hair follicle, including the bulb and the outer root sheath. In this context, it is of interest that activity of hair bulb melanocytes is under cyclic control. Both melanogenesis and hair shaft production take place in the anagen phase of the hair cycle. Toward the end of this phase, the pigment-forming melanocytes retract their dendrites and stop melanogenesis, which is followed by apoptosis-driven regression in the catagen phase and the final resting telogen phase. Theories for the gradual loss of pigmentation include exhaustion of enzymes involved in melanogenesis, impaired DNA repair, loss of telomerase, antioxidant mechanisms, and antiapoptotic signals including the loss of Bcl-2 and decreased stem cell factor."

I don't think it's probable that excessive manipulation of the hair would contribute to greying, since the study outlines that it's mostly (if not entirely) due to cellular stress and ageing, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility.

:)

[Firefox7275]

I wonder though whether women might grey first on top of their heads because they are brushing more often and whether men are greying on their temples first because of manipulation from years of shaving/beard stroking. I think, even with shorter hair, women brush/comb a lot more than short-haired men do, IMO. From what I've seen, a couple of swipes of a comb and maybe some styling products are sufficient for most men, while women often take the time to do different styles. Also, it's not common for a woman to have really short hair from infancy through adulthood so that's a lot of brushing/combing in the years before/after those shorter hairstyles. I'm not sure how I would ever test this theory though. A research group of lifelong, at least semi-longhaired women and men who style regularly and who have both never had facial hair versus shorthairs that rarely comb and never touch their face? Ha! I wonder what studies have been done on this? I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this so I wonder how the theory has been disproved/discounted.

Never heard of that being studied, you might search Google Scholar and PubMed. There must be some differences between top of head follicles and sides of head follicles, male pattern baldness suggests that.

"Some gray facts:
• Graying is a natural phenomenon that comes with age as follicles at the base of the hair shaft lose melanin.
• Graying is primarily genetically determined. We most often see gray when our parents and grandparents did.
• Poor nutrition, Vitamin B and iron deficiency, thyroid problems, albinism, smoking and other environmental toxins may also contribute to graying.
• Caucasians tend to start graying earlier (early 30s), Asians (late 30s) and Afro-Americans (mid 40s).
• While on average, most people begin to gray between ages 30-40, white hair can appear at anytime. People who do so before 40 are considered prematurely gray."
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/face-it/201105/graying-is-the-double-standard-diminishing

[Night_Kitten]

My grey hairs seem to be spread rather randomly across my head, but there aren't enough of them to say anything about pattern or lack of pattern...
There don't deem to be more grey hairs near my part than anywhere else on my head, so I'd say manipulation doesn't affect my hair in terms of graying...
It could be individual though, some people's hair could be more or less affected by different factors, just like there is a difference in hair types and hair's reaction to products / routines there could be a difference in reaction to manipulation... If a person's skin is more sensitive and the manipulation puts stress on the follicles somehow maybe it could cause graying?

[Anje]

Could it be that you're finding them in your part because that's where you can see the hairs best?

[lapushka]

Well, hate to bust your theory, but... I'm going gray, slowly, all over, my hair is slightly sprinkled with white hair. My dad went gray the same way. Not in thick patches, but sprinkled all over through his hair, slowly increasing in density.

[Haybop]

Well, hate to bust your theory, but... I'm going gray, slowly, all over, my hair is slightly sprinkled with white hair. My dad went gray the same way. Not in thick patches, but sprinkled all over through his hair, slowly increasing in density.

That's the way I've been going grey since 21 - slowly and all over (at least I say all over as I'm relying on other people's ability to happily tell me when they see grey hair on the back of my head >:( ) I always thought grey hair was largely genetic (also stress & illness) and caused by a lack of melanin being produced in the hair follicles rather than an outside, 'touching' influence :S It's too confusing - I see them, I accept them, I leave the dye on the shop shelf ;)

[dulce]

It's all genetics,all the women in my family gray late and unevenly in life as I did.At 61 wish I was all silver.Have had long hair most of my life and brushed it and loved to try new styles but alas all that touching never gave me more gray.

[jacqueline101]

If touching causes gray hairs I'd be snow white headed.

[Leeloo]

I don't think the color of the hair depends on mechanical damage.

[spidermom]

I'm not a scientist or anything, but I highly doubt your theory. I don't part my hair most of the time. I prefer to comb or brush is straight back and then let it fall however it's going to fall (all over the place, a very crooked "part", and not always in the same place). I had more silver on one side than the other for quite awhile, and I am sure I didn't touch that side more than I touched the other side.

[lapushka]

I always thought grey hair was largely genetic (also stress & illness) and caused by a lack of melanin being produced in the hair follicles rather than an outside, 'touching' influence :S It's too confusing - I see them, I accept them, I leave the dye on the shop shelf ;)

I feel the same way, and for now I'm not dyeing it either. Should I get "patches" of gray, then that might change; don't know yet.

[chen bao jun]

If touching causes gray hairs I'd be snow white headed.
Yeah.
And actually I'm growing gray VERY slowly, like the rest of family, 56 years old and less than 5% gray at this point.
And I'm grey in the middle of my crown like my mother.
I play with my bangs constantly and they're not grey at all.
I'm willing to believe that diet may play some part, but not just touching. Families usually do eat the same and I've heard of people going gray due to a nutritional deficiency and then growing back their previous hair color when the deficiency is fixed.

[kitschy]

I went gray at my temples first. Has nothing to do with touching since I have trichotillomania, and pull hairs at the crown.

[browneyedsusan]

It's genetic. Stress might make it move along faster, but gray is in your DNA. It'll come along when the time is right.

I had a friend in high school that was quite gray at 18, yet my mother (70 yrs) hardly has any! I WISH I had her hair genes; I have hair like Dad--not much of it, and it's the color of a possum. Thank heaven for henna! :cheer:

[Adelynd]

Thank you for all of your insight, ladies! I would love for my theory to be wrong because, even though I'm a bit of a control freak, I would hate to have that much control over my greying process. :) One less thing to worry about! I am still curious as to why women tend to grey on top first versus men greying on their temples first (or at least that is what is stated in many articles). As your personal experiences have indicated that is definitely not a hard and fast rule, but I still wonder why this may be the case at all. It would be interesting if the male pattern baldness factor were, indeed, the cause of delayed greying on the crown. (Because it can't grey if it's not there? Haha.) I thought DHT impeded the pigmentation process though? But, yes, Firefox7275, I think you must be right that hair follicles are gendered. That, of course, only makes me wonder if women who experience drastic, non-thyroid related hair loss in later life, which has nothing to do with their physical health, may actually have a biological abnormality and have male follicles. I think my facial hair argument is a bit silly since those follicles are obviously quite different than head hair follicles, seeing as they don't produce hair until the onset of puberty. They must just have a shorter pigmented life than head hair. I find it all very interesting. Thanks for your responses.

[misspurdy06]

"The change in hair color occurs when melanin ceases to be produced in the hair root and new hairs grow in without pigment. The stem cells (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell) at the base of hair follicles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_follicle) produce melanocytes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanocyte), the cells that produce and store pigment in hair and skin. The death of the melanocyte stem cells (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cells) causes the onset of graying."

-Nishimura EK, Granter SR, Fisher DE. Mechanisms of hair graying: Incomplete melanocyte stem cell maintenance in the niche

If it bothers you, I hear wheat grass helps.

[Mesmerise]

Thank you for all of your insight, ladies! I would love for my theory to be wrong because, even though I'm a bit of a control freak, I would hate to have that much control over my greying process. :) One less thing to worry about! I am still curious as to why women tend to grey on top first versus men greying on their temples first (or at least that is what is stated in many articles). As your personal experiences have indicated that is definitely not a hard and fast rule, but I still wonder why this may be the case at all. It would be interesting if the male pattern baldness factor were, indeed, the cause of delayed greying on the crown. (Because it can't grey if it's not there? Haha.) I thought DHT impeded the pigmentation process though? But, yes, Firefox7275, I think you must be right that hair follicles are gendered. That, of course, only makes me wonder if women who experience drastic, non-thyroid related hair loss in later life, which has nothing to do with their physical health, may actually have a biological abnormality and have male follicles. I think my facial hair argument is a bit silly since those follicles are obviously quite different than head hair follicles, seeing as they don't produce hair until the onset of puberty. They must just have a shorter pigmented life than head hair. I find it all very interesting. Thanks for your responses.

I don't know about men graying on temples first while women gray differently? My temples are certainly grayer than the rest of my hair, and I believe there are quite a few women who have the same graying pattern! It may be harder to tell in many women as they're more likely to have longer hair which will hide the temples more. (I'm on a forum for women who are transitioning to gray, and quite a lot report that their temples grayed earliest).

[Panth]

Thank you for all of your insight, ladies! I would love for my theory to be wrong because, even though I'm a bit of a control freak, I would hate to have that much control over my greying process. :) One less thing to worry about! I am still curious as to why women tend to grey on top first versus men greying on their temples first (or at least that is what is stated in many articles).
<snip>

Here's two theories:
1) They don't. It's just something made up by one / a few articles and copied by the rest. (Certainly, all the women I can think of are greying at the temples, sometimes as well as other parts of the scalp.)
2) Everyone generally greys "on top" first, then temples, it's just that as male-pattern baldness results in no hair on top, you don't see greying in that area very often in men - the baldness happens before the grey would be apparent.

[see_turtle]

I am about to be 30 ( 2 weeks, eeek) and have recently noticed a few grey hairs near my part. I actually think they are pretty and I tell my husband they are from him. He is also 29 and has three significant patches of grey that are slowing spreading. I believe it has to do with your family history and perhaps stress but most likely not touching because like PP have said my whole head would be grey! I do not plan to dye my hair to cover my greys as I have earned them!

[mamaherrera]

What I hate to hear is that the hair follicles have aged, does that mean I've shed that hair from that follicle many times and that's why it's "aged" That's what I worry about, I too find I'm greying faster in my temples, from my side of my face back towards my ears, but really now it's sporadic, some on my forehead line which is very annoying, now it's "bangs for life' if I want to cover those ones. I'm scared because I'm pregnant, and I hope after the "post partum" shed, I don't come up with tons more white.