Why you get grey hairs and why you definitely shouldn’t pull them out

An expert has revealed why you shouldn’t be plucking out those pesky grey hairs despite the overwhelming urge to rid yourself of them. 

We’ve all been there, standing in front of the mirror and suddenly noticing a thin grey hair standing out for all to see. Do you pluck it? Do you dye your whole head in a panic? There are almost too many questions. Luckily, an expert has offered their opinion to subdue those intrusive thoughts. 

Why do you get grey hairs?

As we get older, the melanin in our hair begins to slowly die. Without this pigment, our hair starts to turn silver, grey and eventually white. Naturally, the older one gets, the less pigment they have to keep their hair the natural colour.

How fast we lose our pigment is largely down to our genes, meaning it’s practically impossible to stop. Most people will experience this loss in their 30s and 40s, but it can happen even younger in extreme cases. 

“At the end of each hair cycle our melanocytes are replaced from a finite number of stem cells, and after many hair cycles these can get used up and follicles are left with their pigment production depleted,” Eleanore Richardson, Consultant Trichologist MIT at Fulham Scalp and Hair Clinic, previously told Glamour.

Should you pull out grey hairs?

Hairstylist Michael Van Clarke explained that by plucking a single hair from your head, you can actually interrupt the growing cycles of your entire head.

He said: “The plucked hair whose life you shortened will rest and start its next growth cycle after about three months,” the hairstylist told Huffington Post about what really happens when you pluck a grey hair.

“At each cycle after about age 20, the hair grows back a little thinner and stays around for a slightly shorter time. Cycles on the head average five years and there are a limited number of growth cycles.”

While such damage can be difficult to repair, ITV This Morning’s Dr Karan explained that there is a silver lining. Pardon the pun.

“When you pull out a grey hair, do seven grow back?” a caller questioned, to which the doctor responded, It doesn’t grow back, that’s because you only have the possibility of one piece of hair in one follicle, so pulling out a grey hair is not going to make all the nearby follicles turn grey.”

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