I’m 24 and I have gray hair! What’s going on?
- asks Kat from London
Lindsey Bewley • October 8, 2007
![Gray hair can happen at any age--even in your teens or early twenties. [Credit: Abouthair.com]](https://scienceline.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/hair1.jpg)
Gray hair can happen at any age--even in your teens or early twenties. [Credit: Abouthair.com]
I was only 18 when I spotted my first gray hairs, interlopers among my chestnut-colored tresses. As a freshman in college, I chalked these gray hairs up to stress from calculus class and a bad boyfriend. But by the time I aced calculus and dumped the boyfriend, those silver wisps were still there—and now, at the age of 25, a few gray strands have multiplied to what seems like nearly a hundred, silently taunting me when I look in the mirror as if to say, “You’re getting old. You’re getting old. You’re getting old.”
To explain the mystery of graying hair, you must get to the root of the problem, err, I mean the root of your hair. Under the scalp, a tube of tissue called the hair follicle surrounds the root of every hair strand. Each follicle contains a number of pigment cells that produce melanin, the polymer that gives the growing shaft of hair its color. Usually these pigment cells continuously produce melanin, but if your body stops generating it, the strand of hair will have very little pigment to paint over it’s normally transparent hue; this base-transparency will then present itself as gray, white, or silver.
Melanin production is brought to a halt for a variety of reasons–some natural, some indicators of greater health issues. As people continue to get older, the number of pigment cells around to produce melanin will actually be reduced. Eventually, these cells will be so depleted, the hair will look completely gray. Incidentally, melanin also provides moisture to the hair strand, so when less is produced, hair tends to grow brittle, losing its bounce. This is why as your hair leans towards the color of the snowy peaks of the Alps, its texture becomes dryer and coarser, making it more curly or wiry.
My gray hair started when I was still in my teens—a far cry from the usual graying age range of 30 to 50. But it turns out that people can get gray hair at any age, depending on genetics. This means that most of us will start having gray hairs around the same age that our parents or grandparents first did. I called my mother to find out our family’s graying hairstory. She told me it wasn’t any surprise that I had started to gray at a young age—her uncle’s hair was completely white by the time he was 25. Aha! I thought. Now this mystery is starting to make sense.
Researchers have shown that gender plays a role in graying. The average male starts to gray around age 30, while women typically began to notice lighter strands around age 35. In some families, many members develop white hair in their 20s. “It obviously clusters in families in one sense. Whether that is a single gene or common gene we don’t know,” writes Dr. Meyer in the magazine Scientific American. “Generally speaking, among Caucasians, 50% are 50% gray by age 50. There is, however, wide variation. This number differs for other ethnic groups, again demonstrating the effect of genetics.” But this biological fact of life varies greatly from person to person, which made dermatologists and geneticists conclude that age is not the the only indicator of when gray hair will appear.
For starters, smoking is known to decrease melanin production. Sometimes, the arrival of gray hair can be a sign of an underlying health problem. Werner’s syndrome, a disease that mirrors the symptoms of aging in people as young as 20, can spur the premature growth of gray hair. Pernicious anemia, a disease marked by a vitamin B12 deficiency, is also associated with decreased melanin production.
Although there are people who think that a big shock or trauma can turn a person’s hair white overnight, only a rare disease has been known to cause this phenomenon. Called alopecia areata, the condition causes the thicker, darker hairs to stop growing before it affects the growth of gray hairs—meaning people with the disease seem to “go gray” overnight as the darker strands are diminished and the gray ones keep on growing strong.
Overnight graying myth aside, what about that pesky old wive’s tale that says pulling out a gray will result in five more springing in it’s place? That’s also wrong! So yank away. I, however, don’t have that kind of patience, so it’s back to the salon for me, for a little color to cover those stubborn grays.
369 Comments
omg…
Im 19, took a good look at my hair then BAM!
a strand of my first gray hair… god no…
I was very unhappy, and whats worse is that my hair is dark brown. wonderful.
so far thats the only one I had spotted… thats good I guess…
but yes, it is definately genetic. My mom was suprised because she couldnt believe that I got my first gray hair at such a young age. My dad, on the other hand, wasnt suprised at all. In fact, he started graying at age 18…
thanks a lot dad
I started going gray at 16! It was not a surprise to me though, on the side of my family that I am biologically linked to all the women started very young. My mother and grandmother have had “salt and pepper” hair for most of thier lives, with gram finally starting to go silver now (she’s in her 60’s). My older sister found her first gray at 15!
Well, we are Irish, and I always wanted to have bright red hair rather than my light brown. On my 18th birthday I was offically given control over my body, I went and got a tattoo, a second piercing in each ear, and a bottle of red hair dye! I have now been dying my hair for 10 years. All my friends know I dye my hair, but they all think it’s to get the red. I have had many compliments on my beautiful hair by strangers and I tell them it’s Feria.
Only my husband and I know the truth…the gray! He will see me at the mirror when it’s time to do a new dye job with tweezers – plucking out all the new gray hairs I can find. I like my look, especially when I get carded, bet that wouldn’t happen if I let my grays show.
I spotted my first silver when i was 13 (I’m 25 now…and i am 50% grey)I am south asian so have got dark brown hair…and when silver nasty roots start to show only after 2 weeks of coloring man it just drives me crazy…! i started off by using henna…but eventually turned to loreal as applying henna is too much of a hassle…i am seriously thinking of going bald and not coloring my hair again…! any idea how long does it take for a bald woman to grow her hair back?!?!
I’m 36. I’m just about 100 percent gray!
What is the cure for grey hair at young age?
is there any natural cure available
getting gray hair is all part of stress of course its also genetic but alot of it comes from when your over stressed so maybe take a break or something…or u culd use that as an exscuse!!
Yeah i think getting gray hair is a result of genetics and stress. stress just helps to speed up the process.
I just noticed my first silver hair and I’m only 25. I just wonder at what rate I’m going to get more silvery/gray hair.
I’m 19 too, I was 16 when I found my first white hair. All my hair is starting to dull out now and the number of strands is enough that it’s noticeable…I wish it’ll just hurry up and change, it’s a pretty color and it might look good on me, besides I like the color more than I did the brown that came before it.
I spotted my first gray hair when I was still in high school.
I’m 19 now and have quite some gray hairs, but they are not very noticeable since my hair is shiny.
Plus I wouldn’t mind having my hair completely white, my hair is black so dying it is not simple.
I have gray hair when i was 14 years old.
It keeps on increasing every year.
Now im 22 years old.
People that do not have gray hair wont understand how do you feel!
I am 25 and I have grey hair since I was 17. Now I am grey grey grey. It is awful, because I have dark hair–> which I like.
I am not sure that stress could cause so much grey hair, I think genetic is the reason (and the quilty one).
I noticed my first grey at around 14…except it wasn’t just the one >.
ahh thanks for all of the comfort in knowing I am not some stress freak…=) I am 26 now but I started noticing them when I was 23-24 and I do internalize a lot of stress and thought that was causing it…but it makes me feel better to realize it’s pretty normal.. thanks.
I found my first grey hair when i was 10 years old. yes TEN YEARS OLD! But it was just one strand..I’m 15 now and i still have that one strand of hair thats grey – the rest of my hair is perfectly dark brown. I cover that one hair using black mascara! it really works and its not even noticeable.
Hi,
Try to take 8-10 curry leaves,honey,one big gooseberry everyday….This helps to prevent grayhair as well as the hairfall…..Take the food items that are rich in vitamin B12….Try to avoid the food items that cause heat in our body Eg:Dry fruits….
Don’t use shampoo every day even it is a mild one…
I took a good look at my hair and bam I have no grey hair I’m 29 ha ha ha ha ha ha all you old fogies can have some tea to that. cheers
premature gray can be a sign of gluten intolerance (it causes B12 deficiency)
I never feel good with my grey hair. Always feel concious. Worried about my looks. It also effects my performance in office or my profession. I have seen many people who do not have a single grey hair till the age of 35-37. Why i have alot of grey hair at the age of 25.
Well,i spotted my first strands of grey hair when i was 17.Guys! We can not do anything about it.Leave it alone.90% of causes are out of heritage.Sometimes when i want to start a relation(im 26 now)with some girls,they tell me you seem older because of my grey hairs.Dont try to dye your hairs.you have to do it regularly and is costy.Esprcially when you got dark hairs it seems so unnatural.That’s the discretion of god.Thank’s god!
Geez i have had Beautiful Silver Hair since i was about 16, i am now 23 and there are hundreds if not thousands of lovely silver hair upon my head….i think it makes me look enchanting and intriging and i never get carded lol
Silver hair is not all that bad!!
45 and no gray yet. Mom got her first at around 60 so genetics would seem to be the key here. 30 seems awful early for the first gray. 40 -45 would seem more typical for this.
i’m only 16 and have grey hairs on back of my hair which is weird and i usually get to fight cuz of people who keeps saying to me oh ur getting old u have grey hairs and ur only 16 i can’t stand it they keep on saying which is very irritating if they only know how it feels to have grey at young age damn!! i wish they get grey hairs too lol
I can’t wait for my hair to turn gray, silver, or white. I’ve only found maybe ten at the most in the last ten years. I plucked them right out hoping more would grow, but no such luck. I think gray/white/or silver makes a man look distinguished. I told my wife I even thought of trying to dye it gray or white, but she persuaded me not too. My dad didn’t start getting white hair until his late fifties. Still have jet black hair and going on 40. shucks :-(
I’ve just turned 25, my first greys were pointed out to me when I was 13, but there were only a couple, it’s just the last few years that it’s really come on round the temples. I find it’s crippling for self confidence. I know people in the office will take the piss when they see them coming through and I hate seeing my reflection these days. I know it sounds weak, I wish I could just not care, but I do.
Should I try dyeing it? Can anyone offer some advice please.
i don’t know what everybody is complaining about, i got it when i was in 5th grade!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! omg, i dont even know how, but…if i pluck em all out, will even more come out?!!?
AHHHHHHH!!!!!
I am 14 and I have about 30 silver strands!!!!
what do you think people will say next year when my hair is all white? I HATE MY HAIR!!!!! I wanna know why I have this crap?
after reading all these comments i fell a little better.my hair started goin grey at 25 now am 28 am half way there.i have more grey than my dad, but my mom was born with grey hair.
I found my first gray hairs at age 14. We’re Irish & I call it Irish hair. My hair is pure white & has been since I was about 30…I’m 64 now. My cousins & I call ourselves the Q-Tips! The gene was also passed on to my sons. I am tired of it now, but dying just is too overwhelming. I try to keep it in a “current” cut. I do get lots of compliments on it.
im 15 and ive got like 5-10 gray hairs or more!!! what should i do? im dark brown hair aswell and everyone in my school keeps pointing it out to me! any reply send to bestinme@merseymail.com please :[ im really upset
Hi I am in 32yrs old Merchant Navy Captain… Due to sever stress I started developing Grey hair on my head at the age of 24/25yrs. But since last 2 yrs i have grey hair on my beard also and its spreading…i want to control it. If you have any suggestion please let me know.
hey everbody
i have big problem i am worring too much about growing white hair
please send me any good the solution
i would be thankfull to that person
I’m 44 and just turning gray. I think it would have been easier earlier because my eyesight is going also. At least if you are younger to go gray everything at 40 won’t be so depressing.
I really do not fully believe the genetics thing. I have 3 sisters and I am the only one who seems to have picked up this trait. I am 28 and constantly dyes my hair every 4-6 weeks. I have dark brown hair and get annoyed each time I see those new lighter roots coming in. I am with the one commenter and wish I could just shave my hair and start from scratch and not even worry about it.
is it a myth that you get gray hair from to much stress??????
@ jim tucker: sucks to be you! LOL! I’ve got nothing to fear, because I’m albino.
@ the writer of this post: you’re a girl and you’re getting gray hair up there? how’s down there doin? SATC anyone? mmm red
i am thirteen years old and i have gray hair. i first saw my gray hair when i was 12.
Omg-I’m only 12 and I have some grey hairs already. It’s really embarrassing. But in a way I’m not surprised because both sides of my family went grey early. My Grandpa was completely grey by the time he was 18! It’s so depressing.. But it makes me feel better knowing I’m not the only one.
Wow! it’s good to know ‘m par of that elite group
It’s such a relief to know that it’s not only me! I found my first grey when I was about 12, and it’s only got worse! :(
i saw my first when i was in 8th grade. im now 17 and have about 50
Well, I’m 20 years old and have lots of gray hairs. I’ve had it since 17, I think. But, anyway, I’m not too upset about my head turning gray. I just wonder why I grow more white hair on my left side of the head than the right side. My mom totally busted out saying that she didn’t have any when she was my age but her’s is now full of it.
I was fourteen when I first noticed my first grey hair. At first , I thought it was tipex because I remembered it was in my hair.
I washed my hair reguarly thinking ‘Why hasnt it gone yet?!?!’
Then , I thought it must be grey hair. But was thinking ‘ How can i have it at such a young age?!?’
I told my mum & she said she had grey hair at a young age thirty.
Now im trying home remedies to get rid of it.
You should try rubbing your nails together it helps by not growing grey hair.
Thanks guys.
ughh i’ve had gray hair since i was in the sixth grade. i’m in tenth now and the back of my head is 10-15% gray. i’m so embarrassed so i die it often, but sometimes i miss a few spots. i hate that this is happening to me especially as no one else in my family is gray!
I’m 48 with P.D and menieres disease and absolutely no grey hair mother 72 has none my father about 50% It’s just strange.
I’d like to know why some people just don’t grey?
i noticed my first one when i was 16 now im 19 it sucks but oh well what can you do about it…
i am 28, few strands of grey up front that had me feeling super-crappy and sad. seeing here i have less to complain about than some, my sympathies to those more grey and unhappy than i. i think its best to dye and move on. monthly, weekly, whatever, i just dont want to look older than i do. i think smokers may have the chance to at least slow down the greying by quitting smoking, so thats something to think about.
Yeah I’m 21 and I just noticed I have two white hairs, It’s really not that bad. If I do go completely gray early I think I will just leave it alone and not dye it.
Oh guys, reading this post makes me fell so …uh… OK. I’m not the only one with greys at only 25!!! Thanks guys
I am twenty years old now and thinking about how I can possibly be grey at such a young age. I am young and full of life and yet my once nice hair is starting to show very obvious signs of greyness. It’s borderline tragic, I actually think it is. Am I allowing myself to simply wallow in self-pity? Obviously. I love my natural hair colour, this is the problem. My reluctance to dye my ever greying hair is silly, yes, but I simply don’t want to wake up and see hair that isn’t mine, and once it is dyed then it is just an on going process. Twenty years old!
Sigh, I’m sure I will get over it, in the mean time I’m very sad to realise that if I were to pluck them all out that I would have lost quite a few hairs. Shame.