A HealthTap patient asked:
I found 3 grey hairs on my head. Is this normal?
Answer:
It can be normal for some people, even babies and children, to have a couple of grey hairs.
This baby has poliosis: whiting of hair due to genetic issues.
Significant greying can be due to genetics, poor nutrition, autoimmune diseases, previous illness, previous chemotherapy.
Poor nutrition, for example, is thought to affect the production of melanin. Specifically, that means getting too little protein, vitamin B12, and the amino acid phenylalanine. Did anyone in your family have early greying? If no, see your MD to see if you have any other symptoms of an autoimmune disease (dry mouth, arthritis/joint aches, dry eyes, diarrhea, constipation despite “healthy” diet, rashes, etc).
What may work to darken the white hairs? Potato Skins? Have not seen a randomized controlled study, but it is less dangerous than toxic hair dyes.
Sandra Lora Cremers, MD, FACS
White hair is generally considered a sign of aging, so it’s explicable that you yearn to get rid of these. But the reason behind premature grey hair could also be genetic or medical that causes low melanin production. Fortunately, there are numerous options to cover white hair, prevent their growth and even annul the process.
Prevention is ALWAYS better than cure!
Top 10 Ways to Prevent Early Greying
1. Eat healthily.
Eat plenty of green leafy, organic vegetables, fish, lean protein, nuts (especially Almonds) & seeds (assuming no allergy) and at least 64oz of water daily. Biotin maintains the natural color of your hair: present in almonds, oats and cucumbers.
2. Eat plenty of foods rich in Vitamin A, B12, C and E.
Minerals essential for hair are zinc, folic acid, iron, and copper. Kale, Carrots, Lettuce, Peppers, and other foods are rich in these essential vitamins. If your food intake is not providing these elements, oral supplements may help.
3. Avoid Smoking and Smokers!
Smoking is toxic to all cells, especially hair and skin cells. Smokers are four times more likely to have grey hair as compared to non-smokers. Smoking makes your hair dull and brittle so they break more often. Smoking increases wrinkles (at least I think it does but have not seen a good study to prove this yet).
4. Avoid Poor quality hair products.
Stick with natural ingredients. Such hair products constitute of ammonia, chlorine, phosphates, and sulphates. They cause dry hair and weak roots which ultimately leads to hair whitening.
5. Have a Head Massage
Head massage increases blood flow which can help with stronger hair. Those head messages should be done more often. Preferably use natural oils such as coconut or almond to stop further greying of white hair.
Other Treatments: have not seen studies to prove these work yet.
1. Potato skins as in above video: you apparently need 5 treatments.
2 Onion juice
3. Coconut Oil and Lemon Mixture
4. Melancon tablet. These tablets rejuvenate the natural color of your hair and stimulate hair follicles for melanin production. They are available online and many say it reverses the entire grey and white hair problem for you.
There are various other measures as well.
- You do not have to go for an all-overcolorr unless more than 40 percent of your hair is white. For lesser greying hair there are much more options to explore. You can go for highlights if only certain strands of your hair are affected.
- Natural options and home remedies can be explored. One of the most commonly used alternatives is Henna. It naturally imparts a deep red colour and leaves your hair moisturised and shiny. Applying Henna can be a little messy. If you already use chemical hair dyes, wait till all the colour goes off completely for Henna to be effective.
- One commonly used remedy for people with grey hair is coconut oil and fenugreek. Add coconut oil to fenugreek powder and apply it to your hair for half hour, then wash it with water. This is effective for people of all ages as it boosts keratin and melanin production.
- For natural hair colour, try the popular natural hair rinses. If you have access to rosemary and sage, take half a cup of both and boil for 30 minutes. Strain the herbs, let the water cool, then pour it over your hair and let it dry naturally. This needs to be done once every week.
- In the above remedy, rosemary and sage can be replaced with Indian gooseberries and coconut or black walnut. They impart natural colour to your hair. There are much more daily easy-to-do tips for you. For instance, rub onion paste regularly to turn your hair black again.
- Eating sesame You can massage your hair and scalp with butter oil daily before the shower. Yet another inexpensive natural remedy is to wash your hair regularly with milk/curd and gramme flour mixture.
- If pre-mature greying of hair gets out of hand and nothing seems to help, go to a Trichologist. Your hair problem might be seeking the help of an expert doctor.
References:
https://lifehacks.io/turn-white-hair-into-black/