People start going gray at different ages and different levels. This process can be gradual, or it can be quite abrupt. Hair color changes with age; this is a natural and common occurrence, but turning of hair in gray at a young age (24 years) requires attention.
Causes can range from genetic predisposition to a lack of certain vitamins and minerals.
Certain lifestyles can also accelerate the aging process.
Before we talk about psychosomatics, let’s try to figure out the main causes of graying.
Why gray hair appears
Hair graying is a genetically programmed physiological aging process. It mostly begins in people after 35-40 years of age in a small amount and progresses by the age of 50.
Some people may have gray hair earlier (after about age 25) due to a genetic predisposition. If a father or grandfather had gray hair at a young age, it is very likely to appear in children, regardless of their gender. This process cannot be predicted and cannot be prevented.
External factors such as stress, ultraviolet radiation exposure, malnutrition (especially lack of B vitamins) and autoimmune diseases such as thyroid disease can also stimulate the graying process in people with a genetic predisposition.
How stress and nutrition affect gray hair
– Stress stimulates the formation of free radicals in the skin (oxygen-containing molecules with one missing electron – note “papers”), which can damage skin cells – melanocytes. As a consequence, the cells’ ability to produce melanin decreases. As a result, graying may begin at an earlier age.
A lack of B vitamins affects the biochemical processes of melanin synthesis, which leads to a decrease in its production by melanocytes and premature graying. However, in this case the appearance of new gray hair can be stopped by restoring the vitamin balance in the body.
There is a notion that poor ecology can influence early graying of hair, but this is not entirely true. Environmental factors can damage the structure of the hair, but their influence on the graying process is not proven.
In St. Petersburg, ultraviolet radiation has almost no effect on the appearance of gray hair – it is in short supply here. But in other cases, ultraviolet light can cause the formation of damaging agents (reactive oxygen species) and damage skin cells-melanocytes. This is the case in southern regions, for example.
What is considered normal for gray hair?
There is no specific age-standard for the onset of graying that can be applied to all races and ethnicities. In addition to genetic mechanisms of aging, this process is influenced by living conditions, stress, certain diseases, etc. Sporadic hair with altered pigmentation may be found after the age of 30, most often on the temples and the front of the head. Almost complete gray hair is observed by the age of 55-60.
Brunettes and brunettes are at risk of earlier graying.
What is the difference between gray hair and non-gray hair?
– One of the most common misconceptions about gray hair is that you can go gray overnight because of severe stress. In reality, this is unrealistic, because graying is the gradual process of melanin ceasing to be produced by melanocytes and the long-term accumulation of air bubbles in the hair.
It is worth understanding that a percentage of hair is only 1% of the pigment that determines the shade of hair. All people have both eumelanin (dark pigment) and pheomelanin (so-called red melanin). Only their ratio defines hair color in every person: 90% of people have eumelanin (dark hair color), and 1.8% have pheomelanin (red and light hair color), the rest are their combinations. In the process of graying hair becomes transparent, but in a certain light you can see a yellowish shade – it is an optical illusion.
Gray hair accumulates air bubbles, its medullary layer begins to dominate the cortical layer, as a result of which the hair loses strength and elasticity and becomes more prone to twisting. The cuticle scales become more tightly attached to one another, resulting in a less friable hair surface.
The cuticle is more difficult to work with after greying, for example for colouring. Hair stylists use special formulas and techniques to colour such hair in order to prepare it for absorbing the colouring agent. But if you compare grey hair to normal hair, grey hair does not require additional bleaching during dyeing – first, it is less damaged, and second, due to the absence of pigment in the hair, the color lays on it, as on a white sheet of paper.
Why men and women hair turn gray differently in age
– The onset of graying is different for men and women, with different areas being the most affected. With men, the temples and beard area are affected first, and the graying is earlier and more extensive than with women.
For women, however, the graying begins on the parietal and occipital areas, and in the hair growth area. Gray hair does not appear as a continuous layer, but as a single unit, and their number increases later.
Sometimes in men and in some androgynous women graying as a process of aging occurs together with androgenic alopecia, that is, with hair loss of the male type.
Is it possible to fight against graying
– It is believed that the age-related appearance of gray hair is a physiological condition, and early – pathological. But it is impossible to say that gray hair is less healthy than normal hair. It’s just that hair is partially altered. Gray hair is an aesthetic defect, and this is where each person’s attitude is important.
The main method of dealing with gray hair nowadays remains dyeing. Permanent dye will damage the structure of the hair itself, while non-persistent dyes and tinting shampoos are not as damaging, but the desired color or shade may not turn out.
It is necessary to choose this or that dye individually, depending on the sex and age of the person, the quality and density of hair, the number of gray hairs and the wishes of the person.
The greatest cosmetic effect from the dyeing of gray hair is obtained when using permanent colors. Dyeing is carried out completely on the entire length of the hair, and then as it grows back dye the roots once every 1.5-2 months. If there are few gray hairs, you can use non-stable dyes or tinting shampoos, but you will have to use them more often.
Single gray hairs can be carefully cut off with scissors to the root. Ripping out gray hair, in addition to the pain, can lead to damage to the hair follicle, and the hair in this place will stop growing at all.
Is the process reversible: Treatment
Unfortunately, hairs that have already turned gray will never regain their natural color. This is because the graying process is associated with the death of melanocytes, and these cells cannot be repaired. They cannot develop again in the hair follicle. But this does not mean that it is necessary to accept the situation and not make attempts to treat hair, because it is possible to significantly slow down the destruction of pigment-producing cells in the hair follicles that have not yet lost their shade. In order to “freeze” gray hair, avoiding its further development, it is necessary to adhere to the following rules.
- Use a special shampoo that prevents the intensive development of gray hair.
- Take complex vitamins. Make sure you get enough vitamin B in your diet.
- Refuse to use curling irons, curling irons and curling irons.
- Avoid prolonged exposure to direct sunlight.
- Avoid stressful conditions. If there is such a need, it would not be out of place to resort to taking sedatives.
- In addition to general advice, you can also use specific methods to slow down the development of gray hair.
Brushing your hair with a stiff brush improves circulation and cell turnover, which is a good way to prevent greying
Massage
Improves circulation in the scalp and cell turnover in the hair follicles, thus activating the cells that produce pigment. The massage should be done every other day for 30 minutes. Such a service is provided in salons, but to do it at home is also very easy. You can use a variety of massage techniques. In the process of massage with intense motions it is necessary to rub into the scalp special agents to slow the spread of gray. They can be purchased at the drugstore. Also good for this purpose is castor or burdock oil. It is necessary to carry out at least 10 – 15 sessions of massage, after which a two-week break is recommended.
But a light, short-term massage does not need a break. On the contrary, it is useful as a daily procedure. To activate blood circulation, it is enough to use a stiff massage brush and comb your hair for at least 5 minutes.
Mask of oils
This method refers to folk remedies. It is necessary to mix in equal proportions of burdock and castor oil. Warm it slightly in a water bath. This mixture should be rubbed into the roots of the hair for 10 minutes, then leave it on the hair for about 1 hour, wrapping your head with cellophane and a towel. Rinse with hot water and shampoo. Such a mask is recommended to do two times a week. After 10 treatments be sure to take a break for at least a month, otherwise the hair can get too greasy.
Read also: Eggplant color – what is it, who it suits and what does it go with?
Mesotherapy
This method already refers to the “heavy artillery”. For its application, it is necessary to resort to the services of a trichologist, who should carry out this procedure. He will choose the necessary preparations and determine the required number of sessions. The composition of the agents injected under the skin of the scalp is determined individually, but in any case there will be an additional large number of vitamins and beneficial substances for the hair. Magnesia solution or nicotinic acid is often used as the main drug for the treatment of gray hair.
For the selection of an individual gray hair treatment program, it will not be superfluous to contact a specialist trichologist
Darsonvalization
This procedure has a beneficial effect on the hair roots, improves microcirculation in the scalp, promotes cell regeneration and tissue nutrition. Including the melanocytes are better supplied with blood and nutrients. For darsonvalization it is not even necessary to visit the salon. There are inexpensive (from 3500 rubles) devices for home use with a set of nozzles, including, and with the nozzle-counter, designed specifically for action on the scalp. Attached and instruction with an indication of the required number of sessions and their recommended duration.
Plasmolifting
A complex procedure during which blood is drawn from a vein, extracted from the plasma and then injected into the scalp. The result should start the process of cellular regeneration. The plasma is supplemented with beneficial substances as needed.
How to take care of gray hair at a young age
– There are no special treatments for gray hair. But also with gray hair, you can undergo all the same enhancing procedures that exist for normal hair. Physiotherapy, mesotherapy with the introduction of additional vitamins and macronutrients, and plasma therapy are done to improve blood circulation and hair nutrition, which promotes good growth and melanin production.
If you have gray hair, the graying process has begun to actively progress or along with this began to fall out of the hair, you need to contact a doctor-trichologist who will help identify the causes by appointing examinations: to clarify the state of the thyroid gland, to learn whether there is a lack of nutrition, check the composition of trace elements hair. In some cases, this can help put the process on hold.
How is the public perception of gray hair changing?
– There has been a recent trend toward naturalness in the field of cosmetology and aesthetics: both women and men want to emphasize their natural individuality. As a result, there is a more tolerant attitude towards gray hair than in, say, the 20th century, when gray hair was often painted over.
Nowadays, men often do not cover their gray hair at all, and some women consciously choose to wear gray hair. (For example, in 2015, an Instagram flash mob #grannyhair was launched in which girls intentionally dyed their hair silver – Paper’s note).
A large number of gray coloring products continue to appear on the market-it’s a whole industry for cosmetology companies. They improve their products: they introduce conditioners, restore masks after dyeing, add nutrients to the colors for a more gentle dyeing process.
A symbol of alternative lifestyle
Not surprisingly, some of the most unusual girls on Instagram, namely fashion designer Mimi Wade, model Moon Ga Yen, artist Princess Gollum and singer Billie Eilish became the first fashionistas to decide to bring back the “Mullen stripes” trend.
A couple of months ago, London’s most prominent stylists unanimously concluded that today the request for a “witch” strand is more popular than ever in beauty salons, with clients most often citing Mimi Wade as their main fashion reference point. Each woman knows for herself whether she wants to be a witch, a villain, a rocker or a feminist, or even all at once, but in any case it is not just a fashion, but a recognition of her inner strength and embracing all forms of femininity.
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