Instant grey hair

[steenkh]

One of my colleagues told me that a tuft of hair had gone grey after a biopsy. She had a birthmark on her head, and her hairdresser had noticed that the mark had changed colour and was growing, and a bi0opsy of the birthmark was taken. The next day, the hair on the spot where the biopsy was taken had become grey (I would call it "very light", because it was not really grey in my opinion).

What aroused my interest was the fact that the hair was not just growing out as grey, but the entire length of had apparently changed colour, which should be impossible.

Have anybody an explanation?

I have one tentative explanation, but in order not to bias anyone, I will keep it myself a little longer.

(And I would like to congratulate myself for writing post 2000! Proof that I use way too much time on the forum. But I thoroughly enjoy it!)

 

[Modified]

One of my colleagues told me that a tuft of hair had gone grey after a biopsy. She had a birthmark on her head, and her hairdresser had noticed that the mark had changed colour and was growing, and a bi0opsy of the birthmark was taken. The next day, the hair on the spot where the biopsy was taken had become grey (I would call it "very light", because it was not really grey in my opinion).

What aroused my interest was the fact that the hair was not just growing out as grey, but the entire length of had apparently changed colour, which should be impossible.

Have anybody an explanation?

I have one tentative explanation, but in order not to bias anyone, I will keep it myself a little longer.

Whatever they put on there to sterilize the area for the biopsy bleached the hair.

 

[kerikiwi]

Definitely bleached.
The hair shaft will not suddenly change colour without a bleaching agent.
Any other claim is a case of lying or delusion.

 

[Lisa Simpson]

Whatever they put on there to sterilize the area for the biopsy bleached the hair.

Possibly something related to peroxide.

 

[LibraryLady]

Or if the lock of hair was grey underneath and it was cut. My hair is grey underneath and as I get haircuts, it gets greyer.

 

[Modified]

I have heard that if you have a mix of gray / non-gray hair, all the non-gray hair can fall out over a short period of time, making it appear that the hair "turned gray" quickly. I suspect that may be true, because my gray hair is much thicker and wavier than the non-gray, so there are probably differences in the roots. That wouldn't apply in this case though.

 

[XBoxWarrior]

So, can we get a consensus?

Is it "Grey" or "Gray"?

I like to think that my red locks are just turning more "White", and thusly much more "enlightened"...or so I tell my self, in the dark hours.

 

[shadron]

So, can we get a consensus?

Is it "Grey" or "Gray"?

A foolish consistency is a hobnail. I think.

 

[JoeEllison]

Or... that patch was already a lighter color, and no one noticed until the biopsy? "Bleached" was already taken.

 

[Wolfman]

The doctors are actually in league with the alien/NWO hordes, and used the opportunity to surgically implant a mind control device; the radiation from the device caused the hair to turn gray.

 

[steenkh]

Or... that patch was already a lighter color, and no one noticed until the biopsy? "Bleached" was already taken.

Exactly my theory. The patch of hair that grew on the birthmark could have had another colour for some time. Although the hair was lighter than the rest, it looked like those grey strains that people go to their hairdresser to get done.

Bleaching is unlikely, because the patch was too small, and it would be unlikely that the bleaching agent had not affected more hair.

Can it be confirmed that hair on birthmarks can change colour before the rest of the hair does?

 

[JoeEllison]

Exactly my theory. The patch of hair that grew on the birthmark could have had another colour for some time. Although the hair was lighter than the rest, it looked like those grey strains that people go to their hairdresser to get done.

Bleaching is unlikely, because the patch was too small, and it would be unlikely that the bleaching agent had not affected more hair.

Can it be confirmed that hair on birthmarks can change colour before the rest of the hair does?

Yes... anecdotally. Which, I suppose means not at all.

Just for the sake of discussion, I knew someone in school with a birthmark on his scalp, and the hair growing from that spot was a lighter color than the rest of his hair.

 

[Mojo]

I have heard that if you have a mix of gray / non-gray hair, all the non-gray hair can fall out over a short period of time, making it appear that the hair "turned gray" quickly. I suspect that may be true, because my gray hair is much thicker and wavier than the non-gray, so there are probably differences in the roots. That wouldn't apply in this case though.

Someone I know has alopecia in patches on his scalp, but only the dark hairs fell out with the result that he appears to have patches of white hair (if you look closely the white patches are thinner than the rest of his hair, but it's not something that's particularly noticeable). The rest of his hair is dark enough for the white to be masked, so doesn't look particularly grey.

 

[casebro]

There is certainly lore of hair turning gray after a scare.

My hair rapidly turned salt & pepper after a scare involving some power equipment. Not totally gray, not overnight, but that was the definitive turning point towards gray. I was about 32 at the time.

I have very fine hair- blonds run in the family, but mine was brown. Well, it was straight and blond as a child, went curly and brown at puberty, later turned gray. But, when wet, it looks to be a LOT browner. I wonder if hair color isn't like bird feathers, where they only look colorful? Actually the colors are caused by iridescence- surface texture at nano-scale? Could some kind of stress at the roots cause the grayness? Oil or acid that creeps up the hair shaft to change the nanos? If bleach can change the color, why couldn't some chemical change in the follicle do the same?

 

[steenkh]

There is certainly lore of hair turning gray after a scare.

I believe this is an established fact. It just does not happen overnight, but new hair grows out grey.

Actually the colors are caused by iridescence- surface texture at nano-scale? Could some kind of stress at the roots cause the grayness? Oil or acid that creeps up the hair shaft to change the nanos?

That is not what I have heard. Hair colour is the result of some dyes, mainly melanin. Nano-scale colours would cause hair to shimmer in different colours like some butterflies that do not use dyes for their colours.

 

[Professor Yaffle]

In a related query, I was always led to believe that once a particular hair had turned white, it will always be white, but I have discovered this is not always true, as I have some hairs that are white, but recent grown has been pigmented. Anyone know anything about this?

 

[bethanythemartian]

In a related query, I was always led to believe that once a particular hair had turned white, it will always be white, but I have discovered this is not always true, as I have some hairs that are white, but recent grown has been pigmented. Anyone know anything about this?

I *think* that once a gray hair falls out, either one can grow to replace it. My boyfriend, who's 24, has been graying since he was 16. Some years it's not as bad as others, although he got a lot of gray in when he shaved his head.

What also might be happening is patches that look gray suddenly look less gray because your natural color of hair was growing, and recently got long enough to change the way the color appeared.

I was actually pretty bummed- I got hit in the back of the head by a firework two years ago, and I kept hoping that patch would grow in white. No such luck.

 

[Complexity]

So, can we get a consensus?

Is it "Grey" or "Gray"?

I like to think that my red locks are just turning more "White", and thusly much more "enlightened"...or so I tell my self, in the dark hours.

No concensus is possible on this question.

I use both words but not interchangably - they mean different things to me.

 

[Mojo]

There is certainly lore of hair turning gray after a scare.

I believe this is an established fact. It just does not happen overnight, but new hair grows out grey.

I think it's possible that reports of people going grey "overnight" after a shock may be explained by the case of alopecia I've referred to above. Alopecia can be triggered by stress, and if it were to make the darker hairs fall out, as it seems to have done in the case of my acquaintance, this could lead to someone appearing to go grey "overnight".

 

[Professor Yaffle]

I *think* that once a gray hair falls out, either one can grow to replace it. My boyfriend, who's 24, has been graying since he was 16. Some years it's not as bad as others, although he got a lot of gray in when he shaved his head.

What also might be happening is patches that look gray suddenly look less gray because your natural color of hair was growing, and recently got long enough to change the way the color appeared.

I was actually pretty bummed- I got hit in the back of the head by a firework two years ago, and I kept hoping that patch would grow in white. No such luck.

I am actually talking about a single hair. I have had several that had turned white, but then as they kept growing I noticed that they were brown at the root. Thinking about it, I noticed it when I was pregnant, and you do get more pigmentation when pregnant, so maybe that's the explanation?

Edit: (OT) I was just wondering about the grey/gray difference. It seems to be a mainly UK/US difference, but I have noticed in the UK there is a geographical difference in the spelling when it is used as a surname. In the NE of England we mainly spell it Grey (it is my maiden name) and in Scotland it is mainly Gray - even though they still spell the colour as grey.

http://www.nationaltrustnames.org.uk/Map.aspx?name=GREY&year=1998&altyear=1881&country=GB&type=name

http://www.nationaltrustnames.org.uk/Map.aspx?name=GRAY&year=1998&altyear=1881&country=GB&type=name