Yelena
I am about to turn 19, so I am still very young. (not too young for white hair, I know that) but I am at a healthy weight for my height, take good care of myself, eat right, and get enough sleep. Prematurely gray/white hair does not run in my family on either side. I have been under a ton of stress lately and noticed about 8 or so white hairs growing - I plucked them out. I noticed the white hairs are MUCH thicker than my normal dark brown hair. Any ideas? Could I have a chemical imbalance?
Answer
Each hair on our heads is made up of two parts:
1-a shaft - the colored part we see growing out of our heads
2-a root - the bottom part, which keeps the hair anchored under the scalp
The root of every strand of hair is surrounded by a tube of tissue under the skin that is called the hair follicle (say: fah-lih-kul). Each hair follicle contains a certain number of pigment cells. These pigment cells continuously produce a chemical called melanin (say: meh-luh-nin) that gives the growing shaft of hair its color of brown, blonde, red, and anything in between.
Melanin is the same stuff that makes our skin's color fair or darker. It also helps determine whether a person will burn or tan in the sun. The dark or light color of someone's hair depends on how much melanin each hair contains.
As we get older, the pigment cells in our hair follicles gradually die. When there are fewer pigment cells in a hair follicle, that strand of hair will no longer contain as much melanin and will become a more transparent color - like gray, silver, or white - as it grows. As people continue to get older, fewer pigment cells will be around to produce melanin. Eventually, the hair will look completely gray.
Some people go gray at a young age - as early as when they are in high school or college - whereas others may be in their 30s or 40s before they see that first gray hair. How early we get gray hair is determined by our genes. This means that most of us will start having gray hairs around the same age that our parents or grandparents first did
http://www.homeomiracles.com/Index/hairProblems/Hair_article/hair%20diet/diet.htm
*What makes hair go gray? Can you go gray suddenly if you're sick or upset?
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2005/04/19/what_makes_hair_go_gray_can_you_go_gray_suddenly_if_youre_sick_or_upset/
Each hair on our heads is made up of two parts:
1-a shaft - the colored part we see growing out of our heads
2-a root - the bottom part, which keeps the hair anchored under the scalp
The root of every strand of hair is surrounded by a tube of tissue under the skin that is called the hair follicle (say: fah-lih-kul). Each hair follicle contains a certain number of pigment cells. These pigment cells continuously produce a chemical called melanin (say: meh-luh-nin) that gives the growing shaft of hair its color of brown, blonde, red, and anything in between.
Melanin is the same stuff that makes our skin's color fair or darker. It also helps determine whether a person will burn or tan in the sun. The dark or light color of someone's hair depends on how much melanin each hair contains.
As we get older, the pigment cells in our hair follicles gradually die. When there are fewer pigment cells in a hair follicle, that strand of hair will no longer contain as much melanin and will become a more transparent color - like gray, silver, or white - as it grows. As people continue to get older, fewer pigment cells will be around to produce melanin. Eventually, the hair will look completely gray.
Some people go gray at a young age - as early as when they are in high school or college - whereas others may be in their 30s or 40s before they see that first gray hair. How early we get gray hair is determined by our genes. This means that most of us will start having gray hairs around the same age that our parents or grandparents first did
http://www.homeomiracles.com/Index/hairProblems/Hair_article/hair%20diet/diet.htm
*What makes hair go gray? Can you go gray suddenly if you're sick or upset?
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2005/04/19/what_makes_hair_go_gray_can_you_go_gray_suddenly_if_youre_sick_or_upset/
Why do people want me to cut my hair off?
Hi everyone =) I´m 18 years old and i have a question about my hair. I know it´s long now, too long according some people. I have had long hair since i was like 3 or something and my mother decided she wanted to grew my hair out. When i was 13 i had never had "short" hair so i cut it off to the shoulder blades which was kinda short to me but i liked it, but then i just let it grow back out again and now It´s almost tailbone/hip length,the color is red/brown and it´s quite thick.
I take good care of it and i don´t think it´s hard at all! The thing is that people around me are telling me to cut it off a bit. Some say to the shoulders which i could never do cause my hair has become such a big part of me (in a good way, i´m not hiding behind it) and to cut it off would make me feel incomplete in a way... i know it sounds a bit confusing-.-. People say things like "it looks alright now but you would look so much better/cuter with shorter hair, in the meantime THEY say that they want to grow their hair out so....i don´t understand?? why should I cut my hair shorter when THEY want to grow their hair out? Don´t get me wrong though, i think shoulder length looks very good and i have wondered how i would look if i cut my hair to shoulder length. But i would never do it, not in this decade anyway until i get older. My goal is to grow my hair just below the bum and that i know people do not like, especially my mother!(hehe) but i´m thinking if i want to do it the best time is while i´m young..or? Not everyone around me are telling me to cut my hair off but many do, but why should i look like everyone else? That´s not fun, i would never tell anyone to cut their hair off if that´s the way they want it to be? I´m just tired of "friends" telling me how they want me to look like.
Answer
A lot of women chop off their long hair between 18 and 21 or so because they feel it's a good time to experiment with short hair (and they can still grow it someone long again in their 20s). But like you say, it's also a good time to experiment with super long hair. Also, it's different for someone with hair your length. Someone with shoulderblade length hair can chop to a short pixie and be back to similarly long hair after 3 years. Someone with hair your length likely will never grow it past the waist again if they cut short.
Let me guess, most of the people telling you to cut are women, right? Guys won't say such things, and many guys are absolutely crazy about very long hair if it is healthy and looks good, particularly since it is so rare. Some or many of the women are jealous and secretly want to level the playing field to reduce attention you get from guys relative to them. Some of the women just like change, so they want to see you in short hair at the same time they want to change themselves to longer. These are the same women who get radical hairstyle changes every 1-2 years along with the whims of fashion and never would have the patience to grow very long hair. Also, some will see super long hair like yours as a "project" to work on changing. And some see short hair as more mature and sophisticated than long hair.
That said, you don't want to get too attached to your hair. It's fine to enjoy it, but if you get too far into believing it is a big part of you, you might be unwilling to cut it at some point in the future where it really might look better shorter. Some older women (late 30s, 40s, +) with very long hair look good, but a lot just have thin stringy hair that should have been cut 15 years ago but they are too attached to to cut.
However, at 18, you've got plenty of time to enjoy your long hair. A lot of women wait until they get married or settle down and don't want or need to attract attention from guys to get the big chop. Maintaining your very long hair until your wedding can really pay off with a fabulously unique and amazing look, and then the honeymoon after is a perfect transition point in life to go for a big change and go short for that more mature and sophisticated look. But for now, if you enjoy the long hair and it's healthy and well maintained, take advantage of it. You'll really stand out in the crowd of women with generic shoulder-length hair.
Good luck.
A lot of women chop off their long hair between 18 and 21 or so because they feel it's a good time to experiment with short hair (and they can still grow it someone long again in their 20s). But like you say, it's also a good time to experiment with super long hair. Also, it's different for someone with hair your length. Someone with shoulderblade length hair can chop to a short pixie and be back to similarly long hair after 3 years. Someone with hair your length likely will never grow it past the waist again if they cut short.
Let me guess, most of the people telling you to cut are women, right? Guys won't say such things, and many guys are absolutely crazy about very long hair if it is healthy and looks good, particularly since it is so rare. Some or many of the women are jealous and secretly want to level the playing field to reduce attention you get from guys relative to them. Some of the women just like change, so they want to see you in short hair at the same time they want to change themselves to longer. These are the same women who get radical hairstyle changes every 1-2 years along with the whims of fashion and never would have the patience to grow very long hair. Also, some will see super long hair like yours as a "project" to work on changing. And some see short hair as more mature and sophisticated than long hair.
That said, you don't want to get too attached to your hair. It's fine to enjoy it, but if you get too far into believing it is a big part of you, you might be unwilling to cut it at some point in the future where it really might look better shorter. Some older women (late 30s, 40s, +) with very long hair look good, but a lot just have thin stringy hair that should have been cut 15 years ago but they are too attached to to cut.
However, at 18, you've got plenty of time to enjoy your long hair. A lot of women wait until they get married or settle down and don't want or need to attract attention from guys to get the big chop. Maintaining your very long hair until your wedding can really pay off with a fabulously unique and amazing look, and then the honeymoon after is a perfect transition point in life to go for a big change and go short for that more mature and sophisticated look. But for now, if you enjoy the long hair and it's healthy and well maintained, take advantage of it. You'll really stand out in the crowd of women with generic shoulder-length hair.
Good luck.
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