Does pulling out a grey hair make more grow?

Question

I remember my mother telling me not to let other people yank any gray hairs or else more will come in its place. It has always stuck to me but wondering if it's true.

Answer 1

Hair turns grey because of the changing combination of melanins (pigments) in your body as you age. There are basically 2 different pigments, brown and black. As we age, we actually slow down the production of brown pigment before the black starts to fade.

Without pigment, all hair is actually clear (it appears white). It becomes grey when the brown is all gone and there is just a little bit of black pigment left. Then when that fades, it becomes white.

So, why do people say that pulling out one grey hair makes two grow in its place?

Because they arent taking time into consideration. Melanin production decreases with age, and hair keeps on growing. So of course you will accumulate more grey hair.

Your body produces a lot of melanin. That's what keeps most people from being albino. And though I highly doubt that pulling one hair can cause melanin levels to change, or any kind of bodily distress for that matter; I suppose nothing is impossible.