If you notice a stray grey hair on your head, you might be inclined to pluck it out, despite the common advice against it. Many experts caution against plucking or pulling out grey hairs for various reasons, such as potentially damaging the hair follicle and hindering new hair growth.
Others claim that removing one grey hair may lead to multiple grey hairs growing back in its place. However, one dermatologist disputes this notion, calling it an old wives’ tale.
Dr Aamna Adel, a specialist in skin and hair, recently shared her expertise on TikTok, stating that if “your mum told you that plucking out one grey hair is going to mean that 10 grow back in return, she was wrong”.
Dr Adel set the record straight, saying: “No, plucking out grey hairs is not going to mean you grow a million back in return”. She continued to discuss a fact she wishes more people knew: “Every hair has its own hair follicle”, which operates independently.
“When your hair starts turning grey it’s because the pigment, which is called melanin, in your hair follicle, basically stops,” Dr Adel explained. “So if you pluck out that hair, the hair that regrows exactly, and only exactly, in the same place as that hair follicle, is going to be grey.”
According to Dr Adel, this action won’t “influence or impact” any other hair follicles on your scalp.
However, some experts caution that plucking grey hairs can potentially damage the hair follicle of the plucked hair, potentially resulting in thinner hair or even bald patches.
Dr Shaskanct Kraleti, M.D., a UAMS family and preventive medicine physician, acknowledges that plucking grey hair will not cause multiple hairs to grow in the same spot. Nevertheless, he advises against plucking, stating: “If there is a grey hair you must get rid of, very carefully cut it off. Plucking can traumatise the hair follicle, and repeated trauma to any follicle can cause infection, scar formation or possibly lead to bald patches.”