Gray hair is another sign of the passage of time, because aging is not only noticeable in the skin but also in the hair. Those first gray hairs are not usually well received, and many times we have seen how someone, upon seeing a gray hair, decides to pull it out. And that is exactly where one of the most widespread hair myths appears: the belief that, if you pluck out one gray hair, you will get many more.
This belief is very widespread, but the thing is, knowing if this really happens like this or is it just another popular phrase. “If you pluck out one gray hair you will get seven”, this phrase that is repeated endlessly, is far from being true according to experts.
The hairdresser Antonio Abreu clarified on his social networks that pulling out a gray hair is a “mistake, mistake, mistake… Not because they multiply because that is a lie. But because you will be left with less hair,” says the expert.
What Abreu clarifies is that gray hair appears due to a lack of pigmentation and even if you pluck it out, it will not multiply, but neither will you get pigmented hair because the follicle has already lost the pigment.
Therefore, the stylist does not advise pulling that hair, the only thing that will happen is that the hair will eventually stop growing and the area will be less dense. “If you pull out a gray hair, you'll be left with less hair,” Antonio insists. “If you pull out a gray hair, you'll be left with less hair,” Antonio insists. And precisely that is what is least interesting over the years, when hair tends to lose density naturally.
The Gala Unique aesthetic medicine clinic has the same opinion: “Many believe that you get three more but this is false. Each hair comes from an independent follicle, so removing one cannot cause them to multiply,” they explain.
“What can happen is that you irritate the skin or damage the follicle and then that hair will no longer grow. So, the ideal is not to pull them out and if they bother you so much, it is best to cut them,” advises the expert.
What can happen, as explained by hairdresser Javi Mateo to the publication La Vanguardia, is that there is a feeling of greater abundance due to the texture of the gray hair: “It tends to be more rigid and firm, but not multiplied. What happens is that, as it grows straighter and is shorter than the rest, it can be more noticeable,” says Mateo.
But he insists, like the rest of the experts, that a gray hair “when you pull it out, another hair grows back, but from the same bulb.” Therefore, a new follicle is not generated, so it cannot multiply.
What you can do with the first gray hair
Regarding how to treat the first gray hair, Abreu indicates that there is no reason to cover it completely or give up your natural color. “When gray hair still represents less than 40% of the hair, there are very natural techniques to integrate it and achieve a beautiful and elegant result, without looking like your hair is completely dyed,” says the hairdresser.
For those hair that has gray hair but does not yet cover all the hair, “very simple color work is done, the gray hair can be covered without sacrificing 60% of natural hair hair,” says the stylist. What Antonio recommends is freehand work that looks very beautiful and natural “as if your first gray hair was starting to appear, but the rest are covered with natural coloring, mud or reflections that look very pretty,” he says.
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