Gray Hair Can Regain Its Color

Researchers find strong evidence that relieving stress can recolor graying hair

Researchers were able to prove that once a hair turns grey, it doesn't always stay that way.namtipStudio/Shutterstock

There’s now definitive proof that hair graying is reversible in humans. What’s more, stressful life events play a primary role in triggering your hair to turn gray, while relaxation—such as a two-week vacation—may help to give your roots back their original color.

Gray hair is one of the earliest and most obvious signs of aging. By the time most people reach their 30s, hair begins to go gray, becoming progressively grayer with time. It’s generally assumed that once a hair goes gray, there’s no going back, but a team from Columbia University in New York and colleagues suggest this might not be the case.

Once Gray, Some Hairs Regain Their Color

The researchers found that individual gray hairs may, in fact, regain their color, and stressful events seem to be intricately tied to this process. Also intriguing, by measuring small changes in hair color patterns, it may be possible to track life events across a lifespan, using the pigmentation patterns like tree rings to mark the dates of stressful events, along with periods of significant relaxation.^[i]