Most people are under more stress than they have ever been before due to the coronavirus pandemic and now the extremely turbulent state of the US. Stress comes out in different forms and for some, it can even cause your hair to prematurely grey. Grey hair can be absolutely beautiful and even help you in your career but if you weren’t quite ready for it yet, this news may please (and also amaze you.)
According to a research group at Columbia University if the grey hair was brought on by a stressful event it can go back to its original hair color if that stress is removed from the person’s life. After collecting 400 hair samples from 14 subjects they found that some of the greys were on the tips rather than the roots. They were then able to determine when the person’s hair had turned grey and if that person had experienced a recent stressful event or not. One of the subjects who had turned grey because of stress reverted back to their natural hair color after going on a vacation.
This supports the research that grey hair can absolutely be caused by stress but in some cases, not all, it can return to its original color of that stress is removed. However the stress needs to be eliminated fairly quickly after the person goes grey, the researchers noted.
The type of stress in this study sounds more like a one-time event with a beginning and an end unlike what most of the world is going through now.
This article originally appeared on The Ladders.
