Health Facts and Fiction

Pluck One Gray Hair and Two Will Grow Back in Its Place

How true is it? Not a hair. The pigment formation in one follicle has no influence over the pigment formation in another. As you age, the pigment cells in your hair follicles either die off or lose the ability to make and transfer color to the hair shafts. The timing of this process, which results in gray or white hairs, is believed to be genetic.

Why it gets repeated: Because over time, people inevitably get more grays, and they may blame the spreading of the silver on their plucking habit.

Bottom line: Yanking out gray hairs will not cause more of them to grow. And an easier way to get rid of them is to head to a salon or the hair-coloring aisle of the drugstore.