As of this past year, I have been noticing silvery hairs in my brush. Since I am only 27 years old, I denied that this was happening, and decided that it was a blonder version of my already sandy blonde hair.

Well, I was with my boyfriend this past 4th of July watching the fireworks in the mountains, and he noticed what he called "translucent" hairs on the top of my head. I freaked when he mentioned this to me, as I had also been noticing what I thought might be, well, ermm, silver hairs. I looked closely at one of them, put it against my black pants, and saw that it was indeed a silver hair (nearly white!). He teased me about it, and I teased him back, as he has a history of premature graying in his family, too. I decided that I would check his mane for gray hairs sporadically, just as he hade done for me. We both laughed :D .

I learned that it is not only my dad (who was snow white when I was little--in his mid 30's, but he had started to go silver in his early 20's. Incidentally, my brother, who is 10 years older than me, is pretty much silver now, too), but also my mom who has a relative--like her sister--or two who went gray very early (like in their 20's). So, I may be looking for hair dyes for purely gray-covering purposes soon...:p

A burning question: What actually causes the hair strand to lose its color? Is there a way to reverse this effect? I take a multivitamin, and several other supplements on a daily basis. Also, I try to eat fairly healthy foods, though I do drink a little too much caffeine for my own good :p . Any suggestions? I have heard good things about B vitamins and Zinc, as well as PABA (someone mentioned this on another post that I tried to add to, but now I can't find).

P.S. Could it also be stress-related? I have been going through different things recently that may have increased my stress level somewhat.

I apologize for bumping an old thread...

I started noticing a gray hair or two when I was about 12, but they didn't really become visible until a few years later. I found that they aren't visible if I part my hair more to the right side than the middle or the left. My hair is dark brown, so it is very obvious. I think it's hereditary--my mother's hair had turned mostly gray before she turned 45.

I really think it's heredity and not related to much else. I have a few myself. I have dark brown hair and I am 36 years old, too young for grays in my book!! ;) My dad went all gray over the last 10 years or so and my mom is blonde but I can definitely see gray in her hair as well.

Thanks for the responses :) . It's good to know that I have allies.

I also happen to believe that it's hereditary...it's just frustrating. Last weekend, I dyed my hair close to it's natural shade (dark blonde/light brown), so it looks a little better. Still, I am going to try taking some more B vitamins to see whether this makes a difference. Now that I am working again, I can afford to invest in my health once more. Plus, I have health coverage through my employer--woo hoo! Anywho...

I wish you guys success with your fight against the silvery hairs. Let me know if you find anything else that helps to reduce them.

Have a great weekend!

~Colleen

At this point I think my brother has about 25% gray hair, and he is only 26. His gray started to come in a few years ago and is slowly but surely taking over his head. It's pretty evenly distributed, so it's not like gray patches.. more like salt and pepper. I'm a little younger and don't seem to have as many, but I've noticed a few myself. I reacted instinctively by simply pulling out the gray hairs, but I then realized that isn't a very good solution as I would rather be gray than bald. :p