Gray hair is often called a sign of wisdom.
And deeply mistaken.
Gray and wisdom are ambiguous concepts.
You can die, sorry, a fool, or be wise from youth.
It’s the same with gray hair: someone preserves almost resinous curls until a very old age, and someone starts to pull out the first grayish-white hairs in a panic at the age of 20-15.
So why is hair turning gray and is it possible to get rid of gray hair?
Gray hair: causes
Melanin is responsible for hair color - a special pigment that stains not only curls, but also the skin. When it is produced in insufficient quantities, the structure of the hair and its color become pathological. The following happens: melanocyte cells located not only in the epidermis, but also in the hair follicles themselves, for some reason stop producing pigment. Melanin ceases to enter the hair shaft, it becomes porous and devoid of pigment. The combination of air cavities and the absence of pigment gives a grayish-white color.
Graying can be three-variant:
1. physiological, associated with the natural processes of aging;
2. premature, overtaking a person at a fairly young age;
3. congenital, when the absence of melanin is inherited.
The mechanism of occurrence of all three options is the same: insufficiency of melanocyte functions. However, the causes of this phenomenon may be different. Various hormones are involved in the synthesis of melanin, and when the function of the pituitary, thyroid, and ovaries is inhibited, this invariably affects the process of producing dark pigment.
It is believed that men begin to turn gray at 35, and women at 45. But in fact, the process can start fifteen, or even twenty years earlier.
The causes of gray hair in youth can be as follows:
• transferred viral diseases, especially against the background of infection with cytomegalovirus;
• chronic stress;
• features of genetics, heredity;
• diseases of the endocrine system: diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism (thyroid insufficiency), as well as dysfunction of sex homons;
• diet errors, expressed in the lack of essential trace elements and vitamins: calcium, copper, magnesium, selenium, zinc, sulfur, iron;
• diseases of the liver, gastrointestinal tract, as a result of which the assimilation of these trace elements and vitamins is impaired;
• deficiency of a special substance - tyrosine, often caused by low-protein diets;
• an excess of ultraviolet radiation;
• diseases of the circulatory system, anemia.
Obviously, both objective and subjective factors can become the causes of gray hair. Caution should be lovers of tanning salons and sunbathing, as well as fanatical followers of diets that limit themselves to all that is possible. Well, nerves should be monitored, however. If something causes constant stress, something needs to be eliminated. Otherwise, you will either have to tear off the gray hairs from the hair, like the fabulous Hottabych from the beard, or pester the hairdressers with a question like "what color to paint the gray hair with."
By the way, pulling out hair for the purpose of disguise is completely pointless. Melanocytes live and die directly in the hole, and not in the rod. Therefore, the regrown hair will not miraculously acquire a natural color, but will have the same loose, pigment-free structure.
How to get rid of gray hair: will medicine help us?
Is there really nothing to be done? It is possible, but only if we are dealing with subjective factors. If the causes of gray hair are lifestyle errors, you can try to correct the situation. However, in any case, you need to start with a visit to a trichologist.
The specialist will conduct tests, make tests, collect an anamnesis and, based on the data received, diagnose and prescribe treatment. Only this one is able to understand why the hair of a particular person turns gray, and advise how to get rid of gray hair with a maximum degree of probability. In any case, try to at least slow down the process.
What can be done at the household level:
start to eat fully;
take multivitamin complexes with minerals;
get rid of stressful situations (yes, right up to dismissal, divorce and maiden name! Beauty is more important, not to mention health);
undergo a full examination by visiting a gynecologist, endocrinologist, gastroenterologist and therapist.
But what about the trichologist? Well, he found out why the hair turns gray, and then what? And then treatment begins. It is not a fact that it will completely help, but modern medicine has quite advanced methods of healing and treating pigment-deprived hair. What could it be:
• injection of (subcutaneous) magnesia. Injections are prescribed by courses and only by a trichologist;
• injection mesotherapy using solutions of B vitamins and substances whose deficiency has been identified (zinc, calcium, tryptophan, magnesium, calcium, etc.);
• an oral course of vitamin-mineral complexes with the obligatory inclusion of selenium and zinc;
• physiotherapeutic procedures: treatment with a laser, electric current, Darsonval apparatus, etc. The point is to stimulate the activity of the dermis, enhance the metabolic processes occurring in it, and affect the hair follicles.
For washing hair, some kind of treatment shampoo containing the same zinc, iron or copper can be recommended. How effective the treatment will be, it is impossible to predict in advance. If it is possible to bring back a sufficient number of hair follicles to life, the result will be persistent and positive. Of course, in parallel, it is necessary to treat the revealed diseases, to restore the hormonal background.
We get rid of gray hair with folk remedies
In addition to traditional medicine, traditional medicine can come to the rescue in the difficult task of combating gray hair. The easiest way is to mask the problem with the help of popular henna. It will be natural paint that will be needed, and not a therapeutic colorless product.
Natural henna has the ability to dye hair so as to hide a small amount of gray hair, in addition, it very well treats the bulbs themselves and the stem of the regrown hair. However, this method does not give a lasting effect, in addition, it does not restore the color of the hair, but tones it slightly.
However, there are other, more effective ways to get rid of gray hair. It is necessary to treat follicles with herbs and plants.
• Burdock (rhizomes) and leaves of fresh (dried) nettles brew stronger, mixing in equal proportions. Rub the cooled broth into the skin after washing the head.
• Essential oils of flax, sesame, tea tree, jojoba or ordinary burdock oil are rubbed into the head and applied to the hair itself in the form of a mask. You can leave her for the night. An oil mask strengthens the bulbs and slows down the death of melanocytes.
• Prepare a mask of one hundred grams of ordinary cottage cheese and a tablespoon of black pepper. Cover the hair and scalp with a mixture, hold for about an hour, then rinse with shampoo. The hair will darken, become silky, and at the same time dandruff will disappear.
• A mixture of sesame and olive oil in the same proportion is another recipe for an effective mask. Returns color, restores follicles.
• Another effective mask is prepared from four tablespoons of dried, brewed and infused sage for two hours, a boat of vitamin E oil solution, and two tablespoons of glycerin. Repeat the rubbing procedure daily.
• Prepare a mask of three teaspoons of ground coffee, two of natural henna and fresh basil juice, one of yogurt and fenugreek seeds, and three of fresh mint juice. Apply to hair and skin, keep at least three hours.
• Brier (half a glass of dried fruit) brew with two liters of boiling water, insist for half an hour, then bring to a boil, boil for five minutes and leave to cool. Strain, refrigerate and refrigerate. Rub into the head every other day, drink twice a week a half cup of this broth.
• Mashed garden cherry, rub the mass into the roots an hour before washing your hair. Apply along the entire length, wrap with a film and a towel.
• Coconut oil for head massage with gray hair - a proven folk remedy. It must be applied at night, daily. Wash off in the morning.
• You can try to restore the color of curls, rinse your hair with a solution of natural apple cider vinegar and water (equal proportions). After half an hour, wash your hair in the usual way. It will take three to four months to see the result.
• A very effective remedy is burning red pepper. Six chili pods need to be poured into 500 ml of real vodka, corked and insisted for three weeks in a dark pantry. Then rub the tincture into the roots an hour before washing your hair. Red pepper stimulates the onion, increasing blood flow to the dermis. A very effective tool that gives a result after two weeks.
What else can be done? Introduce into the diet foods rich in essential minerals and substances. These are cabbage, mushrooms, beets, avocados, pumpkin seeds and ordinary seeds, baked potatoes, cereals, berries of cherry, mountain ash and blueberries, as well as sesame and almonds.
Ayurveda experts recommend To enhance the pigmentation of the hair, rub the nails together, bending your fingers and pressing them with your nails. It is not clear how this works, but for that she and Ayurveda, to be understood only by the initiates. In any case, you can try. The main thing is to rub intensively and for a long time, at least five minutes twice a day. After six months, they say, the hair color will become natural.
Gray hair: maybe just paint over?
Alternative methods are good, but for a long time. Months will pass before the desired result appears. Therefore, the question of what kind of paint to paint gray hair may seem relevant. Hand on heart, in most cases the only way to look decent (without gray hair) is to make a stain.
Another question is that painting gray hair is actually not so simple. How to get rid of gray hair with paint, salon masters certainly know. You can cope with such a task yourself. But this will happen only if the percentage of damaged hair is small - no more than 25. The hair structure also matters. If it is soft, obedient, thin, then store paint will solve the problem.
If the hair is of medium density or has a greater amount of gray hair, you can try to get rid of the problem with the help of the same mass market. You will have to hold the paint for as long as possible, so the color may become darker. To prevent this from happening, buy paint a tone lighter.
On stiff, dense hair with a lot of gray hair, household dye will not work. In this case, even the efforts of the salon master may be futile. In any case, additional procedures will be required: the so-called pre-pigmentation and mordenage. Only a professional master should conduct them.
Instead of dyeing, you can get an excellent result if you tint not too gray hair. They will become easier to comb, gain shine. Well masking the problem of highlighting or blonding. If they suit you, you won’t have to rack your brains over what paint to paint gray hair.
