Yes, you can pluck your white hair, and doing so does not cause more white hairs to grow.
Understanding Hair Growth and Plucking
A common myth suggests that plucking one white hair will lead to several more growing in its place. However, this is not accurate.
How Hair Grows
- Each hair strand grows out of a single hair follicle. This follicle is essentially a tiny pouch in your skin.
- The color of your hair is determined by melanin, a pigment produced by cells within the hair follicle.
- As you age, these pigment-producing cells can decrease or stop functioning, leading to hair that lacks pigment – which appears white or gray.
What Happens When You Pluck a Hair
When you pluck a hair, you remove the entire strand from the follicle.
- According to sources, plucking a white hair does not give you more white hair.
- Since each follicle produces only one hair at a time, pulling out a hair means only one hair can grow back in its place.
- The hair that grows back from that same follicle will likely be white again, as the follicle's ability to produce pigment hasn't changed.
Think of it this way:
| Action | Result (Myth) | Result (Fact) |
|---|---|---|
| Pluck white hair | Several new white hairs grow | One hair grows back from the same follicle |
| The regrown hair will likely still be white | ||
| Does not increase the number of white hairs overall |
While you can pluck white hairs without causing more, it's worth noting that frequent plucking can potentially irritate the follicle or, in rare cases, lead to minor skin issues. However, the core point is that it won't multiply your white hairs.
