Can Stress Turn Hair Gray? And Can It Turn Back?
Quantitative mapping of human hair greying and reversal in relation to life stress
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Yes, stress might make hair go gray, and when stress goes down, hair can sometimes turn dark again — even after going gray!
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
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Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
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Evidence Score
A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Yes, stress might make hair go gray, and when stress goes down, hair can sometimes turn dark again — even after going gray!
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 528 / 44
Evidence Score
A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
Publication
Authors
Rosenberg AM, Rausser S, Ren J, Mosharov EV, Sturm G, Ogden RT, Patel P, Kumar Soni R, Lacefield C, Tobin DJ, Paus R, Picard M
Related Content
Claims (7)
Some people's gray hairs can naturally turn back to their original color, and this can happen to anyone — no matter their age, gender, or where the hair is on the body.
When your hair turns grey, the cells in the hair might be changing how they use energy and protect themselves, turning up certain proteins that help with these jobs.
When people go through stressful times, their hair might start to grey — and when stress goes down, some might actually see their hair regain color. This has been noticed to happen around the same time as changes in stress levels.
When gray hair starts to regain color, it happens just as fast or a bit faster than when it turned gray in the first place — sometimes in just days or weeks.
Sometimes, multiple hairs on the same person's head go grey or even regain color at the same time — this might mean the body's internal systems are controlling hair color changes together.