This question gets often asked when a person with greying/ grey hair experiences hair loss due to androgenetic alopecia, the condition commonly called Male or Female Pattern Hair Loss. One misconception about gray hair is that it is no longer healthy and hence may not be suitable for a hair transplant.
The answer is, “Of course, gray hair can be transplanted just like hair of any other color.” On the contrary, gray hair transplants tends to be more successful because gray hair is healthier, as explained below. In the process of hair transplantation, the only important difference between colored hair and grey/ white hair is the color of the hair.
In comparison to colored hair, grey hair often has a coarser appearance and a greater thickness. This indicates that people with grey hair are able to acquire satisfactory outcomes from the hair transplant process.
Why does hair turn grey?
Hair pigmentation occurs due to the presence of melanin of 2 different types, “eumelanin” and “pheomelanin”. More eumelanin leads to darker hair while less eumelanin makes hair lighter. Further, ageing causes the pigment cells of our follicles to die, and with time, the hair become whites, silver or gray. In other cases, deficiency of vitamins (including B12, C and D), poor dietary lifestyles, consumption of alcohol and tobacco, hormonal disorders, hair chemicals, medicinal reactions, stress and even air pollution could be causes behind premature greying of hair.
The phenomenon of greying happens because of a biological clock dictated by genetic control which determines when production of melanin should stop. It commonly begins when a person hits 40s but may begin as early as 20s too. Greying is less discernible in fair-haired individuals and may be well advanced before it is esthetically apparent. People with brown/ black hair experience greying in the form of a “salt-and-pepper” look. Greying usually begins around temples and gradually advances to other areas of the scalp.
Is Hair Transplantation safe and successful for older patients with grey hair?
Hair transplant is possible even in patients up to 80 years old. Considerations for an older patient to get a hair transplant is mostly same as those for younger patients and includes many factors –
- Cause of hair loss
- Physical condition on medical examination,
- Medical history,
- Scalp condition,
- Pattern of hair loss,
- Patient’s expectations for improvement in appearance
Things to keep in mind when performing a grey hair transplant
When planning a hair transplant for white or gray hair, extreme caution should be used. The region between the ears and the nape of the neck are two of the most typical places to see grey or white hair. The following considerations need to be given great attention in order to get desirable outcomes from a hair transplant:
- The shade of the hair that is going to be extracted from the donor region.
- The hue of the hair in the location that will be receiving the transplant.
- Obtaining hair colors that are complementary to one another and perfectly in tune with one another.
As long as this is taken into consideration, the natural hair and freshly transplanted hair should look perfectly natural once it grows in.
Will transplanted hair become grey?
Because transplanted hair has the same qualities and genetic makeup as the hair that is left in the donor region, it will continue to behave in the same way as if it had never been relocated. Therefore, if the hair in the donor location has already begun to become grey, the color of the transplanted hair will behave same way.
Can transplanted grey hair be dyed to restore color?
A patient who has had hair transplants may color their new hair if they so want to satisfy their desire for a different shade of hair. However, post surgery period of 4 to 6 months must pass before the individual may color their hair again.
