Friday, Jul 24, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
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HEALTH

The Claim

If you pluck a gray hair, it will grow back as a gray hair.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

In most cases, a plucked gray hair regrows gray because plucking does not reset the follicle’s pigment system. The follicle’s melanocyte status determines the color of the next hair. The statement is slightly overstated because rare repigmentation can happen, and repeated plucking can damage follicles or affect regrowth.

Caveats

  • The wording is too absolute: gray regrowth is typical, not guaranteed in every case.
  • Plucking does not cause more gray hairs, but repeated plucking can irritate or damage follicles and may reduce regrowth.
  • Occasional repigmentation has been reported, but it reflects changes in the follicle over time, not an effect of plucking itself.

The Receipts

  1. Hair pigmentation and aging

    Journal of Investigative Dermatology (via PubMed Central)

  2. Reversing Gray Hair: Inspiring the Development of New Therapies for Hair Repigmentation

    PubMed Central

  3. Plucked Human Hair Shafts and Biomolecular Medical Research

    PubMed Central

  4. Canities: etiology, clinical features and treatment options

    PubMed

  5. Canities: A review of hair graying

    International Journal of Trichology (via NCBI/PMC)

  6. Does Pulling One Gray Hair Cause More to Grow in its Place?

    UAMS Health

  7. Canities and its management: A review

    PubMed

  8. Study Links 'Stuck' Stem Cells to Hair Turning Gray

    NYU Langone Health

  9. Does plucking gray hairs cause more to grow in its place?

    The University of Texas at Austin

  10. 5 Myths About Gray Hair

    Sharp HealthCare

+ 7 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Gray HairHair Pigmentation