Why do people go gray at their temples and the crown of their head first?

Question

Over the past year I've had a few more white hairs pop up at my temples (sides of my forehead). I noticed most people grow gray hairs at the crown of their head more than at the back or neck.

Answer 1

My first grey hair was in my eyebrow when I was 12.

Answer 2

Heres why:

Each hair on our heads is made up of two parts:

a shaft - the colored part we see growing out of our heads
a root - the bottom part, which keeps the hair anchored under the scalp

The root of every strand of hair is surrounded by a tube of tissue under the skin that is called the hair follicle. Each hair follicle contains a certain number of pigment cells. These pigment cells continuously produce a chemical called melanin that gives the growing shaft of hair its color of brown, blonde, red, and anything in between.

Melanin is the same stuff that makes our skin's color fair or darker. It also helps determine whether a person will burn or tan in the sun. The dark or light color of someone's hair depends on how much melanin each hair contains.

As we get older, the pigment cells in our hair follicles gradually die. When there are fewer pigment cells in a hair follicle, that strand of hair will no longer contain as much melanin and will become a more transparent color - like gray, silver, or white - as it grows. As people continue to get older, fewer pigment cells will be around to produce melanin. Eventually, the hair will look completely gray.

Answer 3

've seen this so much in the hair industry that, I believe it is a heredity thing. However, 12 years ago in beauty college, I did a term paper on graying hair and why and how...wish I would've saved it, my memory is not that good. So, it happens to most people, my grandma died with her whole nape still black...the rest was white. My mother is completely gray on the top and behind her ears, her whole nape is dark brown...go figure. Of, course I color her hair and it looks cool, but not when the roots are growing out.