# Is what seems like “Instant Totally White Hair” at 69 years of age in one year common? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 23, 2015, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-what-seems-like-instant-totally-white-hair-at-69-years-of-age-in-one-year-common/723241 "2015-06-23T14:20:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![1jow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/dbc845/32.png) [@1jow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1jow)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-what-seems-like-instant-totally-white-hair-at-69-years-of-age-in-one-year-common/723241/1 "2015-06-23T14:20:59Z")
Is what seems like “Instant Totally White Hair” at 69 years of age in one year common? Could there be factors. I could see it coming in Pics I took. My Drs had no comments. 1. Genetics and I used Youth Hair Cream to blend hair about 20 yrs and stopped and lived with 2-3 years. 2. Stress that seems Daily Now, retired in 03 but volunteered weekly until 2010. 3. Muscle Pain from aging/injures with new limits, walk 2 mi 5 days, 2-3 hr chores 3 days. 4. New Meds related to sinus surgery/allergies, cholesterol, B/P, nerves. 5. Have a few glasses of Box Wine per afternoon’s vs any hard liquor to help relax. 6. I feel I have seen the early or instant change in others. Thanks For Sharing! I Like This Larger Group Of Opinions And Experiences. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-what-seems-like-instant-totally-white-hair-at-69-years-of-age-in-one-year-common/723241/2 "2015-06-23T18:24:30Z")
That’s something I would ask my doctor about if my hair color did a rapid change. That said, if I was seeing it in somebody else, my assumption would be that they had been dyeing their hair and had recently stopped bothering. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-what-seems-like-instant-totally-white-hair-at-69-years-of-age-in-one-year-common/723241/3 "2015-06-23T19:53:28Z")
That happened to someone else I know after one of her children died. I understand there is no such thing as shock turning your hair white, but hers turned very rapidly, so it was probably a combination of genetics and coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-what-seems-like-instant-totally-white-hair-at-69-years-of-age-in-one-year-common/723241/4 "2015-06-23T20:30:20Z")
I don’t know about turning white in a single year, but men in my family go gray pretty quickly. By age 30, most men in my family are either half bald, or completely gray. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-what-seems-like-instant-totally-white-hair-at-69-years-of-age-in-one-year-common/723241/5 "2015-06-23T20:44:53Z")
A friend of mine was on the scene at the WTC and he and his coworkers, to quote him, “ran for their lives.” I saw him six weeks later, hair still dark brown, with a few gray strands. A year and a half later, totally white (I did not recognize him for a minute). He wasn’t even 50. It may have turned even earlier, as I didn’t see him in between times. I only know that I thought a year and a half was pretty fast for such a drastic change. But you couldn’t really call it instant.