Why do I have thinning hair and grey at age 25? Help!

Sometimes it just happens that way. A male friend of mine has been completely grey since his mid-20s. The amount of pigment in your hair is mostly a genetic thing. Fortunately, there are all sorts of options to change your hair color. Or just rock it. Silver hair is a major trend right now.

I’ve always had thick beautiful hair. This isn’t normal. I have some thinning hair that is getting worse plus silver hair.

Both my parents are healthy and have great hair.

You say that your hair is “thinning,” so I’m guessing that the problem isn’t alopecia areata. With alopecia, hair tends to fall out in clumps. Also, you don’t mention losing your eyebrows, eyelashes, or hair elsewhere on your body.

Most likely, it’s simply genetics. I’ve read that Rogaine is effective in treating female hair loss; have you discussed this with your doctor?

My hair has been thinning worse over the years. This isn’t something that “just happens”. Both my parents have full beautiful hair and are healthy.

My hair hasn’t been falling out in clumps, I just notice more and more hair on my hair brush. My hair is noticeably thinner now and I don’t know what to do.

No I’m not losing any eyebrows or anything else.

My parents and family all have beautiful hair so this is not genetics.

I’ve always had beautiful thick curly golden brown hair. It’s just since I turned 19 my hair has been getting thinner and I don’t know what is going on.

Both of my parents are 6 feet tall. I’m 5’2.

Genes aren’t always that simple.

Yes I have discussed this with my doctor and they say medically they can’t do anything for me because all the tests they’ve done show no signs of anything wrong.

Medically, in their eyes, I am healthy.

I eat healthy, exercise daily, etc.

Seek you don’t understand. I’ve always had beautiful thick hair. My parents are healthy. This has only been happening around 19 years of age. I am now 25.

The hair has been slowly thinning over the years.

Was your thyroid tested also? Sometimes having thyroid issues causes hair loss.
Or if you are having high levels of stress, this could cause hair loss.

@Seek I am 5’2 also and both my parents were short. I kept telling my mom if she had married a tall man, I could’ve been taller. You just blew that theory.

My thyroid is good and normal. Trust me I’ve looked into all the angles and avenues. I got thyroid testing done but that is normal and I’m pretty much healthy.

Family manifestations don’t rule genetics. My parents were both brunettes, but my brother’s blonde. My father died young of colon cancer, but my brother and I have clean bills of health. Two tall, normally-proportioned people can give birth to a “little person,” and a “little” couple can have average-sized children. DNA is complicated.

Yes. I do understand. Sometimes your hair thins as you get older. If there is not a medical cause, then there isn’t anything I could suggest.

I am 30. My hair is much thinner than it was when I was 18. That’s the breaks.

It is not only thinning, I am losing a considerable amount that is not NORMAL. Is my point. I know that it is not due to aging. I know something is wrong but don’t know what to do.

Chyna high levels of stress can cause hair loss?

I stress sometimes but I don’t know to the point my hair would thin for 6 years? Is that possible? How does stress thin hair anyway?

Hair is thinning, brittle, dry, lack luster, and silver grey hair strands.

It’s not due to aging believe me. I started noticing it when I was 19.

This isn’t normal and I don’t know what to do.

If I showed everyone a picture you guys would understand but I don’t want to do that.

I just don’t know what I can do.

Stress and hair loss

Thank you Chyna I’ll read that

What you wrote makes more sense than what anyone else said. I know for a fact it’s not due to aging or genetics. Thank you Chyna.

As far as your hair and parents hair I have read that your parents are not a good indicator of how your hair will be as it is more related to your grandparents hair. Both my grandpas were bald as an onion by 50 years old and my dad was pretty shiny by 60 and my mom has the thinnest hair a woman could get and not be bald. At 55 my hair is thinner than I’d like but you would not say I am balding or anywhere close to that state. I agree with @chyna‘s link that stress has a huge role in hair loss.

Is your scalp loose or taut as a drum? Hair needs nourishment and a tight worried scalp with not have the same robust circulation as a relaxed worry free scalp. I massage my scalp daily trying to “lift” my scalp up off my skull and brush a hair oil into my scalp every night. The fact that I still have a full head of hair tells me this protocol is making a difference especially when parents and grandparents were all folically deficient.

Though you insist your condition is not genetic, I would take a good look beyond your parents at past generations as well as cousins. In addition, you have the advantage in this day of the internet in locating others suffering your plight. You have some detective work ahead of you. There must be surely be data out there on your affliction. Put your situation out there on the web as you have here and you’re sure to hear from others who’ve been at this longer than yourself with information you need.

Have you gone to a good beauty salon and spoken to them about any treatment or products they feel might help? Whatever the cause, it seems like something you might be able to work on.

I have seen articles on WEN hair products that is causing hair loss and many women are suing the company. Perhaps you have been using something on your hair that is causing the hair loss? Just something to think about.

Stanley, Thanks I’ll do more reasearch!

Chyna,

Wow really Wen?? That is crazy. Wow. I’ve never used them. I was actually going to try them but it seemed too “gimicky” for me and I prefer natural hair products… A friend told me that they were good… but that was like 6 years ago… Thanks for the info I won’t be trying them :O

That is so scary :O

I use natural hair products so I don’t know if that’s the cause? I get my shampoo and conditioner from Whole Foods.

Cruiser, that’s a good idea to massage the scalp for circulation. I do massage my scalp from time to time, but not enough. Maybe once every 2 months or something like that. It makes sense.

I had no idea how much stress can lead to hair loss…. How would I fix that? Simply meditating? Anyway thank you for the advice, I’ll definitely try that…. and do more research as well… To combat stress…

I know stress can add weight gain and mess sleep up, but I had no idea it could affect the hair as well.. wow…

Stanley, my grandparents have good hair too. And so do my siblings and cousins. My dad is 75 and still has most / a good amount of his hair. And he goes to the gym around 4 times a week. Both of my grandma’s had thick curly hair as well. Basically my entire family is healthy without any major concerns. So I kind of think it is due to stress :( It has to be.

Physiological stress causes hair loss, not mental stress. Physiological stress is things like high fevers, rapid weight loss, pregnancy, changes in birth control, etc.

Seek, I’m not on birth control and haven’t been for quite some time :( I’ve never been pregnant either :(

One more thing. Get out of the habit of allowing doctors to substitute “there’s nothing we can do” for ” I don’t know and don’t want to look into it”. Put em on the spot with “what would you do were you in my shoes?”

Early grey is almost always genetic, and not much can be done.

Losing your hair young, if you are a woman, is fairly rare, and usually can be attributed to some sort of physical problem. Once in a blue moon it’s genetic.

The most common is thyroid, which you have already addressed on this thread. The only thing I’ll mention is if they are only testing your TSH that isn’t enough. Test your T4free and T3 also before you decide it isn’t thyroid.

Low iron supposedly affects hair loss too.

@beautifuldreamingstars To better appreciate what stress can do to your body….make a fist and squeeze as tight as you can and hold that for a week…for a month for a year. Feel how that white knuckle tightness is doing to restrict the blood flow in your hand. Now imagine what could happen to your scalp if it is tense and tight because of stress…little to no blood and nutrients will be reaching your hair follicles. De-stress and begins to let the blood flow through your scalp.

@Cruiser Ahh wow what a good example…...... that totally makes sense!! How often should I massage my scalp?? and how hard / long do you do it for ??

@beautifuldreamingstars I massage my scalp in the morning after I pop out of the shower for a minute or 2 and do the 100 stroke brush with hair oil every night. So far so good and feel I am ahead of the curve based on my parents folical track record.

An Endrochronologist.
Blood work. More intricate than GP.
Specialist with better evaluative skills.
Please hear me. Save time and health.
Thyroid glands effect Everything.
Shop for a good endro doctor
Good luck.

@msh – Thank you. Yes I’ve heard of Endocrinologists. I will research and invest in one.

I had hormones and blood work done from my regular doctor but don’t know how thorough it was.

I will look into the Thyroid glands again and an endocrinologist. Thank you.

Thank you! For something that tiny in the human body to have its way with a person the way it can? It’s positively indecent! :)
(I am so relieved that you are going…that’s excellent!)

@beautifuldreamingstars Do you know what your TSH was? If it’s below 2, or above 3.5, that might be the problem. The normal range is something like .5–5, but a lot of people are symptomatic at the ends of the normal ranges. I am. Even if it is very normal you still need to look at the T4free and T3 at minimum to make sure one isn’t way off, and your TSH still normal.

Do you have a copy of the lab work? Don’t trust your GP to tell you a number is near low or high. Not any doctor for that matter. The last time I went to my doctor, he was looking through my chart, and became concerned about a number, and said she never saw those blood results. I had already seen it myself, and had been surprised she hadn’t called me. Now I know why.

My brother-in-law started turning grey at 24 or 25 also. It is not abnormal. Find out if your dad or mom or any relatives turned grey early. Someone probably did.

Look at it this way—you can color it to hide the grey—would you rather be losing your hair???

So, I mentioned that my hair went through a thinning stage over the last year or so, right? Went through a really stressful time and my weight did a yoyo trick. That’s the physiological stress thing I was talking about.

Yesterday, I noticed that my hair is almost comically thick at the scalp now… Much thicker than the ends. The last three or four months of growth are becoming obvious.

Yay, hair cycles.

Maybe yours is doing the same?