It's something that everyone experiences at one point or another, and unfortunately it's just a part of getting older. Your hair starts to lose its color, to the point where you no longer have a flowing head of golden locks, but instead a wiry mop of gray hair. Your skin goes from taut and smooth to thin, saggy and wrinkled. While you may not be able to fend off the inevitable forever, you can do some things to slow its progress.
Preventing Gray Hair
Step 1
Stop smoking. A study posted in the "British Medical Journal" in 1996 showed that people who smoke are four times more likely to see gray hairs at a young age. If you smoke regularly, though, gray hair may be the least of your health-related worries. Smoking has been known to cause cancer, birth defects and heart disease.
Step 2
Eat your vitamins. Gray hair has been known to be caused by a variety of diseases, including pernicious anemia, which is caused by a Vitamin B12 deficiency. If you are unsure of whether you are getting all of your vitamins, consult with your physician on whether you can get a blood test.
Step 3
Lower your level of stress. Although numerous studies have been done to test how much stress contributes to the development of gray hairs, none of them have come back with concrete results. That's not to say that the belief "stress leads to graying" isn't true, it just means that there's no scientific proof...yet. It is now known that hair bleaches itself from the inside out, however, which, according to Dr. Gerald Weissmann of the N.Y.U. School of Medicine, will make it easier to find out if stress directly correlates with graying.
Preventing Wrinkles
Step 1
Wear sunscreen when you are exposed to the sun for extended periods of time. According to Dr. Jeffery Dover, an associate professor of dermatology at the Yale School of Medicine, sun damage is the number one leading contributor to premature skin aging.
Step 2
Use a retinoid cream for your face. Retinoid creams contain high amounts of Vitamin A, which assist in the production of collagen. Collagen is the main catalyst in keeping your skin tight and looking young. As you age, your collagen production drops significantly, thus retinoid creams that stimulate collagen production can help fend off wrinkles.
Step 3
Use alpha-hydroxy acids in their topical forms. According to Dr. Bruce Katz, a dermatology professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, alpha-hydroxy acids can increase the thickness of your skin and help heal sun-damaged skin, thus allowing your skin to fight wrinkles.
Tips and Warnings
- Everyone's skin is different --- some are oily, some are dry, some are tight and some are elastic. If you want professional advice on what will work specifically for you, consult with your dermatologist.
- Alpha-hydroxy acids can thin out the epidermis, which means you have a better chance of getting sunburned. If you are wearing sunscreen when you go out, however, you have nothing to worry about.
Things You'll Need
- Vitamins
- Sunscreen
References
- "British Medical Journal": Premature Grey Hair and Hair Loss Among Smokers: a New Opportunity for Health Education?
- Aetna InteliHealth: The Science of Gray Hair
- "The New York Times": Unlocking the Secrets of Gray Hair
- "The New York Times": Applying a Balm to the Years
- Everyday Health: Aging Skin --- Why We Get Wrinkles
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