Home Remedies For Grey Hair: Procedure, Recovery, Risk & Complication

In the beginning, every hair on your head grows as white hair and is thereafter coloured by melanin, a pigment, which gives its natural shade. Melanocyte produces this melanin, which effortlessly colours each strand of hair black. Melanocyte activity slows down as we age and eventually stops, leading to less pigment in the hair causing grey hairs.

Many times it is seen that there occurs even premature greying of hair. Instead of covering those grey strands with chemical-laden and commercial hair colours, relying on some effective natural home remedies for grey hair can render great benefits.

Here are some very effective home remedies for grey hair.

1. Coffee:

   It has got its natural tint of brown and colours grey hair. Soak coffee seeds overnight, grind them and then make a paste out of it. Now apply this paste and leave it on for 1 to 2 hrs. This will give your hair a brown tint after wash and grey hairs will be gone.

2. Indian Gooseberry or commonly known as Amla:

   It can be mixed with almond oil or natural coconut oil and massaged into the scalp to get rid of grey hair. Amla juice can also be enjoyed as a medicinal drink that will help improve overall health and slow or stop the growth of stubborn grey hair completely.

3. Beet, Carrot, and Lemon:

   It can work wonders in providing vibrant hues to your dull grey hair more like highlighters. Beet and carrots have strong colouring tinted properties that colour the hair strands from root to tips. This remedy requires an hour or two to be left on the hair for the best results.

4. Using tea:

   It is another method for covering grey hair and restoring your natural hair colour. For darker hues, black teas work best. Once a week, dip 4 to 5 tea bags in two cups of boiling water. Apply it to your wet hair after it is cooled down. You can also mix it with a conditioner. When your grey hair has soaked the tea colour, the mixture can be washed off.

5. Henna:

   As we all know, is another immensely effective natural hair colourant. Soak it in water overnight before application.

6. Coconut Oil:

   Greying of the hair is caused due to loss of the hair pigment which is responsible for dark hair. Applying coconut oil helps to prevent the loss of hair pigment and decreases the greying hair tendency.

7. Almond oil:

   Almond oil Contain Vitamin E that helps to prevent greying of hair. Almond oil also provides nourishment to the hair. Apply almond oil directly on the hair and massage for a few minutes.

8. Onion juice:

   Onion juice is one of the most effective home remedies for hair greying. Onion juice promotes the production of an enzyme called catalase that results in the darkening of hair and prevents premature greying of hair.

9. Ginger:

   Ginger helps to decrease the greying of hair. Add ginger to your diet. You can eat a teaspoon of ginger with honey for better taste.

10. Massage your scalp:

    Massaging the hair with any herbal oil provides nourishment for hair and prevents greying of hair.

11. Add foods like cabbage, broccoli, and sweet potato:

    Cabbage, broccoli, and sweet potato provide nourishment to the hair and prevent greying of hair.

Summary: Grey hair can be treated by applying onion juice, coconut oil, henna, Indian gooseberry, coffee, Juice of beet, carrot, and lemon.

Using tea coffee or Flowers and herbs make wonderful natural dyes. These ingredients primarily fall under herbal measures and hence do not have as such any side effects. More so, because these ingredients are very gentle. You will likely need to use them almost regularly to maintain the colour.

Herbs like Rosemary sage, nettle, cloves, black walnut hulls, and cinnamon give the hair a darker hue but rare occasions like allergy and scalp rashes can be seen due to the use of rosemary. Some people have an allergic reaction to rosemary in which case it should be omitted from the list.

For blonde hair, many use Chamomile, lemon peel, calendula, saffron, marigold, or sunflower petals in their home remedies but one thing should be kept in mind that sunflower can as well irritate few as it might cause pollen allergy as a side effect. Many people want to get rid of their grey hair and want a reddish hue instead.

Hibiscus flowers, rosehips, red clover, or red rose petals can add up to your help list. These don’t have any such side effect just that the ingredients should be mixed in proper amounts and not excess.

Else the hair will have an intense red tint which will not look good. Washing hair with lemon water although can rinse off the excess pigmentation over time.

Summary: Despite being effective, certain home remedies have some side effects which vary from person to person, so choose your home remedy only if you are not allergic or sensitive to the particular substance. Do not use any home remedies in excess as it may be harmful to health.

Smoking is injurious to health in many aspects. Smoking is the key cause of oxidative stress, which accelerates the ageing process and hence is more likely to turn hair grey even before the age of 40.

Our bodies are very resilient and by cutting down on cigarettes or quitting entirely one might be able to reverse the damage that it casts. So as a principal guideline if one is in the habit of smoking it is better they think twice.

In most cases, these home remedies are effective from the very first application. But then actual graying can be recovered with prolonged use. It might take 2 to 3 months or even a year to recover depending on the age. This is because after a certain age the scalp cells lose their renewal and absorbing abilities and also melanin production stops.

So if a person falls under the age group of 20 to 30 he or she is more likely to recover fast than a person falling under the age group of 30 to 50.

The home remedies make the hair follicle healthier and are far more effective to get rid of grey hair. The results are mostly permanent if the person is healthy and falls under a young to middle age group. The benefits will be long term if one practices the measures regularly.

Although among some people it is seen that despite using several home remedies there is no such result. This can be a hereditary problem. Such cases take a long time to be cured and sometimes it doesn't work at all. Even if they dye their hair with chemicals after a time the hair either grows a pale grey or gets brittle.

This is mainly due to pigmentation disorder. It is better to consult a physician or a beauty expert if greying persists even after repeated efforts.

These home remedies mostly require the ingredients to be soaked or boiled to be used and can be included in the daily or weekly diet easily. Some might need a direct application both of which need no such training or expert abilities. Anybody can do it with ease of ‘at home comfort’.

Home remedies are the best solution one can have for getting rid of grey hair as it does not involve any harmful chemicals as in the store-bought products.