I discovered one white hair when I was 16, and now at 21 I have almost a dozen. I have heard of men going grey at early ages but this is ridiculous. Does this mean I'll be completely grey before I'm even 23?

Not necessarily. I can give you a couple of examples. My Dad found his first gray hair at 16 also, but he did not go completely gray until he was in his 30s. The way he looked at it was it was better than his Dad who was completely bald by age 19!

As for myself, I got my first gray hair when I was 23. On my 23rd birthday (no kidding) to be exact. I'm a natural redhead (okay, think auburn instead of carrots) and I got what I jokingly call the "Bonnie Rait". You would have thought I was being murdered the way I started screaming. I got it right where I part my hair at the front of my head. I few months later I went to get my hair cut and my hairdresser found a lot of gray hair on the on the underside layer of my hair in the back.

I am now 29 and those gray hairs still pop up in the exact same places they did when I was 23, but they are not spreading to other parts of my head. . .yet.

So, don't work yourself into a panic just yet :) You might have a few more years before you go completely gray. Hope this helps.

NEW INFO ADDED!!!: I just found this in a web Q&A and it is interesting.

Q: I have a problem with premature gray. I am only 32 years old and started experiencing gray hair in my early twenties. What causes premature gray?

A: The most common reason is heredity; you can blame your parents for this one. Those with prematurely gray hair tend to have inherited the genetic predisposition for this to occur earlier in life while those who do not gray until much later in life are also following their own family genetics.

However, there are other reasons why the hair can gray. A major factor is smoking. Smokers are 4 times more likely than nonsmokers to develop prematurely gray hair. The reason is thought to have something to do with nicotine causing vasoconstriction of the blood vessels which supply the hair follicles resulting in limited oxygen supply.

Other causes include Vitamin B-12 deficiency, thyroid disorders, anemia or some viral infections. The concept of going gray due to shock or fright is not understood medically or physiologically but there have been random scattered reports. Marie Antoinette is said to have gone gray overnight while in the tower. It is hard to explain why or how this could occur. You would imagine that the hair would have to grow out gray; that the normal hair color on the hair already grown could not possibly be lost.

wickedwillie has a great explanation for why hair turns gray here:

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view.php/3645

Pigment-producing cells add colour to our hair as it grows. Darker hair has more pigment than lighter hair. As we age, the pigment-producing cells slowly die off. Hair’s base colour shows through, and individual hairs appear white. When mixed in with strands of hair that still have their original colour, hair looks grey.

Individual hairs each have an outer layer (the cuticle) of overlapping flat cells, underneath which is the thick cortex which consists of horn-like keratin. The inside of the hair is made of softer, rectangular cells. Hair colour is determined by the concentration and depth of melanin pigment in the cortex - this produces the whole spectrum of hair colour from blond through to black, with very fair people or albinos having almost no melanin. When these melanocytes die, then the hair turns grey then white as the pigment is broken down.

New info on Andersen's new info; Cancer researchers say a mutated gene may be responsible for premature gray. A gene called Bcl 2 is essential to maintain melanocytes. The researchers found that when they raised mice lacking this gene the animals went gray quickly and dramatically shortly after birth.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6750793/ Also see http://www.answerbag.com/a_view.php/20370 ( but I warn you it's an answer I gave.

Consume lots of fruits and green salads. Vitamin B complex must be taken daily , as graying of hair is due to deficiency of B complex, at an early age. Drink lots of water. Check out http://usefulinfo-grayhair.blogspot.com/ for more info.

I started greying at 26 and it was all in one spot at the hairline in front. I started getting my hair tinted my natural color and did that for several years. I got real tired of the tinting bit so I let it go natural and my hair was uniform "salt and pepper". Now it's mostly grey and looks pretty good. Don't worry about it so much. Just go with it.

I have an uncle who was completely grey before he was 30. If you think that's the route your hair is taking embrace it. Even with the grey he has stayed healthy and fit and has always looked young for his age.

stress as stated is a factor for early hair greying apart form this if you have a blocked nose throught the year which often is caused due to allergies is a big factor of hair greying, skin dullness, and sometimes due to all these stress is obvious and thus slows down a persons growth.

I had my first grey hair at 19 - I am now 41 and only just starting to notice more; don't worry about it - if all else fails start having highlights and make use of those white ones ;0)

my daughter recently had a baby and afterwards her hair actually began to receed and she was horrorfied at age 33! she had her first gray at age 16 but nothing after that. i told her don't panic, this happen to me and the hair will come back if you are not 'stressed". this cause alot of premature hair1 S T R E S S can do alot to the body which cause all kinds of harmful problems.. NOw her hair came back in a few months and the gray multiplied... her pediatrician said that alot of moms go through this after childbirth. jrv