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Article
November 1989

Absence of Graying of Pinnal Hairs

Author Affiliations

Department of Dermatology and Leprosy Government General Hospital Madras 600 003, India

Arch Dermatol. 1989;125(11):1589. doi:10.1001/archderm.1989.01670230131032
Abstract

To the Editor.—  We wish to share our observation on hairy pinna with your readers. From among the patients attending our dermatology clinic for various dermatoses, we examined 250 men, all over 50 years of age, with pinnal hairs. We noticed that none of them showed graying of the hairs over their pinnae. All of them manifested physiologic canities over their scalp, beard, and moustache areas. The absence of graying of pinnal hairs was irrespective of the age of onset of growth of the pinnal hairs, which ranged from 30 to 40 years.Hairy pinna is known to be a genetic trait of Y-linked inheritance.1 Canities is a physiologic manifestation of the aging process. The initial white hairs commonly appear at the temples, spread to the scalp, and, over a period of years, graying of beard, moustache, and body hairs follows. It is known that some individuals retain the

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