Tips For Dealing With Postpartum Hair Loss

Postpartum hair loss can set in any day after your baby arrives, and it sometimes continues as long as a year. It usually peaks around the 4-month mark, so if your baby is a few months old and you’re still losing clumps of hair, that doesn’t mean it’s time to panic! It’s so weird, but it happens to almost EVERYONE!⁣

During pregnancy, you may realize that your hair changes texture, grow faster, or falls out less (and this isn’t just on your head!). ⁣

This is due to a dramatic increase in progesterone, which extends the growth phase of your hair, causing these changes. ⁣

Once you deliver, however, your hair cycle regresses, and many of these hairs your body was holding onto will begin to shed. For most women, this usually happens 2-3 months after delivery, or longer for breastfeeding moms.⁣

Unfortunately, sometimes this hair loss can be dramatic, coming out in clumps in the shower or on your brush. ⁣

Tips For Dealing With Postpartum Hair Loss

Usually, your hair will fall out, but it will regrow to the degree that it was before pregnancy. This can take some time, but it should go back if you feel like it’s excessive when it’s happening. ⁣

Here are a few things you can try to help in the immediate period:⁣

• Use a volume shampoo, or shampoos labelled for fine hair⁣
• Shampoo only when necessary (as if you have time to shampoo at all!), and use a good conditioner and a wide-toothed comb to minimize tangling. Use scrunchies or barrettes to put hair up, instead of rubber bands — and don’t pull hair into tight ponytails.
• Avoid shampoos that are labelled “conditioning shampoos” they can weigh your hair down
• Condition your ends, and avoid conditioners labelled “intensive conditioners” because they can be too heavy⁣
• Try taking Biotin⁣, Iron, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Zinc are also supplements recommended by the American Pregnancy Association for Postpartum hair loss (check with your health professional first)!
• Keep taking your prenatal vitamins (or a postnatal vitamin)⁣
• Try taking Fish Oil⁣

Typically, postpartum hair loss will correct itself as hormone levels return to normal. Try not to stress about temporary hair loss and accept that it is simply a normal part of recovering from childbirth. If you are finding that your hair loss is still not controlled one year after your birth, you may need to see a dermatologist! There are many reasons why people lose hair so there may be something else going on!⁣

Did you experience postpartum hair loss?

Let us know in our comments below

Originally posted 2021-03-15 07:05:07.