Hair loss after pregnancy and childbirth is not rare. During pregnancy, most women still benefit from full, strong hair due to altered hormone levels. But after birth, many women have to “feather.” Find out everything worth knowing about the background and how long hair loss after pregnancy and childbirth persists.
Hair loss after pregnancy: causes
The hormonal change in pregnancy is also external, especially on the skin, nails, and hair.
Most women, when they are pregnant, have cleaner, more radiant skin and stronger hair than before. The reason for this is the increased estrogen levels. The hormone keeps the hair follicles in the growth phase (Anagen phase), which prolongs the life of the hair and grows hair.
However, estrogen levels fall rapidly after birth and many hair follicles switch to the resting phase (telogen phase) at the same time – the so-called postpartum effluvium, the hair loss after pregnancy, begins. Hair loss after pregnancy and childbirth is usually a few weeks to 5 months after delivery.
How long does the hair loss after pregnancy?
In most cases, hormone levels normalize after three to six months and the hair’s life cycle returns to normal. In some cases, it can take up to a year for hair loss to diminish after pregnancy and hormonal changes.
Usually no cause for concern
A few hairs in the sink or in the brush are still no hair loss, but completely normal. Each hair has only a certain lifetime (about two to six years), then it drops out and in the same place, a new hair begins to grow. In this way, every person loses up to a hundred hairs a day.
Only when after several weeks daily more than a hundred hair fail and light spots (alopecia) on the head, do doctors speak of morbid hair loss. Pregnancy-related hair loss usually spreads over the entire head.
However, it becomes visible above all at the temples and mid-peaks. This hair loss after pregnancy is harmless and usually stops by itself as soon as the hormones settle again.
Because of the doctor?
Feel fit and healthy, do not worry if you lose a few more hairs than usual. In case of excessive hair loss, however, you should talk to your gynecologist. In particular, coupled with fatigue and pale skin could possibly be an iron deficiency.
Your doctor can use a blood count to determine a possible deficit and prescribe you a nutrient preparation. A thyroid disorder is also conceivable. If in doubt, a referral to a dermatologist may be necessary to rule out infection or skin disease.
What to do about hair loss after pregnancy?
Unfortunately, you can not do much against hair loss. After pregnancy and childbirth, your body needs rest and time for regeneration. Efforts of childbirth, lack of sleep, stress, and malnutrition can increase hair loss. Please take the following advice:
- Give your body peace.
- Eat healthy and balanced.
- Use gentle shampoos to protect the hair and scalp.
- If you have longer hair, you should wear it open. A pigtail or ponytail enhances the mechanical irritation and makes it easier to fall out.
- A head massage stimulates the circulation of the scalp
The old hair is returning
To bridge this time, a visit to the barber can help. A good haircut or strands make the hair appear fuller and conceal brighter spots due to hair loss after pregnancy. null
Hair Loss After Pregnancy
As soon as the baby is born, many women are over with their hair. The hair becomes dull – and falls out. What about hair loss after pregnancy? And what can you do about it?
Is hair loss normal after birth?
Hair Loss After Pregnancy
Hair loss after pregnancy is no reason to despair.
Everywhere hair: In the brush, in the Siebchen in the shower, on the carpet, on the pillow. And on their heads, they become less and less. Many women complain that they run out of hair after birth and understandably – with concern and panic.
One right away: There is no reason to worry. The so-called postpartum effluvium (increased hair loss after birth) is completely normal and easy to explain.
Why Do Mothers Suffer From Hair Loss?
Actually unfair: The stretch marks and dark circles due to sleep deprivation also increased hair loss happen. And right now, where freshly baked moms are thin-skinned anyway and find no time for their beauty program!
The reason for hair loss is relatively simple – and like so many changes during and after pregnancy hormones showed: During pregnancy, the estrogen bursts more hair than usual in the growth phase.
After birth, the estrogen level drops suddenly – and the body sends the hair from the growth phase into the resting phase in which they stop for some time. And after about three months, those hairs that are “late” due to the pregnancy will fall out.
By the way: Hair loss after pregnancy has nothing to do with breastfeeding! This is a nurse’s tale.
What Helps With Hair Loss After Pregnancy?
Dermatologist’s Advice: Stay away from shampoos or hair lotions that promote increased hair growth. In practice, only one thing helps patience. Make sure you eat a healthy diet and eat enough vitamins and minerals. And enjoy the new happiness with your baby!
You’ll see: After nine months to a year, the problem has been resolved on its own. With longer hair, you will notice that many short hairs regrow at the hairline – for you the sign: now your hair growth normalizes again.
What To Do If The Hair Loss Stops?
If you still have the feeling that your hair loss is not improving significantly nine months after birth, you should contact your gynecologist or visit a dermatologist.
She will investigate whether you are suffering from protein, vitamin, zinc, or iron deficiency due to pregnancy and lactation. A nutritional deficit can be easily resolved – and fortunately, a serious illness is almost never behind the ugly phenomenon of hair loss in the first year with a
Exciting Facts About Hair
- About 100,000 hairs grow on your head.
- Hair grows between one and two centimeters a month.
- A loss of about 100 hairs a day is completely normal.
- Blond hair is usually thinner than dark or red hair.
A hair grows for an average of three to four years, and then it goes into a multi-month sleep mode in which it no longer grows – and finally falls out.
For your hair, it is best if you push the water out of the hair and do not rub your hair dry.
Hair loss after birth
About three months after the birth of the baby is often disillusioned. The hair loses its shine and even falls out in tufts. But what happens there? And is there any way to stop the process? Many pregnant women enjoy their unusually dense, shiny hair during pregnancy.
Help! The whole pillow is full of hair
Of many things that expect a mother after birth, you have heard before: stretch marks, pelvic floor weakness, or baby blues. But waking up one morning, and pillows covered with a layer of hair scare many young mothers. The reason is the falling estrogen level.
During pregnancy, estrogens are increasingly formed. These ensure that more hair than usual is kept in the growth phase, namely about 95% instead of 85-90%.
If the estrogen level drops again after the birth, more hair is sent to a resting phase and then precipitates after about three months. This reaction is perceived differently by each woman, depending on hair fullness and hair structure.
Does the hair loss stop by itself?
A cause for concern is not the hair loss after pregnancy. The experts call this process postpartum effluvium (post Partum: after birth, effluvium: increased hair loss). It is impossible for a mother to lose all her hair through this process.
At the latest after six months, about nine months after the birth, the spook is over. The hair loss stops by itself and it grows as much
Are external influences responsible for hair loss?
Frequently, hair loss after pregnancy is seen as a reaction to stress in the new life situation. It can not be ruled out that the mother’s stress or lack of sleep during the first months of her baby’s life has an impact on hair loss.
However, this thesis is difficult to prove. It is all the more reassuring that fewer external influences cause this reaction, but the hormone balance is the root of the evil. And this regulates itself again.
What can I do about hair loss?
External applications:
- Watch out for a balanced diet rich in minerals and vitamins. Especially when you are resting your baby, a balanced and
wholesome diet – such as meat, fish,and eggs – is very important anyway. Ask your doctor if you have a vitamin or mineral deficiency (iron deficiency!). - Wash your hair with biotin or caffeinated shampoos and use only shampoos without perfume
- Keep your hair as open as possible, straining hair ties unnecessarily
Inner applications:
- Dietary supplements can help, ask your doctor or pharmacist, or drugstore
- Also, the Schüssler salts calcium
fluorite D12 (# 1), Calcium phosphoricum D6 (# 2), and Silicea D12 (# 11) can be helpful, consult a drugstore or pharmacy.
Finally, it can be stated that the experience of hair loss unsettles many women breastfeeding. It does not have to worry you. Many mothers are confronted with these symptoms and so far no case is known in which a woman had to resort to a wig due to postpartum effluvium.
Hair Loss After Childbirth
Hair Loss Problems after Childbirth In the midst of childcare, some problems are usually a little annoying mother, one of which is hair loss.
What is the cause and how solve the problem of hair loss after childbirth?
Those who have experienced hair loss after childbirth was not too worried because it is temporary but for those who have just experienced it, must be a bit worrying to see a lot of hair loss while shampooing, when combing, and even when doing everyday activities.
Causes of Hair Loss After Delivery
Hormonal changes during pregnancy can affect many things, including hair did you know that during pregnancy, the hair is in the best condition? This is caused by increased androgen hormone that extends the hair growth phase. Hormonal changes also stop oil production in the scalp causing hair during pregnancy to appear more shiny and fluffy.
And after childbirth, the hormone androgen is reduced again. This causes the hair cycle returns to normal, the growth phase of hair loss and stalled for nine months. This loss may occur from mild to severe hair loss.
In addition to hormonal changes, causes of hair loss after childbirth are certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies or stress that causes the blood circulation of hair substandard.
Overcoming Hair Loss after Childbirth
Typically, post-partum hair loss is temporary and will go back to normal in a few months. But, although it could return to normal naturally, some proper care can help overcome the problem of hair loss after childbirth.
Supplements or Hair Tonic
One solution to overcome the problem of hair loss is taking supplements or vitamins and providing a hair tonic to provide nutrients to the hair follicles. You can choose to buy a hair tonic that is in the pharmacy or choose to nourish hair with natural ingredients or herbal ingredients.
Haircut
For those of you, who have long hair, try to cut your hair shorter to reduce the burden and reduce hair loss problems.
So do not worry if you see your hair falling after birth, because this is normal but some proper hair care can help overcome or minimize it until your hair is back to pre-pregnancy.