Postpartum Hair Loss is Normal

Posted: Monday, June 19th, 2017

As shocking as it may be for new moms to experience, excessive hair shedding is a normal occurrence after child birth. So why does it happen?

Under normal circumstances, approximately 85 to 95 percent of the hair on your head is growing. The other 5 to 15 percent is in a resting stage. After this resting stage, that hair falls out and gets replaced with new hair.  On average, women shed about 100 hairs a day!

During pregnancy, the growing stage gets prolonged due to increased levels of estrogen. This results in women having fewer hairs in the resting stage and, therefore, fewer hairs falling out each day. Women who are pregnant often love how thick and luxurious their hair looks.

After giving birth, a woman’s estrogen levels decrease significantly and a lot more hair follicles enter the resting stage. This results in an unusually high level of hair shedding, and mostly seen when showering or when brushing your hair. This excessive hair shedding can last for about six to twelve months after giving birth. Your hair will return to its pre-pregnancy thickness at that time.

What You Can Do About It

Although you can’t prevent your hair from falling out, you can experiment with different hairstyles, products, and styling techniques to give your hair a fuller look during this period of time.

• Try styling your hair with a middle part. If your hair is shedding around your temples, parting your hair in the middle will allow you to hide these areas until your hair is able to grow in.
• Cut some thick bangs. If your area of concern is at your hair line, ask your stylist if they can cut some thick bangs to help cover it.
• Start taking prenatal vitamins. Prenatal vitamins can bel speed up hair growth. It’s recommended that you take them for us to a year after child birth.
• Stop brushing and combing. Extra shedding can be diminished if you use your fingers to detangle your hair as opposed to using a brush or comb. If you must brush, be sure to use a gentle detangler, like Oribe Run-Through Detangler.
• Lighten your ends and add some highlights. Lightening your hair color at the ends as well as adding some strategically placed highlights around your face will add some depth and dimension to your hair.

Have Questions?

If you have any questions about postpartum hair loss or would like more information about any of the recommendations that The Salon at 10 Newbury has offered in this post, please feel free to call us at 617-247-4900 or email us at thesalonat10newbury.com.