Hair Loss After Pregnancy
Five months after I gave birth, I began noticing a lot of my hair falling out. There were stray strands in the shower, strands in my hair brush, strands on my clothes, strands on the bed! It was alarming. I have read that postpartum hair loss is normal, but I didn’t realize how much hair I’d be shedding. Eek!
My biggest concern was that my long stray hair could affect my baby. A strand of hair could get wrapped around a baby’s fingers, toes, wrists, ankles, even his penis. This tourniquet could cause him pain and may even cut off his circulation if it goes unnoticed for a long time.
How do you deal with postpartum hair loss? There’s a lot of advice in various baby websites, but here’s what’s working for me:
1. Be gentle with your hair. If you have to use products for your hair, go for mild ones. And brush or comb gently. If I run my fingers through my hair, I’ll end up with a handful of stray strands. Freaky. Careful strokes are the way to go.
2. Consider a much shorter hairstyle. With a wash-and-wear style, you save time scooping hair out of the drain or plucking them from your brush, so you get to spend more time on the baby.
And so I had my hair cut short! It took a bit of getting used to since I’ve worn my hair long for many years, but I like my hair better now. It’s quick to dry and style, and stray hair on pillows and sheets are easier to brush away.
Not all women experience hair fall after pregnancy. If you do experience it, do not worry. It’s just our hormones adjusting post-pregnancy. But if, however, you feel that there is an excessive amount of hair fall, do talk to your doctor. Better safe than sorry.
Did you experience hair fall post-pregnancy? How did you deal with it? Feel free to share your stories and tips on how to cope with post-pregnancy hair loss.
March 9th, 2010 at 9:10 am
It’s become a permanent condition with me. The upside is — my hair grows back SO FAST. I think the normal rate is 1/4 inch per month; mine grows longer than that. And the replacement process is fast too so there’s no hair thinning. So except for the hair that I collects on the bathroom floor, it’s a non-issue with me.
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March 9th, 2010 at 10:41 am
I lost a bit of hair post-pregnancy too! It was alarming at first ~ when wet, like when taking a bath, and just a little tug would yeild clumps of hair… wahh!! Skeri. Then the growing out part — talk about embarrassing. Hair loss was more prominent on the side near my forehead and when the hair started growing back, well it was hard to cover them up all standing in attention. Not even the stickiest of hair gels could make them lie still for the life of me. My Sophia is 2 years old now… and the hair, well growing out fine. It’s a bit longer but still at that frustrating stage. A little. Oh well. In time.
March 9th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
I could so relate to this. Mine weren’t just strands, they were clumps.
Our bathroom drain would always get so clogged whenever I showered because of all the falling hair. A little bit would grow but more would fall. I resorted to tying up my hair in a pony and wearing a headband all the time to hide the “buhok pusa.” Then I realized that I was just torturing my hair by doing that, so I finally just let go and let my hair be.
Unlike you, I couldn’t cut my hair short because its so wavy. I would look like a walking puff if I had it cut. Good thing my hair grew back slowly but surely. As much as possible, I only limit my shampoo to every other day because I found out that I lost more hair whenever I shampooed. I also finger comb my hair most of the time so it would be much gentler.
Your new cut looks good on you btw. Rest easy, your hair will go back to normal hopefully in a few more months.
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March 9th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
I have the same problem, Toni! Like you, I cut my hair short too, but the hair’s still falling. Will talk to my doctor about it. It is SO TRUE, your concern about hair getting wrapped around your child’s body. When Lila was 2 1/2 months old she was rushed to 2 hospitals because of this. She was crying so much one day and she wasn’t hungry or wet… so after a few hours of trying to get her to calm down I did a full body check. She was wearing pajamas since it was winter, and when I saw her foot, her middle toe was sooo red and swollen and was as big as her big toe! Each time I would touch her leg she would jerk and cry. I brought her to the emergency room of the nearest hospital, but they didn’t dare touch her because the toe was too swollen that they couldn’t even see the strand of hair around her toe. Plus they were scared to break her toe since she was so little. So we were transferred to a hospital for children in Paris. They had to cut her a bit and she had her foot bandaged for 3 days. The doctors told me that it was a really good thing that I found the toe when I did; a few more hours and it could have been worse. Scary!!!
Anyway, wanted to share my story to the moms out there to tell you that this DOES happen!
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March 9th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
I didn’t even have this … I hope things work out for your hair…
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March 9th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
I super LOVE the short hair. You look great. I hope all is well and the baby is doing great too.
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March 11th, 2010 at 12:53 am
I’m a new lurker on your blog, and it’s funny you should talk about post-partum hair loss; I thought I was alone dealing with this annoying problem. I’ve always had a thick head of hair, and in my recent blog entry, I also wrote about my unfortunate “s-tress” problem. Sigh.
I started to notice the problem a few weeks shy of my son’s four-month birthday. Hair was falling out at a rapid pace, slowly clogging our shower drain (and pissing off my hubby, as hairballs are his pet peeve!). When I brushed, hair came out in clumps!
I was able to try a variety of hair products, but probably the most helpful was an organic lauat concoction (check http://www.lauat.com/product_group.php). I found the product line in SM Hypermart beside Tiendesittas, and so far, it’s worked well for me. The hair loss is still a problem, but the volume of falling hair has decreased after two weeks of using this product. Apparently it cleans your scalp of residue that may cause weakening of the strands. Anyway, it’s working for me so far!
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March 17th, 2010 at 11:40 am
So funny that you wrote about this! Just yesterday, I had to unclog our bathroom drain!!! That’s twice in a span of a month!!!
jamie
May 18th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Sadly for me, my pill have the side effect of losing hair, that with postpartum hair loss, you might think I am having chemo therapy with the amount of hair I’m losing. I finally decided to stop with the pill and cut the darn hair. My stylist asked me a couple of times if I’m really sure to get rid of it. From waist length hair to a bob cut and I’ve never been happy. I do miss my hair though, but the shedding, not so much. I also experimented with different brand of shampoos.
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