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Postpartum hair loss: why it happens 

If you're wondering what on earth is causing your postpartum hair loss, the first thing to note is that you are most certainly not alone. Whether you've noticed you seem to be losing a bit more hair than usual or you feel your hair is significantly thinning, rest assured that hair loss happens to many women after childbirth and it is something we see all the time at our Sutherland Shire Hair Salon.

So, why exactly is this the case? Well, it starts with pregnancy. For some, their hair feels thick and shiny during pregnancy. That's because of hormonal fluctuations that naturally occur and estrogen, especially, has a significant impact on your hair cycles. In short, the spike in estrogen that occurs in the body during pregnancy, coupled with the increased blood flow, slows down your normal rate of hair fall. Hence, the thicker hair that results. However, once you deliver your baby, these hormone levels drop causing sudden and significant hair fall and can also make your hair feel brittle and weak. For some other mothers they can begin to experience hair loss during their pregnancy and growth afterwards, the fluctuation in your hormones reflecting to hair loss/growth can be very different for everyone.

This can be devastating at the onset but you can take solace in the fact that for most women, this typically isn't more hair loss than what would have occurred over the past 9 months if you had not been pregnant, though it can be scary because it is happening in one large episode.

When does postpartum hair loss take effect?

Postpartum hair loss typically begins 2 to 4 months after childbirth. In most cases, this is totally normal and your hair will most likely restore itself naturally within 6 months to a year. Basically, if it feels like your hair is falling out in large chunks and you think you're about to go bald sometime soon, don't worry as this is just your body's way of recalibrating and your growth patterns should go back to normal in due time. 

What can you do about postpartum hair loss?

Experiencing hair loss after pregnancy is both natural and normal, so you can't really stop it entirely, unfortunately.

However, there are a few ways you can keep your hair healthy and prevent damage while it is replenishing itself, while also helping your hair look fuller. 

We recommend keeping the heat styling to a minimum as this can cause unnecessary damage and also get rid of natural volume which will make your hair look fuller. As well, the styling process can be pretty rough (think round brushes and lots of pulling) which can accelerate the hair loss process, so it's best to limit this wherever possible. 

If you can't live without heat styling, then we definitely recommend using a heat protectant spray beforehand to limit the amount of damage, our personal favourite is the Paul Mitchell Hot Off The Press Thermal Heat Spray.