Can Breastfeeding Cause Hair Loss
Breastfeeding has not been shown to cause women to lose hair at excessive rates. There is no reason to stop breastfeeding when postpartum hair loss occurs.
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Managing Hair Loss After Pregnancy
As stated above, its common to experience hair shedding after pregnancy, but for most women this will just be temporary. You may be concerned that your hair loss is not stabilising and that you are not experiencing the expected regrowth in the months after you have given birth, however this is not necessarily cause for concern. Womens hormones return to normal at different times after pregnancy, and usually its simply a case of waiting.
If your hair loss persists for many months after pregnancy you should visit your doctor, as theres a chance that it could be a sign of another condition. The most obvious explanation for prolonged hair loss in women is female-pattern baldness, which can affect women as young as their 20s or 30s.
If your doctor suspects that you have genetic, permanent hair loss they may recommend a treatment called minoxidil. This is a foam or lotion rubbed into the scalp once or twice a day. It is a very effective treatment for women with female-pattern baldness, as it has been shown to halt hair loss and promote regrowth in the majority of women who use it.
Minoxidil must be applied every day for three to four months before any improvement will be noticed. It must then be used on an ongoing basis to ensure hair loss remains stalled and new hair growth is possible.
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Breastfeeding & Hair Loss: What You Need To Know
Hair growth is just one of the many physical changes women experience during pregnancy. During pregnancy, most womens hair looks thicker, fuller, and healthier. However, a few months after the baby is born, around half of all new moms will experience significant hair loss, usually while theyre still breastfeeding. The timing of this postpartum hair loss has led many new moms to believe that breastfeeding causes hair loss. Its time to get the facts on breastfeeding and postpartum hair loss once and for all. Does breastfeeding cause hair loss? Keep reading to find out!
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Can I Take Any Food Supplement While Breastfeeding
Some doctors may recommend moms should take vitamins after delivery. Thats because your body needs to hit the Recommended Dietary Allowance for both you and your babys benefits. Vitamins are okay to take in. But if you have a healthy and balanced diet, you should be fine even without taking any supplements.
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How Will Pregnancy Affect Your Hair
Pregnancy can affect your hair in many different ways. Many women report that their hair looks better than ever during pregnancy, while others find that their hair is drier and brittler than usual. Still others do not report any change at all.
In general, while you are pregnant, you are likely to shed fewer strands than usual. This is because during pregnancy you have higher levels of oestrogen in your body. Oestrogen is a hair-friendly hormone: it keeps hairs in their anagen phase for longer, and delays them from moving into their telogen phase. Hence why many women find that their hair is fuller, thicker and shinier during pregnancy. This effect may be most noticeable in the third trimester.
Occasionally, however, some women experience increased hair shedding during pregnancy. This may be caused by factors such as severe and prolonged morning sickness, and gestational diabetes.
Please do not worry if your hair during pregnancy is not what you might have expected. What is normal for one person may not be normal for another. Hormonal changes vary in each individual, and also during different pregnancies. The sensitivity of different peoples hair follicles to these changes is also different.
It is important to know that no matter how your hair may change during pregnancy, it should return to its former state once your baby is born.
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What Should I Eat For Thick Hair
A healthy and nutritious diet during and after pregnancy can be really beneficial for preventing hair loss and maintaining good health. Drink plenty of fluids and eat a balanced diet to replenish all the lost minerals & nutrients from your body. Ensure you include food items from these groups for a healthy diet:
- Fruits and berries
- Beans
- Soya rich food products
Foods rich with antioxidants provide excellent protection to hair follicles. Keeping tonnes of vitamins like A, C, D and E as well as essential proteins like biotin in your diet can help you a lot.
Can You Take Hair Skin And Nail Vitamins While Breastfeeding Facts Every Mother Should Know
One day in your mom-journey, you look at yourself in the mirror and discover that eyebags are suddenly your least bothersome feature. The thinning hair, dry skin, and stretch marks also stare back at you. Thats okay, thats normal, you might say. Arent there any vitamins to revert these? But then again, you realized you are breastfeeding. So, can you take hair, skin, and nail vitamins while breastfeeding?
Hair loss, brittle nails, and dry skin are undoubtedly a common dilemma that moms face after childbirth. To alleviate these conditions, you may hear about biotin supplements. Biotin is a B-vitamin that promotes hair, nail, and skin health. Indeed, it is one of the vitamins that you need to supply your post-partum body with. However, since vitamins are leached in breastmilk to babies, an excessive amount is also harmful to your little one. Before taking any vitamin supplement, always ask for your doctors advice. Your dosage is slightly different if you are pregnant or nursing.
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What Are The Side Effects Of Taking Biotin
Its really important to check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking anything new, especially if youre breastfeeding. As I learnt the hard way, there are fakes out there, and even the genuine article might not be good for you personally.
Also be careful if youre taking a multi vitamin blend that the other vitamins alongside biotin are OK while breastfeeding too.
Personally, I was really scared to take any supplements while nursing my baby, and held off for the first few months after Annabelle was born because I didnt understand what biotin was.
Biotin is safe to take during breastfeeding. The only side effect I understand is that taking a biotin supplement might change the taste of your milk. And if youre having any lab tests done, the biotin in your system could screw with the results.
What Happens To Your Hair During Pregnancy
While pregnant, hair sheds more slowly than normal. This can result in fuller and thicker-looking hair since youre just not losing as much each week. When you are pregnant, you are in a privileged hormonal state, says Dr. Yates, MD, FACS, a Chicago-based board-certified hair loss surgeon. In your third trimester, your estrogen levels are six times higher than normal. Both estrogen and progesterone support hair growth and decrease shedding by keeping the hair in a constant anagen phase. This explains why your hair looks the most radiant at the time of delivery.
In addition to the increase of hormones while pregnant, overall lifestyle changes can contribute to a fuller-looking head of hair. Most patients experience better hair while pregnant probably due to prenatal vitamins and better nutrition overall as well as a healthier lifestyle, says Kavita Mariwalla, MD, a board-certified dermatologist based in New York.
A normal, healthy scalp loses between 50 and 100 hairs per day. One study showed that a normal head of hair is usually 85 percent actively growing, and 15 percent in the resting phase. After a stressful event, like giving birth, the resting phase percentage can increase to 70 percent.
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Treatment Options And Prevention
There are no clinically proven treatments for postpartum alopecia. The good news is, it usually resolves on its own. Since postpartum hair loss is tied to natural changes in hormone levels after pregnancy, theres unfortunately no way to prevent it.
However, some women have a slower recovery of their regular hair cycle. If your hair loss is bothersome, here are some tips that may help :
- Avoid excess brushing or styling, especially with appliances that emit high heat
- Take advantage of volumizing shampoos
- Avoid intensive conditioning shampoos
- Experiment with hairstyles that make your locks look fuller
Other things that could boost hair recovery time include keeping up with prenatal vitamins after childbirth and eating a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables.
Modify Your Hair Care Routine
You may find that modifying your hair care routine can help stop further hair loss. Try using a postpartum hair loss shampoo that is fortified with biotin and silica and a deep-moisture conditioner.
Hair is more fragile when wet so brush gently after you wash your hair or wait for it to dry. Set your hairdryer to a cool setting and avoid using hot rollers or straightening irons to prevent further damage that can be caused by excessive heat.
Your hair may also benefit from other specialty products that a dermatologist can recommend, like scalp sprays and hair masks.
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Other Reasons For Hair Loss
On the other hand, if you are experiencing hair loss during pregnancy, it could be due to:
- Genetic factors: if your mother experienced hair loss during her pregnancy, you are more likely to be affected by it.
- Illness & medication: illness like diabetes, skin infection such as ringworm, etc., and medication for problems like high blood pressure, anxiety, etc., might be causing hair loss.
- Hypothyroidism: caused by the decline of thyroid production in the body, it can be a reason for your condition too.
- Anaemia: the reduction of red blood cells in the body could be another cause.
- Polycystic ovarian syndrome: hair loss around the scalp may be because of hormonal imbalance caused when the ovaries produce excessive male hormones.
- Reproductive causes: sudden discontinuation of birth control pills, abortion, miscarriage, stillbirth, can be few more reasons.
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How To Prevent Hair From Falling Out During Pregnancy
âBeware of washing: Washing hair every day is not recommended, being pregnant or not waiting for a baby. Even if you have very oily hair, contact with water, shampoo or conditioner and drying can damage the scalp, weakening it and causing it to fall. This is precisely why you should take a distance between the days the hair is subjected to the washing and drying routine una, once every two days at the most.â
Water temperature in washings : In relation to washing the hair, if we use a temperature demasiado too hot, the hair may suffer a greater drop than if warm water is used. In addition, the general recommendation to strengthen the scalp is to give a brief splash of cold water on the root part just before leaving the shower. âVitamin intake
: To have healthy and strong hair it is also necessary to have a control of vitamins, especially during pregnancy. Some essential vitamins for the body and also for the hair are vitamin C, B and E, which are found in wholemeal bread, kiwi, strawberries or citrus fruits. âBalanced diet:
We are what we eat, so that a proper diet is not only reduced to having an enviable figure, but also to eat what is necessary for the body. Eating fruits, vegetables, proteins, and a varied diet of meat and fish also helps strengthen the nails and also the hair during pregnancy. âComb suitable
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Your Libido Might Be Affected
Dr. Agnant tells us that some of her patients complain their sex drives took a hit when they first went on the pill. This is most likely due to changes in hormonal production, she says, adding that these women usually experience an increase in libido when they stop taking birth control.
But again, every woman is differentand for some, sex could be more stressful without the protection from unplanned pregnancy that birth control pills offer.
Take Vitamins And Supplements
Making sure youre getting the right vitamins and supplements to promote hair growth and strength is an essential step. It may be tempting to take hair growth supplements, like biotin and B vitamins, which are safe in pregnancy and breastfeeding. In fact, prenatal vitamins contain the vitamins and minerals that support healthy hair regrowth, Dr. Shainhouse explained.
Look for the following vitamins and supplements:
- Vitamin B Complex
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Treatment Options For Hair Loss In Women
Hair loss is less common during pregnancy than increases in hair growth or thickness, but it does happen. In a 2014 study published in the Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, out of 400 pregnant women, 92 experienced hair loss at some point during their pregnancy.
If youre losing a lot of hair during your pregnancy, talk to your healthcare provider or dermatologist to diagnose the underlying problem. From there, you can begin talking about the treatment options.
Improve Your Hair Care Routine
An alteration in your hair care routine may also prove beneficial in reducing your hair loss. You might try a shampoo for postpartum hair fall, one that contains silica and biotin along with a deeply moisturizing conditioner.
You also might try one of the best hair growth serum options to stimulate regrowth.
Final Thoughts
Postpartum hair loss is a very natural process that most women experience post-delivery. There are certain ways in which you can reduce the amount of hair fall. However, you must also remember that postpartum often corrects itself once your hormones start normalizing and return to a balanced level.
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Additional Tips For Healthy Hair
Once or twice a week, try a leave-in serum to help boost hair production and scalp circulation. The PHYTO Phytocyane Revitalizing Scalp Serum for Temporary Hair Loss is a drug-free, hormone-free formula that has amino acids, B vitamins, and silk proteins to encourage follicle stimulation.
If you don’t use any special shampoos or take vitamins, pay attention to something you probably use daily: your hair brush. One that isnt gentle enough can inflame the scalp and cause hair breakage, says Hill. Choose a boar bristle brush or one that has a mix of plastic and boars hair bristles. There are also some good rubber brushes on the market. The idea is to stay away from metal brushes, which can be abrasive to hair fiber and scalps.
In addition to your brush, pay attention to your style. It is important to refrain from too-tight ponytails, braids, and cornrows, which can put excess tension on the hair fiber, and can lead to breakage, adds Hill.