Postpartum Hair Loss Remedies When ALL Else Fails!
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Looking for postpartum hair loss remedies that will actually HELP your hair remain healthy and hopefully, stop falling out? Whether natural postpartum hair loss remedies are your thing or you’re willing to try them all, this post will help you feel better about all the hair you’re losing.
Around the 4 month postpartum mark, I vividly remember when the postpartum hair loss began.
I was in the shower and noticed chunks of hair running down the drain. I might have freaked out a bit (reasonably so). As soon as I got out of the shower, I ran over to my phone and started googling postpartum hair loss remedies!
Fortunately, I came to find that there are some things you can do to combat these pesky hair changes after pregnancy and I’m sharing them all with you BELOW.
Postpartum Hair Loss Remedies
Though we will talk more about postpartum hair loss and why it happens a little later in this post, I want you to have these remedies right away.
For moms looking to try more natural remedies, I’ve also included some great natural hair loss remedies to help you maintain the integrity of your hair during this time.
Natural postpartum hair loss remedies:
- Try an avocado hair mask.
- Keep your scalp moisturized with your favorite natural hair oil(s).
- Keep your hair manageable and easy to style naturally without heat or styling tools.
- Consume protein-rich foods to help reduce the shed (such as eggs for their biotin, whole fermented dairy products for their rich calcium, and red meat for their iron & b-vitamins).
- Try and reduce stress as much as possible (take a postnatal yoga class or try a postpartum exercise program to blow off some steam).
Other postpartum hair loss remedies:
- Consume a well-rounded healthy diet.
- Take a high-quality prenatal vitamin.
- Don’t use super cheap hair care products, use high-quality hair care products that will keep your hair in tip-top shape.
- Prioritize your sleep (which will also help minimize stress).
- Try using a biotin shampoo/conditioner.
- Reduce or exclude using heat and styling tools on your hair.
How to deal with postpartum hair loss:
Dealing with postpartum hair loss can be a bit tricky.
First, because most moms don’t even realize it’s a thing until it’s actually happening (like me!).
Second, because there is no cure or prevention method to completely prevent it [source].
BUT…with some extra TLC on your behalf, you can do some things to make dealing with postpartum hair loss much more tolerable! And hopefully, reduce the shedding!
One of the easiest ways to help combat postpartum hair loss right off the bat is to add in a Biotin Supplement if you’re not already taking one!
Biotin helps to improve keratin infrastructure and with keratin being one of the main proteins responsible for your hair, skin, and nails — it can also aid in helping your hair regrow!
Of course, one of the best ways to get biotin is to ensure you’re eating a well-balanced diet. Then, you can begin to add in more biotin-rich foods like eggs, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.
If that doesn’t seem to be helping, your next best bet is to look into a biotin supplement. You can also simply choose a prenatal vitamin that contains adequate amounts of high-quality biotin like this one too!
Although I was excited to see those baby hairs growing in, the baby hair/peach fuzz look around the hairline is not really the “IN LOOK”.
However, it’s better than the full-on bald spots you could have from getting your postpartum hair loss around the hairline (which is what I had)!
Another easy way to combat postpartum hair loss is to minimize the heat styling!
That’s right, you’re going to have to rock the natural look for a little bit if you want to prevent damaging your hair during this already brittle state.
Before we get into any more details… let’s help you understand WHY postpartum hair loss happens in the first place!
What is Postpartum Hair Loss?
Remember those past 9 months when your hair was SO shiny and luxurious? Me too.
That’s because our body’s estrogen and progesterone levels had risen greatly during pregnancy, causing more of our hair to stay in a “dormant stage”. Resulting in losing LESS hair than normal.
In fact, you probably noticed you were hoarding all that thick, beautiful luscious hair!
Once the baby is born, those hormone levels change, causing large numbers of hairs to be in the “falling out stage”.
Therefore, after your baby is born, all the hair you didn’t lose during pregnancy begins to fall out, which is apart of its normal cycle.
Of course, as hair falls out, new hair will regrow. You’ll notice all those baby hairs growing in around your forehead or even your sideburns!
And if we’re being honest, the baby hair phase is no fun. I had peach fuzz all along my hairline for weeks!
How did I fix it? I got bangs! Yup, you can use your hairstyle to work in your favor to cover up any unwanted patches or peach fuzz as your hair works it’s way back to normal.
When does Postpartum Hair Loss occur?
Generally, it starts around the 3-6 month mark. However, some women have experienced postpartum hair loss as early as 1 month or as late as 6 months postpartum.
Others have not experienced this at all.
According to the American Pregnancy Association, “postpartum hair loss affects ~40 to 50% of women”.
How to prevent or minimize postpartum hair loss?
Unfortunately, there are no true “cure” or “prevention” methods backed by any studies at this time to completely stop postpartum hair loss, just know this too shall eventually pass.
One of the worst parts, it that it truly feels like you’re going bald.
You feel like you’re losing all the hair on your head, however, it usually looks a lot worst than it really is.
If at any point you are genuinely concerned with how much hair you’ve lost, you should notify your doctor to be on the safe side.
For most moms, you should begin to see a reduction in the shedding due to postpartum hair loss around the 9-12 month mark after giving birth.
What else can I do about postpartum hair loss?
- Eat a healthy well-rounded diet. Eating a diet with lots of protein, fruits, and vegetables can provide lots of micronutrients your body needs to encourage your hair to grow quicker!
- Use High-quality shampoos & conditioners. In order to support your brittle locks, using a shampoo of good quality or with biotin can be very beneficial for those locks! I personally love Kevin Murphy’s line of haircare, but more specifically his Hydrate Me Masque! This hair masque made a world of a difference in the texture and hydration of my hair during this time. Check it out for yourself here.
- Minimize the use of hot tools and excessive styling to prevent further weakened hair.
- Continue taking prenatal vitamins. These specially formulated prenatal vitamins come in powder form and will help support your body during throughout ALL of it’s various ups and downs of pregnancy + postpartum!
- Don’t wear your hair back in a tight bun or ponytail. Choose hairstyles instead that will compliments where you’re missing hair. I found light headbands and wearing my hair naturally wavy was the best way to go!
- Use a GOOD Quality Hair Brush! Using a brush that pulls your hair out vs actually gliding through will make a night & day difference in maintaining the integrity of your hair.
- This doesn’t necessarily affect your hair at all, but you will want to protect your drains! Instead of buying endless amounts of Drano – get a TubShroom instead! I LOVE this product so much it has saved our drains from getting clogged, is easy to clean off, and just plops right into the drain!
When will this hair shedding season end?
Rest assured, this is all just (another) normal part of the wonderful Fourth Trimester.
Usually, around 12 months when your hormones really start to normalize, you’ll have your beautiful hair back.
Some believe breastfeeding moms could have a prolonged relationship with postpartum hair loss, but there haven’t been enough studies to really confirm or deny that theory.
Just wait, once it’s all over, you won’t have any more clogged sinks or showers, YAY!
Postpartum hair loss styles
Below, this video shares some great tips on ways you can style your hair to prevent the look of that thinned out postpartum hair loss look!
In addition to the tips in this video you could also try something like:
- Wearing hair extensions! Clip-in hair extensions can add natural length, volume all while covering up those unwanted bald spots!
- Try using a volumizing powder to really volumize and fluff up your hair closest to your scalp!
- Use a wig if your hair is on the extreme side of falling out and you’re finding it impossible to hide those bald spots.
What remedies did you find worked best to combat postpartum hair loss?
Please drop a comment below sharing your experience!
Looking for even more postpartum tips & advice?
The most effective thing I’ve found to help with postpartum hairloss is a postpartum hair gummy from Baby Blues. I had severe hair shedding and loss my first pregnancy and met with my obgyn in tears regarding it. I tried oil drops on my scalp and they made my hair so greasy. I was recommended these to replenish the vitamins shed after having the baby, they have: biotin, collagen, b12, folate, vitamin a etc. Definitely a max stength gummy I compared them with many different brands. I was able to see hair regrowth quite quickly and then fullness back around the 3 month mark. I just take them now as a hair vitamin because they are so good and I’ve grown accustomed to the compliments again regarding my hair. They tend to sell out I know personally how devastating the fall out can be. Hope it might help