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Postpartum Hair Loss Specialists
Postpartum hair loss doesn’t have to be permanent.
- What is postpartum hair loss?
Postpartum hair loss is a change in which women lose a significant amount of hair following pregnancy.
During pregnancy, women grow full, nourished hair due to an increase in estrogen and progesterone. This improvement often lasts until 2 to 3 months postpartum. This phase is usually followed by an onset of hair loss, often at the 3- to 5-month mark postpartum.
Thankfully, postpartum hair loss is completely normal. Even better, it’s temporary, and there are solutions! Our postpartum hair loss specialists in NYC are here to help you.
Postpartum Hair Loss Q&A
Postpartum hair loss is a change in which women lose a significant amount of hair following pregnancy. During pregnancy, women grow full, nourished hair due to an increase in estrogen and progesterone. This improvement often lasts until 2 to 3 months postpartum. This phase is usually followed by an onset of hair loss, often at the 3- to 5-month mark postpartum.
The next thing you know, you may be shedding locks of hair in the shower and on your pillows.
When coupled with the heavy demands of caring for a newborn, this phenomenon can introduce an entirely new level of stress to women after pregnancy. Thankfully, postpartum hair loss is completely normal. Even better, it’s temporary, and there are solutions!
Postpartum hair loss depends on a lot of factors. Some believe there might be a correlation between breastfeeding and postpartum hair loss, but that isn’t true. The biggest reason for postpartum hair loss is the storm of hormonal changes that accompany childbirth.
Normally, about 85% to 90% of our hair is in a growth (anagen) phase during which our hair grows about 1cm per month. The other 10% to 15% of our hair is in a shedding (telogen) phase. A continuous shedding phase is why you would see small hairs on your pillow or in the shower on a normal day.
During pregnancy, there is an excess of estrogen and progesterone. This encourages constant growth and discourages shedding. It’s why many women enjoy thicker, more bouncy heads of hair while pregnant.
After childbirth, though, estrogen and other hormones reset back to pre-pregnancy levels. This change often happens abruptly. With this dramatic hormonal change, several patches of hair are forced back into the shedding phase. This is where postpartum hair loss begins. Postpartum hair loss can also worsen with lack of sleep, nutritional deficiency, and the stress that comes with caring for a newborn.
Luckily, postpartum hair loss is temporary.
After a few months, hair will start to grow back. Some patches where shedding occurred will be noticeably shorter, but they will grow back, nonetheless.
To prevent this from happening in the first place (or at least minimize the effects), here’s what you can do:
Be gentle with your hair.
Maintain a well-balanced diet of protein, fruits, and vegetables.
Take postnatal supplements.
Meditate, get regular massages, or exercise to minimize stress.
These are just a handful of ways for you to minimize the effects of postpartum hair loss.
Postpartum hair loss is often inevitable, but these tips might help ease your experience.
Sometimes, preventative measures won’t cut it, and bigger steps have to be taken to treat postpartum hair loss.
Postpartum hair loss typically lasts 6 to 12 months following childbirth. For patients uncomfortable with this change, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy has been proven to be incredibly helpful.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy uses the platelets found within the patient’s own blood to enhance and accelerate the body’s healing system and boost hair growth.
The procedure is completely natural and uses only a small amount of the patient’s own blood. The blood is processed to isolate the platelets (nothing is added to the blood) then injected into the hair follicles.
This treatment makes hair grow even thicker and even revives dormant hair follicles that have stopped producing hair, resulting in significantly reduced (and sometimes reversed) hair loss.
