Hair loss during pregnancy: causes, prevention, treatment

Comprehensive restructuring of the body with the onset of pregnancy leads to changes in appearance and not always positive. Hair loss during pregnancy is one of the problems women have to deal with when preparing to become a mother. As a rule, during the period of pregnancy your hair becomes thicker and shinier. Thanks to increased estrogen, a must during pregnancy, hair becomes stronger. A similar reaction with the active growth phase is observed in many people.

However, in some cases, the opposite happens – hair during pregnancy falls out, becomes dry, brittle, dull. Although not in all cases, these processes are interrelated. For example, if a little hair falls out, and the woman previously experimented with keratin straightening procedures, coloring, the process may be natural, not related to pregnancy in any way.

Causes of hair loss during pregnancy

Before you start fighting for the return of the health of your hair, it is worth finding out exactly why hair loss occurs during pregnancy, because, in principle, there are several factors that provoke the development of this unpleasant phenomenon.

The causes of hair loss during pregnancy can lie in:

• General weakening of the body – in such a difficult period of life as pregnancy, chronic diseases that have not made themselves known for a long time can activate, which can significantly weaken the overall muscle tone. Among them are the muscles that hold hair follicles. Weakening of these muscles will lead to the fact that the hair will start to come out.
• The lack of micronutrients – during the period of pregnancy, the female body not only becomes weaker, it begins to be in dire need of additional doses of micronutrients. The cause of severe hair loss can be a deficiency of zinc, calcium, iron.

What else causes hair loss

However, the factors listed above are not the only ones that lead to hair loss. Among other things, it can be negative genetics or discontinuation of birth control. Hair loss during pregnancy can also be caused by:

• The presence of bad habits and poor diet – in a pregnant woman who prefers unhealthy foods, who is constantly in a state of emotional fluctuations or stress, whose sleep is insufficient in time and quality, the muscles that hold hair follicles weaken, which leads to hair loss;
• a decrease in blood circulation – the hair follicles do not get the necessary dose of nutrients in the blood, so they weaken and die, resulting in hair loss;
• Metabolic slowdown – during the adaptation of the female body to pregnancy all processes slow down, including the growth of new hair, as a result of which hair falls out much more than grows.

Ways to prevent hair loss during pregnancy

Looking for a solution to the question of what to do if during pregnancy hair loss is severe, it is better with the help of a specialist, since the causes of this unpleasant phenomenon may lie not in the natural processes, easily overcome and related to pregnancy, but in the presence of various kinds of diseases that require immediate treatment.

However, initially the doctor’s recommendations usually focus on improving the quality of the diet, eating foods that contain substances that can prevent hair deterioration and hair loss. Such foods include avocados, bananas, salmon and other types of red fish, seeds, yams, oysters, and almonds. In addition, you can take vitamin D and Omega-3, but on this issue, it is worth to consult a doctor trichologist and your gynecologist.

What else has a positive effect on hair preservation

To prevent the deterioration of the hair situation, pregnant women should establish a full and sufficiently long sleep, go outdoors more often, and rest as much as possible. Replenishment of useful substances and micronutrients due to their amount contained in the food, usually it is not possible. Therefore, a specialist together with a woman choose a suitable vitamin complex, which is aimed at strengthening the hair.

In addition, it is required to exclude stressful situations that lead not only to the fact that hair loss during pregnancy, but also to the fact that spontaneous miscarriage can occur. Among the simplest and easiest recommendations that can provide good results is to change your hair brush to a special soft one, and to try drying your hair after washing it without using a hair dryer.

Internal diseases as a cause of hair loss

To hair loss during pregnancy can lead not only easily removable causes, but also serious ailments, for example – skin diseases. These include fungal diseases, which are not the least in prevalence. This can be a skin allergic reactions, eczema, various types of herpes, microsporias, irritations, as well as scalp injuries associated with damage to the hair follicles. Lead to the fact that the hair comes out, hormone-dependent diseases.

Specifically, such ailments as:

• Cystic masses on the ovaries, leading to impaired function;
• Hyper- or hypofunction of the thyroid gland.

This phenomenon may be one of the symptoms of diabetes.

A common factor of these ailments is the creation of hormonal imbalance in the body, which is one of the most dangerous conditions for hair follicles, since they are extremely sensitive to fluctuations in the hormonal background.

What else can indicate hair loss

The most serious reason for which hair loss during pregnancy can be a cancerous disease. The treatment of such an ailment always requires the use of quite aggressive therapy. This is due to the fact that with untimely referral to a specialist and the absence of proper treatment, there is a real threat not even to health, but to life.

No less serious and requiring timely diagnosis and urgent treatment of diseases that can lead to hair loss during pregnancy are also lupus erythematosus and Hugerot-Sjögren’s syndrome. All of these very dangerous diseases should be excluded from the possible causes of a pregnant woman’s hair becoming less lush, shiny and healthy.

Hair Care

Since almost 40-50% of women experience hair loss during pregnancy, this process cannot be considered pathological, unless, of course, it is caused by serious illnesses that are not directly related to pregnancy. To reduce the negative effects of hair loss and stop the process itself will help proper care for the hair, for which it is worth adhering to certain recommendations. Specialists advise women who have hair loss during pregnancy to take care of them with the use of oil:

Its regular use for scalp care is very healthy. And using it twice a week before bedtime to care for your hair will help nourish and revitalize it. The best natural care oils include olive oil, coconut oil, and almond oil. In addition, you should temporarily refuse hair coloring and other procedures that affect the structure of hair and hair follicles.

What other steps to take for the care

Those women who have hair loss during pregnancy should switch to the use of special shampoos, designed to combat hair loss, instead of traditional shampoos. The measure is complex, so you should pay attention to the specialized lotions, lotions, masks that are designed and designed specifically to solve this problem. It should be understood that you need to use products from the same series.

This is due to the fact that they are designed for simultaneous use and care to enhance the overall effect. Speaking of folk medicine, it is worth noting that it is especially useful to make masks from natural products – rye bread, egg yolk. Rinsing the head with decoctions of onion husks, chamomile, oak bark, burdock root gives a positive effect. A good stimulating effect on hair growth can have a haircut, as well as trimming the ends.