Among the numerous triggers for a bout of unwanted, non-genetic, hair loss among women is the change your body undergoes immediately after giving birth. But there are steps you can take to reduce the effect, or even avoid it completely.
PostPartum Hair Loss
If you have just given birth you don’t need us to tell you that it is a time of great change, but we aren’t referring to sleepless nights and uptick in the volume of laundry. The real changes are going on inside your body. During pregnancy the levels of progesterone which, along with other sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone, play a major role in hair health, shoot up to the highest levels you will ever experience. The moment the placenta is delivered these levels crash back down to zero. The good news is that your body will make more but given that most progesterone is produced by the ovary after ovulation you will need to wait… regular ovulation can take a while to return. The only other source of progesterone is the the adrenal glands… which is fine except that many women find the stress of being a new Mum means their adrenal glands are kept very busy producing stress hormones and progesterone levels stay depressed.
So here are a few top tips for keeping on top of things that will not just give you the best chance of keeping your hair in great shape, they will bring wider health benefits too.
Take Time For Yourself
We know this might sound like a piece of glib advice, especially when there are not enough hours in the day to get it all done with a demanding new arrival on your hands. Get to a fitness class if you can, yoga is ideal. If you can’t then even practicing some deep breathing will help, slow breaths that reach down into your diaphragm – Diaphragmatic breathing is credited with being the simplest way to reduce your stress levels, which in turn can relieve the pressure on your adrenal glands to produce the hormones needed to feed your stress and make room for the production of the vital progesterone. Breathing, like yoga, is an exercise that you can do on the fly… maybe when the baby is sleeping.
Eat Yourself Well
There are some obvious, or at least well-known, elements of our diet that are important to hair health. With iron deficiency a common problem for pregnant and post pregnant women including red meat green veg and eggs in the diet is a fast route to replenishing reserves. Red meat is a good source of that other, if less well-recognised, vital foodstuff for hair health, Zinc. It can also be found, in huge quantities, in oysters but is also present in kidney beans shrimps and seeds.
Happy Herbs
Herbs contain almost miraculous nutrients in a form that is accessible and healthy. Liqourice, a popular pregnancy craving, supports the adrenal glands by helping them to adapt to stress. Paeonia can assist with regular ovulation and enhance progesterone production.
Beyond these are a range of herbs that provide liver cleansing and promote general health. Dandelion; Artichoke; St Mary’s Thistle; Turmeric; Gentian. Finally, we should give a mention to broccolli… a wonderful food with potent liver cleansing properties.
HIS Hair Clinic
If you are suffering from female hair loss then a meeting to discuss your situation with one of our friendly team of experts will help. We have a complete range of the most modern treatments available to help you through what we know is a challenging event. To make an appointment for your free consultation simply complete the form at the side of this page or click here to find your nearest clinic.
