Hair Loss in Postpartum: Your Guide to Prevention and Recovery EP 136

I spoke in a previous episode about the reasons for postpartum hair loss due to physiological changes in the body. Definitely give that a listen as a foundation to today's conversation. 

In this episode, we'll emphasize once again that hair loss in postpartum is not normal and discuss strategies for prevention and recovery. 

In this episode, we're sharing: 

• Strategies for prevention of and recovery from postpartum hair loss. 
• Why significant amounts of hair loss should never be considered normal. 
• Why nutrition and hydration through food need to be the foundation of recovery and prevention rather than supplements. 
• The role environmental toxins play and how to safely detox during this time period. 
• 3 important key factors in hair loss and how to take them into consideration during pregnancy and postpartum. 

This question about how much hair loss is "normal" is one I get often. I truly hope you find this helpful and will continue advocating for yourself and/or your clients in getting to the root cause of hormonal imbalance symptoms like this. 

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Transcript

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Depression, anxiety, and autoimmune symptoms after birth is not how it's supposed to be. There is a much better way, and I'm here to show you how to do just that. Hey, my friend, I'm Maranda Bower, a mother to four kids and a biology student turned scientist obsessed with changing the world through postpartum care. Join us as we talk to mothers and the providers who serve them and getting evidence-based information that actually supports the mind, body, and soul in the years after birth.

Welcome to Postpartum University. 
I am Marand Bower and I'm here for a spectacular episode on postpartum hair loss. 
What better conversation to have on Halloween, given the fact that postpartum hair loss is often such an incredibly scary scenario? 
Because when we are losing a lot of hair, it can feel really frightening. It can feel like we have very little control and, let's face it, our hair is such an important part of who we are. There are so many cultures around the world that really practice the art of sacred hairkeeping and making sure that our hair is very well-kept and it doesn't necessarily mean that you don't have the messy buns or the ponytail that's my go-to hairstyle but you can have those things and still really honor and cherish the sacredness that is our hair and what it represents for us and who it is.

I know that sounds super funny and I actually go into this conversation a lot deeper in episode 27 when we talk about the truth about postpartum hair loss, I highly recommend going to listen to that episode because I talk about the actual causes of postpartum hair loss and that's really a foundational piece to this episode.

So in today's episode, I really want to uncover what we can do. How can we prevent this and what do we do to recover from this? This is a recurring question I get asked so often and I find like it very much needs its own episode.

So before we dive into that, though, I have to recommend go take a listen to episode 27, because there is so much there that needs to be addressed in that conversation about the way hair grows and develops and the cycle of hair and really the myths that we have come to know as truths when it comes to postpartum hair loss, how it's so part of the process and we can expect major hair loss and it's all normal, and really it truly is not, and I don't think it's fair in any way shape form or fashion to tell women that it's okay for them to lose significant amounts of hair, to where they might even feel like they're going bald in certain spots, and that's normal because they've had a baby.

Really, nothing is further from the truth. It is not normal to have significant hair loss. A little bit of hair loss, yes. A significant amount, an amount that worries you is not okay.

Okay, so now that we've established that, let's talk about how we can really prevent. What are some preventative strategies? So maybe you're pregnant or you're expecting, or maybe you are a coach or a provider and you're working with pregnant moms and this is one of their concerns, and I see this often.

I have this reoccur on a weekly basis. I find these emails in my inbox. What do I do to help myself prevent the postpartum hair loss?

Because maybe it was so significant with a previous child and you don't want to do that on repeat. 
So here's a couple of strategies. 

Strategies to Prevent Postpartum Hair Loss

First and foremost, make sure that you are getting balanced nutrition and hydration. This is key. This is one of the foundational pieces.

We truly enter in motherhood incredibly depleted of key nutrients, and it's not just protein, but collagen, right, and those that we associate with hair loss, but it's also those B vitamins, the zinc, the C, A, E all of those are so incredibly important and if we're missing one, oftentimes we're missing multitude of vitamins and it's not about taking a bunch of vitamins and minerals via supplementation and I think that might be important, especially if you've been depleted for a really long time or maybe you suffer from an autoimmune condition that kind of exacerbates that, that symptom of being depleted.

Then it's really, really important to begin with food and then add supplements. Supplements are to be supplemented, but we really truly have to sit down with ourselves and figure out how are we going to make a lifestyle change that allows us to be nourished on the constant, where nourishment is just a part of our daily life rather than a band-aid fixer up or when something like this goes awry in our life.

So truly, make sure that you are living that balanced nourishment, that you're getting enough protein, that you're getting enough easily digestible nutrients within your body and it feels good for you. And if you have no idea where to start, this is where you want to go.

You want to go to the postpartum nutrition plan, no matter if you're in your pregnancy or if you're six years postpartum and you're still struggling with nutrient depletion. If you are nutrient-deprived, this is where you want to go. It's six weeks of gluten-free and dairy-free meals and it will help you eliminate inflammation and support you in hormone balance by giving you all of the nutrients your body needs, starting with food.

Freezer meals, all the recipes included, including amazing snacks that are so easy and good for you, and cooking hacks, all the different things, and, of course, we do supplement guides and all of that as well.

I will include a link for that in the show notes.

If that's you, if you're not sure where to begin, what in the world do you do? How do you make this a lifestyle? Absolutely, go to the postpartum nutrition plan in the show notes. We've got you covered.

That is one of the foundational pieces, and I hear so often too we are very quick to blame our hormones and we're very quick to blame the thyroid, and both of those are accurate in terms of the level of impact they have on hair loss.

If you have a thyroid condition, if you are significantly deprived of nutrients, if you are having issues with hormone balance, there's a good chance that you're going to experience hair loss. But we have to get to the root of why that is occurring. When we have thyroid issues and I did a massive training on the thyroid and bust some serious myths when it comes to that. 
We have to look at why is that becoming out of balance.

It's not just because we've had a baby, which tends to be the sole reason we blame so many dysregulations and imbalances within our bodies.

Oh, you have hormones that are out of balance. Oh, yes, of course, that's normal. You just had a baby. Oh, you have thyroid issues. Yeah, of course, you just had a baby. That's to be expected. All of these things are just blamed on that. I'm telling you 100%, 110%. That is not true. Just because you have a baby doesn't mean that your body is supposed to be in a state of imbalance. So truly look at the root cause of that.

And so, when we look at thyroid dysfunction, a big concern of that is nutrients, for one.

Also here's number two toxins, antibodies are a huge component of our everyday lives. No matter what you do, you cannot get away with it. You're going to be exposed at some form, at some level, and we can do our absolute best to take care of ourselves, and that's what I recommend.

Make sure that you're exposing yourself as little as possible, and that you're not taking in tons of chemicals in your cleaning products, and that what you're putting on your face and in your hair are actually not harmful to the body, and that can be a big challenge.

It can be a big shift in the way that we are taking care of ourselves, especially in postpartum.

There's something you need to know about detoxing and postpartum and in pregnancy our bodies refrain from detoxing as they once did.

Our detoxification pathways are not as open because we are doing everything we can to hold on to a baby. We want to kind of suppress the immune system a tad bit so that we can have a full-term pregnancy and then after pregnancy, when we enter into the postpartum state, our bodies are holding onto a lot of toxins that have accumulated within the pregnancy period and it's on major release.

That massive amount of sweating and peeing and feeling like you're just dripping from every orifice in the postpartum period is very, very common. Our need to be really warm and to have all of these toxins be removed from multiple detoxification pathways within our bodies from kidneys, from our liver, from our skin, which is a major detoxification pathway. All of those become very open and a lot of those toxins are removed.

There are multiple cultures across the world that actually use heat therapy like infrared heat saunas or deep saunas and things like that to help encourage that sweating to remove the toxins that have built up, specifically in pregnancy. And so when that doesn't happen, we are at a very crucial point where things start to happen within our bodies that are going to support imbalances, and one of those is the thyroid, and thyroid is just so incredibly sensitive to xenoestrogens, to microplastics, to all of the harmful chemicals that we have in our everyday life.

Because of that level of sensitivity on top of the level of sensitivity we have in postpartum, with our bodies changing in the detoxification pathways, what we have is a recipe for a problem. And so making sure that you are able to anticipate and support your body in detoxifying for whatever toxins that you're going to come into contact with, that you just don't have any control over just walking into a room or grocery shopping and you have to walk by that aisle that has all of the fragrances it's not really a choice because it's next to the toilet paper.

Or going to the gas station you got to fuel up. You don't have a choice. You don't have to be like those things are toxic. But there's only so much we can do, so don't fret over it. Don't kill yourself over trying to make sure that you live a toxic-free environment.

Do what you have control over. Make sure that you're not putting toxic chemicals in your home for cleaning products. Making sure that you're not spraying yourself with perfume, which happens to be right on our neck in the thyroid gland so it's so many things or those lotions and potions that we put on our face, which is right there next to that thyroid gland.

But what I'm saying is make sure that you are using clean products, and this goes with your hair too, because your hair is such a sensitive space.

Your scalp is very sensitive as well, especially in pregnancy and postpartum. So if you want to prevent hair loss, make sure that you are being very gentle with your hair care, which includes not using tons of heat and not using harsh chemicals and products on your hair.

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Balanced nutrition, making sure that you're living toxin-free, that you're being gentle with your hair care.

A hug component is stress reduction. Reduce your stress.

We know we have tons of scientific evidence that shows that stress can really exacerbate hair loss. It is intrinsically linked and I wanna make sure that you understand that I'm not using the word stress management here.

Stress management is important, but that is not as important as stress reduction.

Start looking at how can you eliminate the stress in your life.

What can you say no to? What do you need to say yes to in terms of help and how can you enjoy the finer things of life, like doing laundry and doing dishes? There are some things in life that we're going to have to do that feel really mundane.

How can you turn those into beautiful meditative practices where you focus on gratitude during those times when you walk away feeling really good and connected to your breathing and your body and your life as a mother and as a woman?

Practice stress reduction or stress management, but really hone in on stress reduction. Another part of this is making sure that you are preparing for a birth experience that is conducive to less stress, so you're not putting yourself in an environment where you are likely to experience high rates of birth trauma or birth intervention.

Make sure that you have a team who's going to support you through the transition into motherhood, no matter if it's your first or your 10th child.

That, whatever it is that you're going to be, or wherever you're going to be birthing your baby, that it's going to be done in the best of ways, in the least stressful way, because that's going to set the tone for the rest of your nervous system function throughout postpartum. 

If you can have a very gentle, carefree birth, it's going to set you up for your nervous system success, where you're not going to be operating at a very high level and sensitive to so many different components of stress that make things that much more challenging.

There are your prevention strategies, and I will tell you, postpartum is filled with emotional and physical changes. They can be really stressful.

Finding all of these things and techniques I will tell you takes time. It's really a lifestyle shift. The Mama Thrive method, which is what I'm sharing with you here, is these preventative strategies are incorporated into lifestyle change, and so they take time, and sometimes it means picking one and really running with it. Sometimes it's dabbling into a few pieces and seeing what feels good for you.

But if you're in a position to prevent this and you can start here, these are the areas where you can start.

Okay, so now that we've addressed that, I want to go into some recovery approaches.

Strategies for Recovering from Hair Loss in Postpartum

Maybe you are a mom and you were deeply struggling with major hair loss, or maybe you're a provider and your clients are struggling with this.

How do we recover after it's already taken place or if we're already in the throws of it?

I gave you some really important strategies in the prevention side of things, and many of those are going to be applicable here in the recovery approach, so really addressing the root of the deficiency that we're experiencing. You can't just. You know and this is something that I see all the time is that we can. We'll just go get the supplements and the hair creams and we'll call it good and eventually our hair will grow back. Right, but if you never address the internal aspect right, because the internal part of this is what needs to be supported, deeply supported, and when it's not supported, then we have symptoms like major hair loss and hormone imbalance. So getting around the addressing the root cause is not an option. You have to address the root cause and so there's some long-term strategies that you have to implement. And that is addressing nutrition.

Getting enough protein, collagen, all those B vitamins, zinc, C, D, A, E all of those are so incredibly important Biotin, selenium, very, very important.

When we look at food as a whole, just making sure that you're eating dense, nutrient-rich foods that are easy to digest.

And again, if you're not sure what that means or where to start, or you have been brought up to believe that salads and smoothies in postpartum are the best rest assured that's not the case. That will only do more damage. It will only support more hair loss.

What you need to do is get the postpartum nutrition plan and I have that linked for you. There's also a multitude of episodes we'll have linked here that will help you understand those significant postpartum changes that take place on a physiological level.

That requires a different way of eating and nourishing your body so that you get the most dense nutrient foods that are so easy to digest and that are easy on the tummy. So make sure you address the root cause. Get those vitamins in you, those minerals in you, and do so through food. That is first and foremost.

And the other component is addressing stress and trauma. So we talked about that as well. Making sure that you're getting enough sleep.

Stop blaming hormones. Right, hormones are responders. They are simply doing what the body tells it to do, and so when there's an imbalance in hormones or in thyroid, it always goes back to stress, sleep and nutrition, like hands down. Those are the components that you wanna address.

Again, those lifestyle things. I'm gonna give you a couple of other really important things that you can implement too in terms of supplement collagen, beef liver capsules, and then bone broth.

Bone broth is so nutrient, dense, and so all of the, and oftentimes they are full of collagen as well. We certainly hope you're cooking your bone broth full of collagen and leaving that in there. Fat and collagen is so, so beneficial and we need that. Fat does not make you fat, right. Fat helps you with brain development, it helps with breast milk production and it helps with hormone regulation, and as a woman, we need so much more than the standard American diet suggests.

Make sure you're getting lots and lots of fat and collagen and bone broth and that will help with hair growth and hair loss. So making sure that you're getting enough so you don't experience that hair loss and people actually use that collagen and that fat on their hair as well because it's such a necessary component. 

Getting it internally and then getting it externally. So make sure that you're staying away from chemicals. Let's talk about hair care for a second.

Stay away from those chemicals and heat and give yourself a massage with some collagen and hair oil, argan oil, coconut, shea butter.

These oils really help hydrate and strengthen your hair and making it more resilient to damage, and it also can help protect the hair from damage as well.

Making sure that you're getting it on the inside, so ingesting those beef liver capsules, the bone broth and high nutrient values, the collagen, but also using it externally as well on your hair, can really help support your hair and your hair growth. And, of course, staying away from those harsh chemicals and heat.

Another component to this as well is making sure that you're protecting your hair during the day and night. Wear a hair cap if you need to protect your hair at night so that when you wake up in the morning you don't have a ratted mess that you have to brush out. That can be really really difficult and if you are someone who uses a lot of protective hairstyles, that can really take a toll on your hairline and your edges.

So traction alopecia, which is the fancy term for hair loss that happens due to traction. So when you have a protective hairstyle there's a lot of pulling and there's a lot of pressure that happens on the scalp itself. So, doing your best to take care of the hair and scalp area and give yourself lots of oils and even be gentle on that area, if you need to wear a protective hairstyle and potentially don't wear a protective hairstyle, if you are going through a lot of loss and know that if you are someone who wears a protective hairstyle, that when you take out your hair you're going to experience a lot more of that loss over a period of time because your body is not you're not shedding that throughout the day as someone who's not wearing a protective hairstyle.

So it looks like a significant amount of loss when really oftentimes it's the same amount of loss as someone who's not wearing a protective hairstyle. Ok, I hope all of that is making absolute sense.

Herbal Remedies for Hair Loss in Postpartum

I also want to share with you some tried and true herbs that are just so beneficial for hair loss and regrowing hair, and the reason being is because they contain high levels of nutrients and minerals and they are just absolutely phenomenal for hormone balance overall.

Stinging nettles, red raspberry leaf, red clover blossoms, and oat straw highly highly recommend them.

If you're gluten free, like myself, and you require a strict gluten free diet, oat straw is not something to be consumed, but that, if that is 100 percent not a concern for you, oat straw is definitely something to go for.

I also hear a lot of people talk about a product called Nutriful, and it is a supplement that is geared toward hair loss and regrowing your hair, so I kind of did some research on that before I started this episode, and it's really a bunch of vitamins and minerals and nutrients derived from herbs, which I think is absolutely amazing, and I know a lot of people swear by that.

I've never tried this before. I don't have any firsthand experience with it, but I do know a lot of people swear by that product.

If you want to cover the herbal and supplemental aspects of your approach to recovery that can be very, very beneficial.

I hope that is helpful for everyone, especially in addressing these constant questions that I get. I love this question and I hope that this is very helpful for you all who might be wanting to prevent it or to get rid of the hair loss and really just experience the fullness of hair again, which is just very, very rewarding. And I also want to say that hair recovery is a gradual process and patience is really really key. The recovery approaches that I mentioned are meant to support and encourage your hair regrowing during the postpartum period, so it's really important to just give yourself time and space and know that it will work, that it is working, that it's a gradual process.

So again, I hope that's helpful. If you have any other strategies, check us out on Instagram and let us know in the comments. We're going to be sharing a bunch of our spooky stories when it comes to hair loss and all things related, and we hope you join us over there in the conversation and get some really tried and true strategies to support you or your clients that are going through that.

I am so grateful you turned into the Postpartum University podcast. We hope you enjoyed this episode enough to leave us a quick review and, more importantly, I hope more than ever that you take what you've learned here, apply it to your own life, and consider joining us in the Postpartum University membership. It's a private space where mothers and providers learn the real truth and the real tools needed to heal in the years to come and the real tools needed to heal in the years Postpartum. You can learn more at www.postpartumu. That's the letter U.com. We'll see you next week.