Hair Loss During Pregnancy – Does It Happen?
Pregnancy is connected with a large number of hormonal changes in the female body. The female hormones such as the estrogen and the progesterone show wildly fluctuating levels and that do bring about changes in the other aspects of the body. There are many such changes that you might find in your body as the pregnancy is setting in, some of them will be desirable, some won't. But the fact remains that changes will occur.
Now, let us speak about one particular change that women are quite worried about nowadays. This concern is about the loss of hair that is believed to happen during pregnancy. This is quite a new concern in fact, because women of earlier generations never bothered about hair loss during pregnancy. So, what's the answer? Does hair loss really occur during pregnancy?
The answer is NO, at least, not in most women. The norm is that during pregnancy, instead of a loss of hair, there's a better growth of hair! Yes, in most women, the following things are observed:
- Hair on the head tends to grow longer.
- The hair becomes thicker. It is not impossible that a woman with straight hair may suddenly show curly and thicker hair during her pregnancy.
- The hair growth becomes denser on the head.
These things might come as a surprise, but they are true. What happens is during pregnancy, the levels of hormones such as estrogen and progesterone increase. These hormones are needed for the proper growth of hair. That's the reason why the hair becomes much more profuse. Estrogen is specifically important to stimulate the hair follicles to become stronger and retain the hair. Due to this, the hair grows thicker and does not shed. However, progesterone might cause the hair to become thicker, and sometimes thick enough to make them crack. This happens in later pregnancy, if it happens.
One more point to be remembered is that the medical professional dealing with the woman's pregnancy will increase supplementation of vitamins in the woman's body. Most of these vitamins, such as vitamin E, are directly responsible for the growth of hair. That is one more reason why the amount of hair grows in a woman during pregnancy, rather than falling off.
All these changes, however, are mostly temporary. Once the child is born, the hair growth may revert back to the normal levels. This is when the woman will feel that she is losing hair, when it is actually only returning back to her normal state. Also, since women become larger in size during their pregnancy, they do not notice the extra growth of hair during that time. But after pregnancy, these changes become much more noticeable.
It must be remembered that each woman is different, and when we speak about anything hormone-related, there are vast differences that might prevail from one woman to another. Having said that, it is necessary to add that hair loss during pregnancy is a very rare condition. But if it occurs, it might indicate an internal problem in the woman's body, which might interfere with the pregnancy itself. Such issues must be looked into.
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