When you give birth, you expect to lose sleep, take time to recover, and you know there is some adjusting to a new way of life. However, what you probably didn’t expect is hair loss. The truth is, Postpartum hair loss is more common than you would think, but does this mean you are doomed to losing your hair?

Well, not exactly. While there is a chance you will experience hair loss, there is a simple, cost-effective, safe, and painless way to get your hair to grow back. So, before you spend hours on Google researching hair loss, let’s examine the causes of postpartum hair loss and what you can be doing to reverse it using low-level laser therapy as a hair loss treatment.

First off, the technical term for postpartum hair loss is postpartum alopecia. As many as 90% of women will have a form of hair loss after their pregnancy. The average person loses about one hundred hairs in a day, but they don’t fall out all at once, so many people don’t even notice that those hairs are missing. Hair usually grows in three cycles: the hair growth phase, the transition phase, and the resting phase.

However, during pregnancy, estrogen levels in your body increase dramatically and freeze hair in the growing (or “resting”) phase of its normal cycle. Hair that would naturally fall out stays put, resulting in thicker hair. This leaves your hair, while pregnant, looking as lush and beautiful as a supermodel’s, or so thick that you can barely get a brush through it. So you shouldn’t experience any hair loss during pregnancy.

However, all things must pass. So when you do give birth to your baby and your estrogen levels dramatically fall, so too does your hair right out of your head. When your hormones drop back to normal, all the extra hairs that have accumulated also drop.

New moms shed about 400 hairs a day! That is four times the amount of your average person! In addition to the estrogen and progesterone changes in the postpartum period, stress and nutrition impact hormone levels, which can also influence hair growth. Most new moms aren’t eating properly and not getting enough sleep, resulting in bad overall health and bad hair health.

Also, if your thyroid was affected by your pregnancy, this can worsen hair loss. If you suspect that you have a thyroid deficiency, you should consult your doctor.

Postpartum hair loss commonly starts at around three months after birth. This directly correlates to the length of time the resting phase of hair growth occurred – when you’re between one and six months pregnant, with an average of three months, ending when you’re at full-term pregnancy. So, the amount of time between childbirth and the onset of shedding will vary from woman to woman.

The hair loss will seem more extreme depending on if your hair grew much more than average during pregnancy or if you have long hair. If you’re breastfeeding, some of your extra hair may hang on to your scalp until you wean or start to supplement with formula or solids.

Take comfort in knowing that most women do return to their usual hair growth cycle between six and twelve months after birth, while your child has baby hairs growing. Your beautiful locks should be back to the way they were before pregnancy, and you’ll have your natural hair again if you wait long enough. But keep reading, and you may not have to wait that long.

You’ve tried everything, but there are not many treatments out there aimed directly at postpartum hair loss. Still, hair loss treatment options can include medication and therapies to reduce inflammation around hair follicles; however, there are many things you can do to prevent hair loss from happening in the first place.

Hair loss prevention starts by ensuring your blood sugar, iron, ferritin, zinc, and vitamin D levels are normal. Eat regular meals, continue with the vitamins your doctor prescribes, and add healthy foods to your plate. Some great foods that support hair growth are:

• • • • • • • •     • Avocados
                    • Fatty fish
                    • Eggs
                    • Berries
                    • Greens
                    • Tofu
                    • Beans

Eating healthy foods will make you feel better, and give your body the proper building blocks to restore your hair.

When it comes to hair loss, adjusting your diet can do wonders for preserving your hair; however, you still may not be getting all the nutrients you need. If this is the case, there are hair loss supplements and vitamins available to help ensure that you are getting all the extra help you can to help your hair return to normal.

Another way to help grow back your hair holistically is to minimize stress (this is a tough one, as it’s much easier said than done when you’re caring for a newborn infant). Some ways to relieve stress include: meditation, walks, yoga, asking for help, taking naps, and self care. While it can be hard to make time for yourself when caring for a newborn, try to ask for help from family members. Remember, any self care is excellent, even if you can only fit in ten minutes at a time.

If you do not wish to wait a year or are experiencing unusually high amounts of hair loss, there is a simple hair loss treatment approved by the FDA to help promote hair growth.

Low-level laser therapy regrows hair at the cellular level.

It’s based on the principle of photo-biotherapy, a procedure where laser light reactivates protein synthesis. Clinical trials demonstrate that inactive hair follicles can be made to resume protein synthesis throughout the use of this treatment.

illumiflow offers safe and painless hair restoration devices that utilize the principles behind LLLT in a convenient form that can be worn under most hats and caps when out and about or just as in the comfort of your own home. This gives the wearer the ability to apply a laser therapy session whenever they see fit.

If you’re experiencing postpartum hair loss, that means you’ve just given birth to a baby. You don’t have time to be worrying about your hair falling out, trying to maintain a healthy diet, dealing with your menstrual cycle again, and preventing stress.

That’s why low-level laser therapy can be perfect for your situation. You can use it at home or on the go. The Illumiflow laser cap is portable, so it’s perfect for mothers of newborns who don’t want to be restricted to their home to apply its use.

The illumiflow laser cap is considered one of the best forms of low-level laser therapy caps on the market, especially compared to its competitors.

The good news is that while postpartum hair loss is common, you can take some steps to restore your hair naturally. Focus on nutrition, self-care, and try out low-level laser therapy. With the illumiflow laser cap, you can get back to your routine, see beautiful hair growth, stop fretting about your hair falling out, and focus on being a mother to your newborn baby.