Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Pregnancy, Growth, Loss, and Dreadlocks

The one fact we need to keep in mind throughout this conversation is that our hair growth and loss can be completely dependent on our physical & mental health, nutrition, and the environment around us. This means that anyone can be affected by things like excessive growth, hair loss, and hair thinning -- while some of us remain entirely unaware that anyone else even struggles with these issues, and that’s okay! That’s why we call the transitions into our locked lives, journeys.

The Hair Growth Cycle

At any one time, 85% of our hair is growing, this growth stage is also known as anagen hair. Meanwhile, the other 15% otherwise known as telogen hair, is having a rest. Each hair follicle usually grows anagen hair for around four years and then has a rest for around four months. Approximately every 2-3 months the hair which is resting falls out so that new hair can grow in its place. Then as the new anagen hair emerges it pushes out the telogen hair to make room for itself. You can see this new anagen hair pretty prominently a couple months after lock maintenance, personally I call it your halo or new growth, and it sticks about an inch off your head, allllllll over.

We generally all lose hair at a steady and continual rate. Most of us are familiar with our pre-locked state of pulling hair out of our combs and brushes, particularly after a good hair wash. On average, we lose about 100 hairs a day, but this changes during times of excessive shedding and/or retention.

How Pregnancy Affects Hair

What happens during pregnancy is that hair tends to go into more of a resting and retentive phase; we don’t lose as much hair on a regular basis as we normally do. This is the reason why so many women experience fuller heads of hair during their pregnancy. Some women will even experience a change in the structure of their hair; sometimes it becomes curlier, or straight, darker or even a shade or two lighter. Be prepared for some hair differences during your pregnancy, even if you’d prefer not to have any.

Some ladies may say their hair has never looked as thick and full, while many of us with locks are sitting here with a hot mess needing to be tidied. Remember, during this time most of our hair isn’t actually growing in length, but growing in thickness! This switch up means we’re packing in a lot more hair into a tiny tube that was made to support the density your hair had at the time your locks were installed. When the new growth/anagen hair starts to settle in the lock it then begins to push and slide the old fall-out/telogen hairs to the bottom of the lock. This process is generally super stable under normal situations because the hair that remains holding onto the scalp grows throughout the process… however pregnancy slows the rate of growth (length) for most of our hair which can cause huge loops and overpacking to occur in our locks. This overpacking can cause huge shifts in the core of our locks if they’re still maturing, but can also cause extension wearers to lose their extensions because the surrounding hair has shifted too much to keep a secure connection. Since the extension is attached at the end of the natural lock to allow for easy removal, it's not uncommon for your natural lock to “push off” the extension over time. It’s good to note that this can happen after having a major reconstruction of your locks, as well as from any of the bulleted items below... 

So what other things can cause changes to our hair growth?

  • Pregnancy
  • Childbirth
  • Lactation
  • A surgical operation
  • Illness, especially if there has been an elevated temperature
  • An accident
  • Hormonal influence, particularly a decrease or increase in the amount of estrogen being produced
  • The contraceptive pill or other hormone based contraceptives
  • Some medications
  • Sudden weight loss
  • Dietary insufficiencies, in particular protein and Vitamin B6
  • Thyroid imbalance
  • Iron deficiency and anemia
  • Lack of adequate Vitamin B12
  • Inadequate Folic Acid intake
  • Miscarriage or stillbirth
  • Chemotherapy
  • Sudden shock which may have been physical or emotional


Hair Loss

When a person has gone through a shock or a change causing their body to alter its usual equilibrium, hair growth can be affected. This is not surprising because most, if not all, body systems can be affected by both physical and emotional shock. So instead of the usual 85% growing and 15% ratio of hair loss and resting phases (club hairs), this order is reversed. The majority of hair can go into a telogen (resting) phase making the remaining 15-20% of hair do all the active work in rejuvenating hair volume and replacement.

Two months is the general time frame between a major shock to the system (medication changes, childbirth, etc) and when hair loss becomes noticeable. The club hair is pushed out by new hairs coming up through the scalp. This isn’t all bad because essentially, as old hairs are falling out, new hairs are close behind. Similar to what happens when a baby tooth is lost and the new tooth is making room for its “pole” position.

Hair loss tends to peak to the point where a person may wonder if they will retain any hair at all. It’s not uncommon to develop bald patches especially over the ears and on the crown of the head. Some women notice more hair loss on one side than the other and feel they have to change their hairstyle to make the hair loss less obvious.

Generally, hair loss during pregnancy is only temporary; though it’s not uncommon for women to shed even more hair after their baby is born, particularly in the first six months. For many women, hair loss after their baby’s birth tends to peak at around four months and from then, hair follicles tend to rejuvenate. Women who are used to thick, long, wavy and dark hair tend to notice hair loss during/after pregnancy more than women with finer, fairer hair. Dark hair is obviously more noticeable as it sheds, frequently in the bathroom basin and the shower recess. Women with fine hair however, say they have less to lose and can become very alarmed when they see their hair thinning even more.

During this time our locks have been packing in all the good stuff, but now our scalp wants to let it all go! This is where things can get messy for some women who experience excessive fallout postpartum. This fall out tends to happen suddenly and often times leaves your locks holding onto only a few hairs at a time. It’s extremely important to seek maintenance during this time to make sure your locks don’t wind up with weak spots as your follicles rejuvenate to your pre-baby state. Remember, there’s about a 4 month gap before that shed hair is replaced with new growth. Because of this gap it’s extremely important to be aware that the lack of new growth can cause up to a 2 inch section of your locks to feel much thinner than the giant bump it left behind when postpartum hair loss kicked in. During your maintenance your stylist should be focusing in distributing the hair evenly throughout the lock while being extremely gentle to prevent future issues like lock-shedding near the root.

Generally between 6-12 months after delivery the rate of hair growth returns to normal, so from conception to the end expect about 2 years of uncertainty before your hair starts acting like it’s pre-baby self. That is, in most cases… If you plan to breastfeed, expect an additional loss once you plan to quit - unfortunately, hormones are some of the biggest causes for hair loss in most women - while medications and stress are closely behind them.

Telogen Effluvium

Very occasionally, the anagen cycle of hair growth is reset so that the growing phase becomes much shorter than it should be. And this is when a diagnosis of Telogen Effluvium may be made by a doctor. This is the excessive shedding of hair that can occur one to five months following pregnancy. This is not uncommon, affecting somewhere between 40% to 50% of women; but like most changes during pregnancy, it is temporary.

In cases of chronic Telogen Effluvium, a professional assessment by a dermatologist is recommended following referral from a GP. Treatment for a diagnosis of Telogen Effluvium is not considered to be very beneficial. But this doesn’t stop some companies aiming to convince potential customers of the wonders of their latest product. Generally Telogen Effluvium is self correcting, which means that with time and no specific treatment it will resolve itself.

Copyright © 2023 by Hagcraft All Rights Reserved.