Recently, Queen Sun Li shared the secret recipe of preventing postpartum alopecia at the Weibo. She wrote: "The doctor told me to continue taking calcium tablets after giving birth to the baby to avoid losing my hair. I did this, and I didn't lose my hair twice. I also said that calcium citrate is more easily absorbed by the human body ... "
Postpartum alopecia is the trouble of many new mothers. After giving birth, a thick head of hair seems to become extremely sparse overnight, especially on the top of the head. Sun Li's diet undoubtedly brings new hope to new mothers, but is postpartum hair loss really related to calcium deficiency? Can calcium supplementation really prevent hair loss?
Three causes of postpartum alopecia
To know whether calcium supplementation can prevent alopecia, we must first understand the main causes of postpartum alopecia.
Cause 1: hormone.
Some mothers may find that their hair seems thicker and healthier during pregnancy, but after the baby is born, they begin to lose a lot of hair and their hair is not as shiny as before. One of the important reasons is the change of estrogen level.
When a woman is pregnant, estrogen secretion in the body is strong, which leads to slow hair renewal and longer service time for hair that should normally fall off. In addition, a rich and nutritious diet during pregnancy will make your hair grow healthier. However, after delivery, estrogen in the body began to decrease, and hair loss began to increase, which seemed to have dropped a lot.
Reason 2: Mental anxiety.
They all say that they are "extremely smart", and excessive use of the brain or mental anxiety can also lead to a lot of hair loss. Although the new mother has the joy of welcoming the new baby after delivery, she is more surprised and tired to take care of the newborn, the difficulty of breastfeeding, the baby's upside-down work and rest day and night, the thought of worrying about the baby's illness, and the weakness after delivery, all of which will form great physical pressure and cause a lot of hair loss after delivery.
Reason 3: Postpartum nutritional imbalance.
After giving birth, new mothers often fall into two dietary misunderstandings: one is to make up breast milk desperately, especially in many places, the custom is that they can't eat fresh vegetables and fruits after giving birth, but can only eat all kinds of meat, eggs and soup. The other is to lose weight quickly after delivery, and will adopt a diet method to support vegetables and fruits and not eat staple food and meat. In fact, these two methods are unhealthy, and both may lead to a lot of hair loss due to unbalanced nutrition.
In addition to the above three main reasons, postpartum alopecia may also be caused by not shampooing and improper nursing techniques, but there is no direct connection between calcium deficiency and postpartum alopecia, and there is no obvious evidence that calcium supplementation can prevent postpartum alopecia.
How to prevent postpartum alopecia?
Postpartum alopecia is ultimately caused by the change of hormone levels in the body, and this hormone change will be different due to different personal constitutions. Some mothers have serious postpartum hair loss, and some mothers have little postpartum hair loss. So, what can be done to prevent postpartum hair loss?
1. Pay attention to a balanced diet
The new mother should have a reasonable and balanced diet, strengthen nutrition, and not be picky about food, partial eclipse or taboo. As the most important nutritional source of hair is protein, mothers should focus on supplementing some foods rich in protein to meet the nutritional needs of hair. Such as milk, eggs, fish, lean meat, walnuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, purple rice and so on. Also pay attention to eating more vegetables and fruits.
Step 2 keep a good mood
A happy mood is one of the magic weapons to restore hair, which can effectively prevent and reduce hair loss. During childbirth and confinement, the parturient must maintain a comfortable and optimistic mood, avoid negative emotions such as nervousness, anxiety and fear, and realize that postpartum alopecia is a normal phenomenon. Don't be too afraid and anxious, so as not to form a vicious circle and lead to mental hair loss.
Hair care
After giving birth to a child, it is not recommended that women should not wash their hair for a long time, but should wash their hair frequently to remove the grease and dirt on the scalp and keep the scalp clean, which is conducive to new hair growth. Wash your hair with a shampoo that suits you, and it is best not to use a hair dryer too much after washing your hair.
4. Correctly treat postpartum alopecia
In view of the fact that postpartum hair loss is mostly a physiological phenomenon, it usually stops and gradually recovers within six months to nine months. If the hair loss phenomenon is not serious, the mother does not need to pay attention to it and carry out normal cleaning care. If hair loss is serious, you can take some vitamins such as oryzanol and B vitamins under the guidance of a doctor, which is also good for postpartum hair loss.