My hair was falling out, ya’ll. In droves. It seemed like every time I went to do my hair, I was left with balls of hair in my hand. I panicked. The only thing that got me grounded again was the memory of a YouTube video I watched. I distinctly remember the YouTuber talking about how she was trying to hid her edges with a protective style because of postpartum shedding. Immediately, I went back to the video, did a little research, and learned postpartum shedding around 3-5 months like clock work. I don’t want that to happen to you sis. Even more importantly, if it does, I want to tell you what I did to regrow my hair, so you can do it too!
Regrow-noun|grow or cause to grow again.
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My Story
All was pretty much well after giving birth. Until three months. Like clockwork, I noticed my edges getting thinner and thinner. Not all as once, though. When my hair lined first began to thin, I was convince I was seeing things. Then, I tried to put my hair in a puff, and realized I had been hit with the big one. I was losing my hair. Soon after, I noticed more and more hair loss on wash days. I was not quite sure if I was loosing my hair because I had colored it, or if the dreaded postpartum shedding was happening to me.
In a panic, the only thing I had to hold on to was an old YouTube video I had watched. The YouTuber was specifically teaching us how to do a protective style to hide her edged. The next week I did the same style. Overall I was butt hurt, but I learned that as the pregnancy hormones that made your hair grow quickly and glisten leaves your body, the hair just goes with it. And honey, during pregnancy you could not tell me I wasn’t going to be on the ad’s for natural hair products. Pregnancy had my hair thriving, but I digress. So, I attempted a few things, some worked and some didn’t. The only highlight of the experience is that my hair lives to tell the story.
HOw I regrew my hair after postpartum shedding
I set out to try to combat postpartum shedding and hair loss. So, I tried various protective styles and different oil potions to get my hair to grow back, and luckily I was able to grow my hair back in about 2-3 weeks.
- I washed my hair with growth and strengthening shampoo every week. I took to washing and conditioning my every week, for I had more at stake than just my hair line thinning. Seeing as I colored my hair a few months prior, I did not want my hair to have any other reason to fall out. I thought it was best I treat both postpartum shedding and my hair dye with weekly washes and deep conditioning.
- I wore protective styles with no added hair. Now, honey, I love a good braided style or updo, more than most I’d say, but in this case, it did not help my hair grow back, but I’ll get to that in the do’s and don’t section. I opted to wear my hair in corn rolls, and I relied on my natural hang time– I could have been a rapper in the early 2000’s. It was during this time I learned to perfect my twist out because I didn’t have many options for styling.
- I used Jamaican Black castor oil daily. Every night before I went to sleep I had to tend to those almost non- existent edges by applying castor oil on my hair line. This might have been the most effective thing I did to regrow my hair after postpartum shedding, for I used castor oil in the past to revive my edges after they thinned when I had a short relaxed hair cut. At this point I swear by it.
Don’t get me wrong. While I’m so happy I was able to regrow my hair in 2- 3 weeks, I took some major losses. I’m grateful for them though because now I can share what not to do.
Postpartum shedding do’s and Don’ts
Do
- Wear protective styles
- Oil your hair daily
- Wash your hair with strengthening shampoo
- Be patient
Don’t
- Wear braids–I thought I was innovative and decided to put in my signature passion twists. It was an epic fail. I had some sort of edges when I put them in, I had none when I took them out. Sis, DON’T WEAR BRAIDS DURING POSTPARTUM SHEDDING.
- Wear hairstyles that cause too much tension on your hair line. Doing so will accelerate your hair loss.
- Stop taking your prenatal vitamins. I low key figured, hey, I’m not prenatal anymore, so I should stop paying 30 dollars for these vitamins. I was so wrong. In fact, some articles I read suggested the likelihood of postpartum shedding occurring increases when you stop taking your vitamins. On a personal note, when I began taking them again, my hair grew back.
In summary
All in all, pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum are all special and critical times in your life. There are so many things happening to your body all at once it’s hard to keep up. Hopefully you won’t have postpartum shedding or hair loss, but if you do, I hope this post helps you regrow your hair, or better yet, prevent it from happening all together.
Good Luck sis. Either way you’re beautiful.
Salute
Thanks for reading!
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