I once saw colleagues around me lose their hair after childbirth, and the hairline moved back several centimeters, but it recovered in about a year. My hair was still very thick and lush, so to be honest, I didn't take hair loss too seriously.
It wasn't until 2013, 3 months after the first birth, that I also started to lose my hair. The hair has gone from dropping a few strands per shampoo to seventy or eighty strands (a large one), and a dozen or twenty strands can be dropped each time you comb your hair.
At first, I was calm and knew that hair loss was a necessary postpartum process, but what I didn't expect was that this was only the prelude to my eight-year struggle with hair loss.
I studied with my baby until the early hours of the morning
I started to lose hair
In the second month after the end of maternity leave, the director talked to me for a long time, gave me a big compliment, expressed his hope that I would transfer jobs, and let me transfer from software testing engineer to product manager.
At that time, I was still very excited, because the company only product manager post can "face the saint" every week, I think about whether I can follow the big BOSS to achieve the upgrade of life class in the future, hahaha...
During that time, I was still breastfeeding, and when I came home from work at 7 p.m., after a series of operations of milking, carrying, and putting the baby to sleep, I could start my own free time.
Because I was transferred to a new position and needed to learn new tools and skills, I usually started studying at 10:30 p.m. and didn't get ready to go to sleep until the middle of the night. It was then that my routine changed, and for the next 6 years, I never fell asleep before 12 midnight.
In this way, a year after giving birth, my hair loss was slightly better than before, from seventy or eighty hairs to forty or fifty hairs per shampoo, but still took off.
I told my colleagues about the trouble of hair loss, and several colleagues suggested that I try to cut my hair short. I followed the advice and got my hair short the next day.
When I washed my hair for the first time after cutting it short, I didn't drop a few strands of hair. I was a little excited, but I was immediately punched in the face: such a short hair, casually with my hands, there are always four or five strands that fall into the palms of my hands, and the hair loss problem is still the same.
But my hair was still thick at the time, and I didn't pay too much attention to it.
Hair is getting less and less
I swept away all kinds of hair loss products
When the child was one year old and three months old, the child's grandmother took her back to her hometown to take care of her, and her husband was in the army and only came out once every two weeks. Without my husband and children, I seem to be back to the "single state", the work is getting higher and higher, working overtime every day, eating fast food every day, even on the weekend when my husband does not come back, I also soak in the company, sometimes in the early morning still have a voice conference.
For almost three years, I was responsible for nearly 60% of the company's core product line.
Along with the busy work, my hair is getting thinner and thinner. I wasn't even able to see my scalp at first glance, but I was already in a hurry. It has been nearly four years since I gave birth, and I still keep losing my hair, and I can take off more than 30 to 40 hair every time I wash my hair.
So, I started the online self-treatment journey, frantically sweeping away the treatment methods of hairless girls. All kinds of anti-shedding shampoo, hair growth water, vitamin B, black sesame pills, black beans, black rice, red dates... But everyone who looks a little more reliable, they all follow the full set of people, just the comb bought five or six, the scalp is ginger spicy to unconscious, so that the general ginger shampoo I can't feel a hint of spicy.
Of course, after a meal, the hair loss did not get any better...
"Ichimu is still half bald"
I can accept ugliness, but never accept baldness!
I became pregnant with my second child in 2017. The baby is really the protector of the mother, throughout the pregnancy, my hair returned to the state before hair loss, washed hair and lost more than 10 hair without a door! That time gave me happiness, thinking that my scalp conscience found that it healed itself...
However, this happiness did not last long. Three months after giving birth, I instantly returned to the intensity of my previous work, and when I got home from work, I quickly finished eating, and then worked overtime at home, and my mother-in-law helped take care of the two children. At night, when I go to bed, my mother-in-law brings a big treasure, and I bring a small treasure alone.
Xiao Bao's biological clock is somewhat upside down, often has to be carried until two or three o'clock in the morning to fall asleep, I have to get up at seven o'clock the next day to go to work, and the sleep time is seriously insufficient.
This went on for a week, and on a Tuesday that I remember fondly, I lost an unprecedented amount of hair while washing my hair, and I couldn't hold it when I rolled it up. I was completely frightened and stupid, Bai Juyi's "Yimu is still half bald" is just like that!
Panic and anxiety left me without falling asleep all night, eager to find out why I lost my hair. I can accept ugliness, but I can never accept baldness!
The next day, I took a leave of absence to go to the hospital. I went to the obstetrics department first, and the doctor prescribed me some oral medicine. After taking the medicine, I went to see the dermatologist again. At that time, my scalp condition was that even after washing my hair, I could pick out a lot of small yellow grease lumps. The doctor said I had seborrheic dermatitis and that hair loss might be related to this and prescribed me external medication. I was a little excited, thinking that I had found the cause of the disease, and then I was waiting for a cure.
However, after three months of long treatment, my hair loss is still there, and at least forty or fifty hair losses have been lost while washing my hair. "The decay is rare and countable", the top of my head can already see a large piece of bare scalp, I have a complete mental breakdown, my emotions burn at a point, the whole person's state is getting worse and worse, and I often have headaches and stomachaches, and everything seems to have become very bad.
At the most serious time, the forehead is also exposed, and the picture is slightly improved 丨 The author provided the picture
The "zebra chased by the lion" stopped
I wasn't bald anymore
My husband saw that I was in such a poor state and suggested that I leave my job and rest at home for a while. When I decided to leave, another unit issued an invitation to me, hoping that I could be stationed in the unit, and the company leaders agreed, so I went.
In the new environment, the leader considered that my family had two treasures, and took good care of me, the workload was not very large, and I, a person who had been crazy for several years, suddenly lived a nine-to-five life. After the pace of work slowed down, I realized that work was not the whole of life, and I had been in a state of high tension for so many years, like a zebra that had been chased by lions.
After three months, my schedule slowly changed from falling asleep in the early hours of the morning to falling asleep at 22:30 at night and waking up at 5:30 in the morning. Except for the changes in schedule and work pressure, all my lifestyle habits are the same as before.
After about half a year, I gradually realized that I had no hair loss. Until now, I can see no more than 10 hairs falling a day, and I can see new hair growing to fill the area where I was bald before. Although I haven't returned to my prenatal state yet, I'm relieved.
2021 and 2022 hair volume comparison 丨 Author courtesy of the image
Looking back at the history of hair loss in recent years, I think that in addition to physiological postpartum hair loss, perhaps the more important reason is the high mental stress and unhealthy schedule during that period.
Now people's life pressure is getting bigger and bigger, and many people are also advocating a high-paying 996 life, but long-term mental pressure will not only make people anxious and grumpy, but also bring great harm to the body. I hope that my experience can remind everyone to pay attention to their own bodies and relieve stress appropriately, after all, in front of health, everything is a floating cloud.
Comparison of rubber bands used to tie hair when hair loss is severe 丨 Author courtesy of the author
Doctor reviews
Yao Lifeng | Attending physician of the Department of Dermatology, Taiyuan Central Hospital
Hair loss is a problem that plagues many people. Based on the description in this article and the photographs provided, the author's up to eight years of hair loss may be the result of the coexistence of the two most common types of hair loss, telogen-stage alopecia and androgenic-derived baldness.
The author's two severe postpartum alopecias are considered to be telogenesis. Each hair grows through three phases: growth, regression and rest.
The growth period is about 2 to 6 years, and in general, 90% to 95% of the hair is in the growth phase at any one time. After that, with the degradation of the hair follicle, the growth period ends, and the regression period is reached. After the regression period lasts for 2 to 3 weeks, the hair follicle degenerates, the activity stops, and the rest period is reached, at which time the hair will naturally fall out. After that, the hair follicles will dormant for 2 to 3 months, and then re-enter the growth phase, and so on.
Women are affected by hormone levels during pregnancy, the proportion of hair follicles in the growth period increases, hair growth is active, and the number increases, which is also the reason why the author's hair loss when pregnant with the second child is significantly alleviated.
Telogen alopecia is a physiological phenomenon, with a normal daily hair loss of 70 to 100 hair loss, along with approximately the same number of hairs reborn to maintain the dynamic balance of hair volume. However, due to changes in hormone levels after childbirth, the hair follicles during the growth period are significantly reduced, and the premature entry into the rest phase can cause an imbalance in the proportion of hair loss and new hair, and serious telogen alopecia occurs.
Telogen alopecia occurs in almost all women, but most clinical symptoms are not obvious, occur in 1 to 5 months after delivery, and usually recover spontaneously within 1 year after delivery, with mild hairline movements.
This condition generally does not require treatment, but it is recommended to eat a reasonable diet, nutritional balance, ensure the hair's nutritional needs, and maintain a happy mood and good living habits. Staying up late, nervousness, anxiety, etc. may affect the level of hormone secretion in the body, which indirectly affects the hair cycle, growth and pigment production.
Animal studies have shown that long-term stress stress increases the secretion of adrenocorticosterone in mice, thereby affecting the function of hair follicle stem cells and affecting hair growth, but whether this theory can be applied to humans is unknown.
In addition to improving diet, work and mood, it can also be relieved by changing hairstyles, as the authors did. Short hair can make hair look more fluffy, and it is not easy to cause shedding due to being pulled by yourself and your child, which can alleviate the anxiety caused by hair loss to a certain extent.
Because chronic telogen-stage alopecia often promotes or exacerbates the development of androgen-derived alopecia, women with long-term postpartum alopecia also need to exclude androgen-derived alopecia.
Androgenic-derived baldness, also known as seborrheic baldness, can be combined with seborrheic dermatitis mentioned by the authors. Female androgenic baldness generally does not move back, mainly between the top of the head and the hairline, the hair is diffuse thinning, slender, usually In the shape of a Christmas tree. The author's symptoms matched this presentation.
Androgenic-derived baldness of the Christmas tree-like appearance 丨
《Atlas of Trichoscopy—Dermoscopy in Hair and Scalp Disease》
We can identify the type of hair loss by pulling the hair test. Before the test, patients need to not wash their hair for 5 days, use their thumbs and indicator fingers to gently pull up a bundle of hair containing 50 or 60 hairs, calculate the number of pulled hairs, more than 6 are positive, indicating telogen-related alopecia, and the results of the hair pull test for long-term androgenic baldness are generally negative.
In addition, we can also go to the dermatology department of a regular hospital for scalp dermoscopy or hair microscopy to help determine the type of hair loss.
Androgenic-derived alopecia hair microscopy: the number of hairs in the follicle unit is reduced, and empty follicles are visible丨 "Atlas of Trichoscopy—Dermoscopy in Hair and Scalp Disease"
Androgenic alopecia will lead to hair in the hair follicle more and more fine, shorten the growth period, manifested as thinning hair and fine hair, and eventually the scalp this "soil" will go to "barren" - baldness, so if diagnosed as androgenic baldness, you need to go to the hospital dermatology department as soon as possible for formal treatment.
For androgenic-derived alopecia in women, it can be treated topically with 2% minoxidil under the guidance of a doctor. This drug may increase hair loss in the early stage of medication, and continued use will promote the growth of new hair, and it generally takes at least half a year or so to significantly improve hair loss. The authors took the medication for too short a time, which may be the reason for the poor treatment effect.
As mentioned earlier, stress can affect hair growth. Whether it is telogen-induced alopecia or androgenic baldness, it will be aggravated by factors such as mental stress and lack of sleep. In the case of increasingly serious hair loss, the author of this article changed jobs and adjusted his lifestyle in time, and his hair slowly increased.
We modern people are working under increasing pressure, but we must always keep in mind that the body is the capital of the revolution.
bibliography
[1] Lidia Rudnicka, Malgorzata Olszewska.et al. Atlas of Trichoscopy—Dermoscopy in Hair and Scalp Disease.
[2] Choi S, Zhang B, Ma S, et al. Corticosterone inhibits GAS6 to govern hair follicle stem-cell quiescence. Nature. 2021. Epub ahead of print.
ZHAO Yan. Chinese Clinical Dermatology. 2nd Edition. Jiangsu Phoenix Science and Technology Press. 2017. 1314-1332.
ZHANG Lulu, WANG Zhipeng, ZHANG Dongyi. Advances in the non-surgical treatment of androgenic alopecia. Chinese Journal of Clinicians. 2020; 48(9):4.
Hu Zhiqi, Miao Yong. Chinese guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of androgenic alopecia. Chinese Journal of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. 2019; 30(01):8-12.
WU Zhihua. Clinical Dermatology. Science Press.
Sharing personal experience does not constitute a diagnosis and treatment recommendation, can not replace the doctor's individual judgment of a specific patient, if you need to go to a regular hospital.
Author: Aimee
Editors: Ziyi, DaiTian Doctor