So here it is: my lame attempt at sharing something less than perfect.
Me: "I feel so bad for Dylan because I am constantly pulling pieces of my hair off him. I pull it from between his fingers, wrapped around his toes, off his towels and blankets... he's constantly covered in my hair!"This didn't happen with my other kids, so I was starting to think I'd done something to my hair (oops! maybe I shouldn't have used $3 grocery store hair dye...) and caused it to start falling out like crazy. At first, I didn't think it was thinning, so I wasn't too worried. Then it started to feel thinner. And thinner. And I got worried.
Kirk: "Honey, we're all covered in your hair."
So I did what I always do, and I asked Google to solve my problems.
Telogen Effluvium is when some stress causes hair roots to be pushed prematurely into the resting state. If there is some "shock to the system", as many as 70% of the scalp hairs are then shed in large numbers about 2 months after the "shock".
Turns out "child birth" is an excellent "shock," and I am now smack dab in the middle of losing up to 70% of my scalp hairs. GROSS!
My hair is everywhere. Be glad I am sparing you pictures. Kirk has to use Drain-O in the tub practically bi-weekly. We eat my hair in every meal I prepare. Every time I run my fingers through my hair, at least 5 strands come out. Again, I submit... gross!
Normal telogen effluvium lasts 6 to 8 months. I estimate I am in month 3 or 4.
I guess on the plus side, thanks to my thinning hair, if my blow-dryer breaks on a Saturday morning when I'm already running late for a million things (yeah, it happened...), I can dry my locks over the heater vent, and it only takes about 5 minutes. Gotta look for the positive, right?
8 comments:
I can't believe you can dry your hair with a heater vent. You really can't tell that you are losing hair, if that helps at all.
I wish I could dry my hair with a heater vent. Even if most of mine fell out I probably still wouldn't be able to because it's so thick.
As for your "condition"....I've heard it happening to other women after birth. I hope these months pass by quickly so you can have your hair stay on your head instead of ending up everywhere else. :-)
I lost huge (nasty!!) chunks of hair after my first two girls...this time around I lost it DURING the pregnancy. (Chalk that up among the other complaints of this last pregnancy) But, luckily...not much falling now!
And, yes, realizing that you can quickly dry it over the heater IS positive thinkin' HAHA!
Yeah for honest posts.
So after I had Lydia I lost my hair too. In fact, I had small bald spots I lost so much hair. It still is growing back in a year later. It was my least favorite party of recovery and I know EXACTLY what you mean when you say hair is everywhere. It lasted for about 2 months with me.
Good luck! And this post still doesn't make you look bad so no worries about that :)
LOL, Love it!
You are too funny! I am glad that you did the research about this because I always lose a TON of hair after my babies and just figured I would some day soon be bald!!! I now have a little hope that this crazyness will stop!
Hair loss is just one of many ways our bodies go to h**l after kids. Just sayin'.
Oh yeah, and PS...totally worth it. Right? :)
Can I just say I love reading your blog. It's why I don't write more often...I never have anything as witty to say.
If it makes you feel better, you just described my life. My hair is everywhere and in everything and there's no end in sight! I hope yours doesn't last long and you are back to normal soon! I feel your pain. :-)
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