bjones
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During pregnancy women have the appearance of having more hair on their heads. Women develop a thicker, fuller head of hair while they are pregnant. However, they do not grow any more hair than usual. How can this be?
Before pregnancy, hair grows in a cycle. For 2 to 6 years, each strand of hair grows about ½ inch per month. The strand of hair then goes into a rest phase for several months, usually not more than three. In the resting phase, hair stops growing. At some point, most hair falls out in the shower or while it is being brushed. If it doesn’t fall out, it goes back into the growing phase. A small percentage of hair ever makes it to the resting phase. It is estimated that only 10 percent of hair is in the resting phase, while 90 percent is in the growing phase.
When a woman gets pregnant, her hormone levels rise. These high levels of hormones strengthen the hair so not as much falls out. After several months of having less hair fall out, there is more hair on the head than usual, making it thicker. At the same time, more hair is triggered to go into the rest phase. This creates the unusual paradox of a woman having more hair while growing less. Many women are thrilled and happy about their hair during pregnancy.
The downside is that after pregnancy, hair begins to come out of the resting phase and as hormones return back to regular, pre-pregnancy levels. When the hormones go back to normal, most of the hair that was supposed to have fallen out over the previous nine months all seems to fall out at once, returning the hair back to its original state rather quickly and creating a drastic change in appearance.
 Posted 5379 day ago
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