Support Healthy Hair After Having a Baby

Just a few days ago we mentioned how hormones can affect your health in some pretty fascinating ways – and over the last few months I have truly been a testament to that!

Over the last 10 years, I have been pregnant and nursed 5 kids – now, after having baby 5, my hormones are all completely scrambled up trying to get back to their normal state. The hardest part of this postpartum experience is definitely the hair loss.

Why Postpartum Hair Loss?

Almost every woman goes through this period after giving birth – and for some of us, it truly is a struggle. Postpartum hair loss happens because most hair follicles grow hair for several months, then rest for several months. At any given time, usually 10% of your hair follicles are resting. During pregnancy, your hair follicles are resting even more – so you lose even less hair than you would normally.

After the baby arrives, your hormones go into manic mode, and try to catch your body up on all the hair loss that should have happened, but didn’t.. it’s totally normal, but it might scare you to see all that hair fall out. It scares the death out of me and I start to go into manic panic mode.

How to Cope with Hair Loss

So many women head to their local salon or, perhaps even their doctor for support with hair loss – it’s wonderful, though, when you can take your own steps to support a healthy scalp just by reaching in your cabinet.  I love to be able to make things myself, so I usually turn to my Essential Oil rack to see what I can use to help support my scalp.

Sulphur for Healthy Hair

Human hair is made from Keratin – which is very high in sulfur content. Sulfur gives hair its strength and elasticity. If you aren’t getting enough sulfur, your hair can be very dry and brittle (and therefore thin very easily too).  If you are experiencing thinning hair or hair loss and you aren’t postpartum, you may want to try to extend the growing and resting phase of your hair cycle to allow healthier, and stronger hair to grow in. Sulphur can help you do that.

Sulphur can be incorporated into your diet through food (foods like Fish, Beef, Eggs, Onions, Garlic, Asparagus, Cauliflower, Kale & more)… which provide the materials you need for keratin to synthesize. You can also pick up a dietary supplement like Sulfurzyme (from Young Living) which will support healthy and natural hair growth.

Here’s an easy way to whip up healthy hair oil that you can massage into your scalp daily to promote healthy hair.

Healthy Hair Serum

• 10 drops Rosemary Essential Oil
• 10 drops Cedarwood Essential Oil
• 10 drops Lavender Essential Oil
• 2 oz glass dropper bottle
• Castor Oil (for thinning hair) or Jojoba Oil (for dry hair)

To make: mix the essential oils with the castor or jojoba oil. Massage on your scalp after taking a shower to encourage and support healthy hair and scalp. There isn’t a need to wash out – I would recommend showering and applying it in the evening.

Optional: Adding Thyme Essential Oil is also wonderful for supporting a healthy scalp and to promote the delivery of nutrients.

What oils do you use? We use Young Living Essential Oils – find out more about Young Living and how we use them for our family HERE.