It's critical to lower stress since that's how it starts. It might seem cruel to tell you to relax when your hair is falling out, but it's crucial to stop the excessive hair shedding. Both dermatologists advise anything you can do to chill: meditation, yoga, exercise, deep breathing.
Also, go to sleep: "Lack of sleep can really affect your stress levels and increase your cortisol levels, so sleeping adequately is something you should aim for," advises Dr. Gohara. "But the real treatment is just time. We're animals and we shed just like any other animal. Sometimes shedding is just excessive, but with time that'll recalibrate itself."
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Try supplements
Along with lowering stress, supplements can help. Both dermatologists recommend Nutrafol, $79, a non-drug supplement which not only supports regrowth that's thicker and stronger, but also helps reduce the impact of stress, environment, and nutrition in the body to ensure hair that grows has a good chance of staying put. Dr. Engleman says she successfully used the supplement to combat telogen effluvium after giving birth to her second child.
She also notes biotin can be helpful for expediting hair growth. "The great myth there is (biotin) makes your hair thicker. It doesn't; it makes your hair grow faster. It only increases the rate, but it doesn't increase the amount."
Both dermatologists also advise minoxidil, otherwise known as Women's Rogaine 5% Minoxidil Unscented Foam, $53.99, can help with hair regrowth, although with a word of caution from Dr. Engleman: "If you start it, you gotta keep doing it; any new growth it creates — if you stop (using) it, it's gonna fall out."
For more serious hair loss, oral supplements such as spironolactone — an androgen-blocker that has been shown to prevent hormonal hair loss — and in-office procedures such as PHP are available. (Though these treatments are generally saved for extreme hair loss cases).
It makes sense that if you're trying to grow hair, you're going to want to be extra careful. "Certainly we want to baby that new hair that's regrowing and not stress it with a lot of chemicals and heat styling," cautions Dr. Engleman. Both dermatologists advise avoiding tight hairstyles which might put tension on delicate new hairs as well as minimizing exposure to harsh chemicals and dyes during regrowth. In other words, go easy on the heat styling, tend toward natural styles, and go longer between salon services such as coloring or processing.
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Have fun with volumizers
While you should avoid the hot tools, feel free to have fun with thickening shampoos and conditioners, such as Bumble and bumble Thickening Volume Shampoo, $28, along with products such as R+Co Rodeo Star, $32, to help amplify what you've got.
