Several high profile women have opened up about suffering from hair loss. Gabrielle Union stated that her hair started falling out due to the use of wigs and extensions. Jada Pinkett Smith said that her hair fell out in clumps. And now singer Christina Milian is opening about her postpartum hair loss. Speaking to People, Christina said that she noticed that her hair starting falling out last year about 3-6 months after she gave birth to her son. Christina said that it happened after her daughter, now 11, was born as well. She was so embarrassed that she hid her hair loss from her boyfriend, Matt. Christina said she was so desperate for solutions that she would look for billboards advertising hair loss solutions. Now Christina is partnering with hair care line Nioxin. Below are a few more highlights from People:
“I have always taken pride in not being the girl that leaves hair in the shower. Like, you’re not going to find my hair all over the soap,” she tells PEOPLE, laughing. “Well, I became that girl.”
Milian says that at first, she tried to keep it from boyfriend Matt Pokora. “I’m cleaning up before he gets in the shower because I just didn’t want him to see it,” she admits. “Eventually I had to tell him: I’m losing my hair. I was so embarrassed by it. There was hair everywhere.”
The “Dip It Low” singer, 39, is speaking out about dealing with the common condition, which can affect a new mom’s self-esteem. “Emotionally, there is a huge drop in confidence,” she says, recalling how it felt to experience hair loss while also being overwhelmed with a newborn and dealing with postpartum hormones.
Milian started noticing her hair thinning and falling out around 3 to 6 months postpartum with Isaiah, as well as with her 11-year-old daughter Violet Madison, whom she shares with ex-husband The Dream. “It’s a really disheartening experience,” she says. “I had times where I wanted to cry because I wasn’t sure if I’d ever have my hair grow back again.”
She recalls feeling desperate for a solution. “I would drive and actually look for billboards about hair loss. I’d look for doctor billboards and infomercials. I was checking everything out. It was a panic within me.”
As a woman hair loss is definitely humiliating. I know men have this struggle too and it can be very hard for them. Let’s talk about how going bald is particularly devastating for Black women. Black women specifically have an unhealthy attachment to the way our hair is supposed to look. Perhaps its due to all of the Sunday sermons where we hear that a woman’s hair is her glory and crown. When my hair began to fall out, I was horrified. My self esteem took a hit and I tried everything I could to salvage it. When I finally shaved it all off, I felt so free. I understand the frustration and the terror that Christina, Gabrielle, and Jada have felt. I am glad that Christina has figured out the cause of her hair loss and has found products that help. I love that Jada shaved her head and that Gabrielle stared wearing her hair natural and finding ways to protect her hair.
Conversations around hair loss need to happen, especially in the Black hair space. We need to have open conversations about solutions and cultural mindsets around hair to help free us from the shackles of what our hair is supposed to look like. I am glad Christina is talking about her journey. I hope that in sharing, Christina’s story will help other women going through the same thing.
photos via Instagram
When I was going through my divorce, I noticed a clump of hair that was really short. I asked my kids if they had come into my room when I was sleeping and cut my hair – which of course they had not. My hairdresser looked at the ends and determined it hadn’t been cut or burned off from a hairdryer – I figured out I had lost a chunk of hair from stress and it was starting to grow back.
I have very fine hair, so I can’t afford to lose any of it! It was frustrating – divorce is already so hard and then to have to deal with hair loss too? Ugh.
Hi MCMMOM sorry to hear about what you experienced. It sounds like something I went through, after a very stressful period I ended up with two completely bald patches on the top of my head. The hair was not growing back at all but eventually I found a family physician who specializes in male baldness procedures and it was diagnosed as alopecia areata. I ended up having to get two rounds of steroid injections in my head which stimulated the hair growth and it all grew back eventually. What they told me is that if you’ve experienced this once that if something really stressful happens I could be prone to it happening again. However if you catch it early there’s steroid creams that can be used to help promote the hair regrowth. As a cautionary note at first I went to my family physician and they did this pull test where they look at the roots of the hairs and based on that the physician said I did not have alopecia areata so stupidly I ended up having to go on an antifungal treatment cream for several months which did absolutely nothing but make my head greasy while it remained bald! Finally got to the hair growth specialist and got a correct diagnosis.
I have seen something in the comments here before about a supplement that is good for hair loss but I haven’t been able to find that reference recently, I’m hoping someone on this post will share what they have used for hair loss. Thanks everyone!
I think hair loss has become topical of late as it’s a side effect of covid. I had covid in Feb of 19 and among the myriad of side effects one the most debilitating was hair loss. I’m just now recovering and like Christina I was desperately looking for any product that would produce hair growth. I’m going to give this product a shot.
Good luck with this: one of my friends has long covid, and she’s also had this side effect, and now has a hair piece. I hope that the medicines work for you, and that you feel better!!
My hair grew like crazy when I was pregnant and then fell out in the months after. It eventually grew back but it was rough for a bit. My 20 year old daughter has had hair loss for a few years. No doctor can find a reason. Rogain has helped immensely but to me that means she has hormone problem even if her doc says it is all normal. She’s on the wait list for an endocrinologist to try and figure out what’s going on.
Mcmmom, good luck with managing the stress! And Aang, I hope you’re able to help your daughter. Female hair loss really sucks. I experienced it after my pregnancies as well, and I was fortunate enough to have it all grow back then. I’ve gone through menopause 2x and had to deal with hair loss all over again. The first time “menopause” at 37 turned out to be gluten intolerance. After finally figuring that out, among all the other health improvements, my hair grew back. Unfortunately, I’m now experiencing menopause number 2, and my hair is leaving me again. 🙁
Over the last year I noticed an increase in hair loss, turned out I have an under active thyroid. Two months later of synthroid daily and the amount of hair on the shower drain is almost nil. I suggest a conversation with a doctor if you notice a big increase in hair loss ( some loss is natural).
I had this issue post partum as well, it’s pretty common. But I would leave it in the shower some days as a reminder to my husband of what I was going through.
Haven’t been pregnant but I lost 80% of my hair after a trauma of incident at 26. It didn’t start falling out until 6 months later. Eventually most of it grew back but it was never the same. I wish we talked more about this and that I knew how to procure a wig. I was clueless.
I saw mine in the shower but I was honestly too tired to see it in the mirror. It wasn’t until I could curl all of my hair with two twists of a curling iron and seeing pictures now that I see it really was bad. I was too in love and exhausted to be embarrassed. Bonus: it grew back in and looks better than ever! We should try to love our bodies through pregnancy and post-partum. They carry us through a lot.
When my sister got diagnosed with cancer I was really scared about how the hair loss would affect her emotionally (she is also only 29). But she is taking it so well that it makes me really happy, she shaved it off as soon as it started falling. However I wonder if she’ll stay positive about it once Covid restrictions end and everybody starts leaving the house again. It can be such a blow to your self esteem…
I’ve never been pregnant, but I was very active in assisting a pregnant friend who’s husband had left her in the first trimester, and who had no family in the area and was facing a potentially complicated pregnancy due to certain health issues. She ended up giving birth to a healthy baby girl who she named after me 😍😍😍 I remember she was VERY worried about gaining too much weight with the pregnancy and had past issues with eating disorders. I went to a check up with her and informed her Dr that I didnt think she was eating enough, and the Dr told us that when a pregnant woman isn’t getting enough calories and nutrients, the baby/fetus will pull nutrients from the mothers teeth and hair. She said the growing baby WILL get its nutrients from the mother SOMEHOW. And informed my friend that she should expect noticeable hair loss and serious dental issues if she doesn’t start eating better. (Which is probably why Kate Middleton suffered so much hair loss w/her pregnancies. Hard to stay that thin when you’re pregnant!) So when I hear about pregnant or post partum women experiencing hair loss, I don’t ASSUME, but I do wonder if perhaps they were trying too hard not to gain too much weight while pregnant.
Premadonna, it’s a known side effect of post partum. I can promise you that I don’t have an eating disorder but I still lost a TON of hair. Your body holds onto it during pregnancy (hormones) and then the hormone change post-partum lets it all go. It was really rough along my temples 😩
I’ve never been pregnant, but I was very active in assisting a pregnant friend who’s husband had left her in the first trimester, and who had no family in the area and was facing a potentially complicated pregnancy due to certain health issues. She ended up giving birth to a healthy baby girl who she named after me 😍😍😍 I remember she was VERY worried about gaining too much weight with the pregnancy and had past issues with eating disorders. I went to a check up with her and informed her Dr that I didnt think she was eating enough, and the Dr told us that when a pregnant woman isn’t getting enough calories and nutrients, the baby/fetus will pull nutrients from the mothers teeth and hair. She said a growing baby WILL get its nutrients from the mother SOMEHOW. (this also explains how women in countries with severely inadequate nutrition manage to carry babies to term) And informed my friend that she should expect noticeable hair loss and serious dental issues if she doesn’t start eating better. (Which is probably why Kate Middleton suffered so much hair loss w/her pregnancies. Hard to stay that thin when you’re pregnant!) So when I heat about pregnant or post partum women experiencing hair loss, I don’t ASSUME, but I do wonder if perhaps they weren’t eating enough while pregnant.
I have fine curly red hair to begin with and so much of it fell out post partum. Ugh. If I had tons of money I would consider hair extensions, even though they damage your natural hair over time. Do steroid injections work to make hair grow? I both love and hate my hair. I love the colour and texture, I hate how thin it is. I wish for thick luxurious red curly hair. Sigh. Oh well. Sounds like it might get thinner as I age too? I am 39 now.
Almost all my friends who gave birth experienced hair loss. Doctors say that normally we lose 100 or more strands of hair a day which, in a normal person they grow back. During pregnancy hormones somehow retain all the hair and in fact you see these pregnant women with amazing hair (generally, I am talking about a normal pregnancy without any health complications). After birth the body sheds all the hair that had to shed in a short period of time and that’s why is noticeable and then it starts growing again. Also it’s the loss of minerals and vitamins. I even read an article about this that I can’t reproduce here properly.
My sister, under her doctors advice, continued taking per pregnancy vitamins for a year after giving birth to avoid hair and teeth loss. She didn’t lose any hair. In fact she had the longest and thickest hair during and after pregnancy. 🤷🏻♀️