Lets Talk Postpartum Chin Hair

Listen up, because what we are about to discuss here is important:

We need to talk about postpartum chin hair.

I, like a lot of women in their early 30s, have been plucking the occasional stray (a friend of mine once mentioned her aunt referred to them fondly as “goat hairs,” and now that is forever emblazoned in my mind) for a few years now.

It never really bothered me that much, because it might be a few months in between the times I would notice that stray hair pop up in my mirror. When it appeared, I would just pluck it quickly and go about my day.

But now? For some unforeseen, unlucky-in-life reason, after having my fifth baby and closing in on the age of 34, the rate at which my chin hair grows has seemingly quadrupled overnight.

Almost daily, I am now scouring the landscape of my facial nether-regions, looking for those pesky hairs that seem to be hell-bent on making up for the hair being lost from my actual head.

And while I am busy collecting tweezers in every corner of my house, minivan, and diaper bags, to ensure I am never without ammo should I come across a hair follicle foe, I am also left wondering — what on earth is happening? Is this even remotely normal? Do other people experience strange chin hair after having a baby?

Hair changes with pregnancy and postpartum

As most of us know, pregnancy definitely impacts our hair. Our nails might grow faster and look healthier, and our hair appears fuller and more voluminous. In fact, part of that “pregnancy glow” might just be all that newfound volume in our hair.

But then, we have the baby, and that beautiful pregnancy bubble bursts. Our nails break, our eyes develop dark circles from the sleepless nights, and all of that beautiful hair we had falls off in clumps.

I am now 7 months postpartum and my hair is still falling out of my head at an alarming rate. I almost dread showering or brushing it because it’s scares me every time to see fistfuls of hair in my hands.

However, the good news about postpartum hair loss on our heads is that we aren’t really losing tons of hair — it just looks that way.

What actually happens is that during pregnancy, the normal cycle of hair growth and shedding is disrupted, so you don’t lose as much of your hair while you’re pregnant. That’s why it appears fuller and more luscious. But then, postpartum, the normal shedding process picks up again and you lose all of that extra hair you held on to during pregnancy.

So, while alarming in its amount, it’s not actually like you’re losing tons of new hair; it’s actually just old hair you didn’t get rid of yet.

Makes sense, right? But now, how do you explain the chin hair?

Facial hair in women pregnancy and postpartum

Unfortunately, I do not have good news here — studies have found that some women do experience excessive hair growth, both on their body and on their face, during pregnancy and even postpartum.

And although body hair growth generally tends to slow down as we age, the only exception to that is facial hair. Facial hair actually increases the older we get. Yay!

So, if like me, you have noticed that your stray chin hairs have seemed to increase during pregnancy and even through the postpartum stage, it can be completely normal and nothing really to worry about. Annoying, sure, but dangerous? Not really.

That being said, in some rare cases, excessive facial hair growth after pregnancy could be a sign of a medical condition, so if you are experiencing any excess facial hair growth or body hair growth, it’s definitely worth a trip to your doctor to make sure nothing else is going on.

Read more on: hair