Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Dying Hair While Pregnant: Is It Safe?

can you dye your hair when pregnant

The things to avoid when you’re pregnant and dyeing your hair are the same precautions that you’d take when coloring your hair at any other time. Make sure to color your hair in a well-ventilated area to minimize the risk of inhaling chemical fumes. Don’t leave the chemicals on your hair longer than the package indicates. Wear gloves when applying the treatment, and make sure to thoroughly rinse the color from your scalp after the process is complete. The hazardous connection between pregnancy and hair dyeing comes from the application of the color itself. A full dye job involves contact between the hair dye and the skin, which was thought to be potentially harmful to the fetus, especially in the first trimester.

Hair color and pregnancy

Before dyeing your hair, you need to test if your skin will react negatively to the hair dye. Though hair dye is generally safe, there are several precautions you should take. People use it to stand out, maintain their natural hair color over time, or change it up a little. If you want to go for a lighter shade on your head, bleaching is usually the tool of choice. And like hair dye, hair bleaching products are likely safe to use during pregnancy, but more research is needed. Rapid growth and development takes place during the first trimester.

Is it safer to dye the ends/tips of your hair than your roots?

Not so — many health experts say it’s safe to keep dyeing your hair while you’re pregnant. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), hair dye and hair treatments are not dangerously toxic and are generally safe to use during pregnancy. Your skin also only absorbs a small amount of hair dye through the scalp, and the small amount of chemicals is unlikely to have any harmful effect. That said, most dermatologists recommend that expectant moms wait to dye their hair until after the first trimester, which is a critical period for development. Still, while it’s generally considered safe to dye your hair during pregnancy, Reavey recommends avoiding it until the second trimester.

Is it safe to dye my hair during pregnancy?

Therefore, she says, natural, semipermanent vegetable dyes such as henna are a safe alternative. "Make sure you check the label before buying, as some 'natural' products or processes may contain the same amount of chemicals as the traditional options." Aleha Aziz, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University, agrees that contemporary hair dye and bleach do not pose health risks when used correctly.

The most common active chemicals used in hair dye include ammonia, peroxide and paraphenylenediamine (PPD). Ammonia raises the pH level of the hair so color change can occur, peroxide takes away the natural color in hair produced by melanin and PPD applies the pigment. Almost all hair dyes—even boxes labeled as “natural”—contain these chemicals.

As long as the hair treatment does not cause an adverse reaction -- like a bad allergic reaction or asthma attack -- for the mom, then the baby should be just fine, she adds. You could try a safer alternative such as a semi-permanent pure vegetable dye, like henna. If you are having your hair coloured at the hairdressers, tell them you are pregnant and ask for a patch test, even if it’s a dye that they’ve used on your hair previously.

can you dye your hair when pregnant

Wait until the second trimester

Other than henna (which is permanent) and indigo (which is permanent-ish as it varies from person to person), natural hair dye options are on the temporary to semi-permanent side of the spectrum. Whether you have grown out roots or notice your strands getting brassy, it’s best to minimize the number of times you dye your hair during pregnancy. The NCBI study found that receiving hair treatments three to four times during pregnancy does not appear to increase the risk of adverse effects on the fetus for the average pregnant woman.

How Often You Can Color Your Hair While Pregnant

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), previous animal studies have found that high doses of the chemicals used in hair dye don’t cause any serious birth defects. Plus, only a small amount of these chemicals are actually absorbed into the scalp. Temporary hair color sprays and semi-permanent hair color are great options when you want to switch up your color for a short period of time — and they could be your best route to a new hair color while pregnant. Because these hair dyes don’t contain ammonia or peroxide — there’s no developer or pre-mixing — they don’t penetrate the hair shaft.

Can You Highlight or Balayage Your Hair During Pregnancy?

There are no color options — you determine the shade based on the amount you use. You can adjust the ratio of liquid you use in your paste and how long you leave it in your hair to determine how dark you go. There's very little research that focuses on the use of hair dye while nursing, Langdon says. Health experts generally believe that it's fine to color your hair while breastfeeding because the amount of chemicals that could reach your breastmilk is likely insignificant. If you’d rather play it safe, there are some things you can do to make your current color last as long as possible. Waiting to shampoo your hair at least 48 hours after application can help your hair retain as much color as possible.

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If a person has any concerns about hair treatment during pregnancy, they should speak with a healthcare professional. The nonprofit organization Mother To Baby states that no studies on human pregnancy suggest that using hair dye during pregnancy can increase the chance of pregnancy loss. An average of 38% of people who use hair dye reported having an allergic reaction. Allergic reactions are typically local to the scalp, face, and neck and can cause itching and burning. If you ignore or misuse the hair dye, it can lead to complications that you could otherwise avoid.

Best Hair Dye to Use During Pregnancy - What To Expect

Best Hair Dye to Use During Pregnancy.

Posted: Fri, 19 Nov 2021 08:00:00 GMT [source]

“If you do want to dye your hair … but you’re like, ‘I want to do it but I’m kind of scared,’ then you could potentially just do the ends or a little bit away from your scalp,” says Levy. If you’re looking to change your hair color to a rich auburn or brassy red, this natural powder — a staple in many South Asian beauty routines — is the way to go. It’s made from pure henna leaves, so it will only make your hair darker.

However, "none of this stuff has been tested in pregnancy, and it's not going to be," Streicher says. "No one's going to take 10,000 pregnant women and have them all dye their hair once a month and see if the babies turn out OK." Switching up one's hair color has always been one of the best cures for boredom. And with boredom being one of the most far-reaching side effects of the coronavirus pandemic, it's no surprise that people are changing their hair color left and right during this socially distanced time.

The actor recently shared video clips to her Instagram Stories in which her entire head was covered in foils as colorists bleached her hair, creating the ideal canvas for the blue hue she then dyed it. She remarked what a good client she was, only getting up once to go to the bathroom because she's eight months pregnant. Vegetable and henna dyes are other less-toxic at-home alternatives, though check the label before buying. Some so-called "natural" processes contain just as many chemicals as their traditional counterparts.

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