During pregnancy, there are many precautions that the mother-to-be must take to ensure that the development and health of the baby are optimal. Among the most obvious and well-known, is not smoking or drinking alcohol, not eating raw fish or unpasteurized cheese. But there are also other aspects that worry in the gestation period.
A frequent question in pregnant women is whether they can dye their hair, either because they want to keep their color, touch up the highlights, cover some gray hair or make a whole change of look. Let’s see if it is safe to dye your hair during pregnancy.
According to the UK National Health Service, the chemicals in hair dyes, both permanent and semi-permanent, are not toxic to the point of posing a risk in pregnancy. Although there is very little research on this, what is available confirms that it is safe to dye your hair during pregnancy.
While high doses of chemicals in hair dyes can cause harm, the amounts a person is exposed to during the process are very low, so they do not pose a significant risk. In any case, the National Health Service of the United Kingdom notes the advisability of waiting to exceed 12 weeks of pregnancy to dye your hair.
This guideline is due to the fact that during the first semester of pregnancy is when the baby’s vital organs are formed, so that in this way we minimize the possible risk of damage to the development of the fetus due to hair dye. In addition, the aforementioned organization includes recommendations in case you dye your hair yourself at home: wear gloves, leave the dye on the head for as little time as possible, apply it in a well-ventilated room and rinse the scalp once the dye has been applied. dye.
Lastly, they point out that in order to reduce the risk as much as possible, you can choose to apply highlights or highlights to strands of hair without reaching the scalp. They insist that the chemicals used in dyes are only absorbed through the hair, not the scalp, so they do not reach the bloodstream. Also, vegetable dyes like henna are a safer alternative.
In any case, another aspect highlighted by the National Health Service of the United Kingdom is that pregnancy hormones can alter the normal state of the hair, so that it is possible that the hair reacts differently to colouring, becoming more or less absorbent, frizzy and unpredictable. To be sure that the result will be as desired and to rule out possible allergic reactions, it is a good idea to first apply a little product to the back of your hand and to a small lock of hair.
