Hormonal changes in your body can create unexpected symptoms during pregnancy. Many women complain about experiencing scalp pain during pregnancy. As scalp pain is a common symptom during pregnancy that not many women know about until it happens to them. Experiencing a painful sore scalp during pregnancy often comes as a surprise to them.
Causes of Scalp Pain During Pregnancy
Many women suffer from one or more scalp conditions from the early days of pregnancy until the babies are delivered and the pregnancy journey comes to an end. A pregnant woman’s body goes through so many different changes. So, there’s no one reason behind scalp pain during pregnancy.
Hormonal Changes
Your scalp could be sore during pregnancy due to the increase in pregnancy hormones which cause an increase in hair growth. This could lead to a feeling of itchiness due to overactive hair follicles and nerve endings. According to Hairy Scalp, pregnancy hormones cause our scalps to become engorged with liquids, causing a tingling, itching, or even painful sensation in the nerve endings on our head.
Also, the increase in the progesterone hormone causes more natural oils to be produced by your skin, according to WebMD.
Increase in Blood Volume
The blood volume of a pregnant woman increases by up to 50% (according to American Pregnancy Association). Increased blood volume during pregnancy leads to swelling of blood vessels connected to nerve endings. When swelled blood vessels irritate nerve endings on our head, we experience a sensitive scalp.
Allergy to Hair Products
Another reason could be that your normal shampoo is drawing any leftover essential nutrients away from your scalp, leaving it dry and itchy. During pregnancy, your body draws more on many essential nutrients. You may have developed an allergy to products that you have previously used without a problem. It is common to develop new allergies during pregnancy.
You should always consult your doctor about health concerns. Get your symptoms checked and a professional opinion, as a sore scalp could also be a sign of skin conditions such as a skin infection, contact dermatitis, or seborrheic dermatitis.
How Long Will the Scalp Pain Last?
You know you shouldn’t be stressing yourself during pregnancy but your strange, tender, and sore scalp problem is starting to worry you a lot. While we are pregnant, pain anywhere in the body, especially around the head is of utmost concern. And when we can’t think about anything external that may have caused the pain, it can raise our stress and anxiety to unhealthy levels.
But you don’t need to worry at all! As what you are experiencing is a common pregnancy-based symptom and will clear as your pregnancy journey ends.
You can be assured that the scalp conditions causing the pain will eventually disappear as you enter your fourth trimester. None of these conditions are long-term! And there are also quite a few remedies that you can try to minimize the pain and irritation in your scalp during pregnancy.
Remedies for Scalp Pain During Pregnancy
When it comes to treating scalp pain during pregnancy not many medications are available. But fortunately, there are lots of alternative home remedies to relieve the pain in the scalp. The first place to start is to take a good look at your hair products.
Your sensitive scalp needs natural organic products right now. No chemicals, please!
What really helped during my struggle with scalp pain during pregnancy was taking proper care of my hair and changing all of my hair products to natural organic ones. The one product that really stood out and seemed to do wonders for my hair and my scalp was these eco-friendly rice water shampoos and conditioners. These shampoos and conditioners were so good that I still use them to this day even after my pregnancy!
These natural, unscented rice water shampoo & conditioner bars were wonderfully calming. They have natural argan oil, olive oil, coconut oil, and rice water to nurture and calm your hypersensitive hair follicles which are causing your scalp soreness and sensitivity. You will also be doing your bit for the environment which we are sure your growing baby will thank you for.
On top of using the natural rice water shampoo & conditioner, also make sure that you use a natural hairbrush to comb your hair. It is all too easy to want to itch or rub sore patches. However, the more you touch, the more painful your scalp will get. So, it’s also important to resist the itch and keep your hands off!
Also, apply natural oils and essential oils that are good for the hair and the scalp to avoid feeling dry and itchy. It also helps a lot if you wear a hat on your outdoor days to protect your scalp from the sun and sunburn.
Further support:
Come and join my Facebook group for support, guidance and tips for throughout your fertility journey to pregnancy and beyond. There are midwives in the group, amazing training courses from experts and many supportive women, so it’s a great place to be for getting fast answers to your questions. See you in there !
