✓ The tint while breastfeeding

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Can i dye my hair while breastfeeding? While it is considered safe to dye your hair while breastfeeding, on the other hand, many gynecologists and pediatricians advise against dyeing for extreme safety, at least in the first trimester of the baby's life. Let's find out more about it.

Can i dye my hair while breastfeeding ?,
Tint during lactation, better assess the situation individually,
How dye works.

Can i dye my hair while breastfeeding?

This is one of the questions that the biotechnologist and science popularizer Beatrice Mautino tries to answer in her latest book, The hidden science of cosmetics (Chiarelettere, 2022). The author explains that there are no specific guidelines on the subject from our Ministry of Health, but she reports the indications of the NHS, the British health service:

"Although the data available on hair treatments during breastfeeding are limited, it is considered safe to dye your hair while breastfeeding. Since only very small amounts of the chemicals used for the dye pass into the bloodstream, it is very unlikely that a significant amount of these chemicals will pass into the milk. Furthermore, it must be considered that in the past no negative consequences have emerged for women who have carried out coloring treatments while breastfeeding ».

Despite these reassuring indications, however, there are gynecologists and pediatricians who, for extreme safety, advise against dyeing, at least in the first trimester of the baby's life.

As Mautino explains well in the book, the fact is that that of dyes is a particular cosmetic sector, characterized by great complexity. For example, if it is true that all the ingredients used in dyes legally sold in Europe have passed the required toxicity tests and are therefore considered safe, it is equally true that dyes are very complex products, which naturally involve chemical reactions between them. various components and with hair. It is still not entirely clear what the effects of all the reaction intermediates that are formed may be, although much work is being done to understand this.

Tint during lactation, better to assess the situation individually

This is why Mautino's final advice is to assess the situation individually, weighing the risks (however very minimal) and benefits that vary from each to each: for some women it may be intolerable to continue seeing each other with gray hair, while for others it is absolutely not a problem.

Obviously, if you decide yes, you have to weigh the risk of allergies, considering that most of the dyes used in dyes (attention: even in natural ones) are allergenic, that is, they can trigger allergic reactions in predisposed subjects. For example, paraphenylenediamine and resorcinol are, and this is why an allergy test is always recommended in the case of do-it-yourself dyes, applying a small amount of dye mixture to the skin 48 hours before making the color.

Read also: Breastfeeding: EVERYTHING you need to know

How dye works

How do you explain Beatrice Mautino in the book The hidden science of cosmetics (Chiarelettere, 2022), the colors are grouped into three categories:

Temporary shades

They are the ones found on the shelves "in the form of cream or spray with definitions such as wash-out. They are the classic dyes that are done during carnival or when you want to try a slightly extreme color without having long-term consequences", he writes. Mautino. These dyes color the hair from the outside and therefore last a few or very few washes, gradually losing color.

Permanent colors

They are colors that go deep into the hair structure, coloring it from the inside and therefore last a long time. They are more complicated than temporary dyes, because they predict them to happen chemical reactions both within the coloring mixture and in our hair. To understand how they work, just refer to the permanent dyes that we can buy at the supermarket for DIY ink and which contain three bottles:

coloring cream, containing ammonia (or molecules with similar action) and precursors of dyes;
revealing milk, containing hydrogen peroxide;
restorative treatment.

L'ammonia (or similar) is essential for permanent dyes, because it is the substance that allows the flakes that cover the hair to open, allowing dyes to enter. And also thehydrogen peroxide it is, because it orchestrates all subsequent chemical reactions between the dye precursors. Finally, the restorative treatment is basically a conditioner with an acid pH, which helps to make the scales that cover the hair close well, making it beautifully shiny and preventing any dye from escaping.

Semi-permanent shades

As the word says, they are not permanent, but they last a little longer than the temporary ones, usually about twenty washes or a little more. "They are characterized by a lower concentration of hydrogen peroxide, by the absence of ammonia replaced by less aggressive analogues and by the presence of direct dyes".

Questions and answers

Can you dye while breastfeeding?

It is generally considered safe to dye your hair while breastfeeding. Since only very small amounts of the chemicals used for the dye pass into the bloodstream, it is very unlikely that a significant amount of these chemicals will pass into the milk. Despite these reassuring indications, there are still gynecologists and pediatricians who, for extreme safety, advise against dyeing, at least in the first trimester of the child's life.

Tint while breastfeeding: is there a risk of allergies?

Yes, the risk of allergies must be assessed, considering that most of the dyes used in dyes (attention: even in natural ones) are allergenic, that is, they can trigger allergic reactions in predisposed subjects. For example, paraphenylenediamine and resorcinol are, and this is why an allergy test is always recommended in the case of do-it-yourself dyes, applying a small amount of dye mixture on the skin 48 hours before making the color.

Read also: Breastfeeding: 22 answers to the most common doubts of mothers

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