Image Source: https://www.healthline.com/health-news/covid-19-survivors-are-losing-their-hair-heres-why
During the pandemic, dermatologists have reported an increase in individuals with Covid-related hair loss. Severe hair loss is one of the many unanticipated consequences of the Covid-19 epidemic.
What is the root of the problem? STRESS.
According to Dr. G.K.Sharma, a renowned surgeon for hair transplant in India, the type of hair loss related to Covid-19 is telogen effluvium (TE). It is a condition that occurs due to a significant amount of physical and mental stress on the body.
The pandemic’s turmoil is enough to set it off. However, if you had a Covid-19 infection, you might have experienced a double blow because TE can also be caused by illness-related physical stress.
Furthermore, because the pandemic has lasted so long and telogen effluvium has been on the rise the entire time, hair regrowth may be affected, explains Dr. G.K.Sharma.
If your hair loss is causing you stress and anxiety, you better consult a dermatologist because, as mentioned above, stress causes hair loss.
You can visit Regrow Hair Clinic in Haridwar, a well-known and trusted hair transplant clinic in India. People from far and near visit our clinic as they are assured premium treatments at economical hair transplant cost in India.
The role of Covid-19 stress in hair loss
To comprehend telogen effluvium, you must first understand the hair cycle. Anagen is the growing phase of the hair cycle, while telogen is the resting phase.
“The hair falls out towards the conclusion of the telogen phase, and the cycle resets to anagen, the growing phase,” says Dr. G.K.Sharma, hair loss specialist and hair transplant doctor in India.
When an acute, intense stressor enters the picture, the cycle can be interrupted. Hair enters the resting phase too soon and falls out. According to Dr. G.K.Sharma, common causes include fever, hospitalization, childbirth, surgery, rapid weight loss, and significant and abrupt stressors.
“It’s possible that shifting hair to rest is part of our body’s smart energy-saving mechanism,” Dr. G.K.Sharma says. As per the theory, your body takes up a lot of energy to develop hair. When you are under a lot of stress, your body prioritizes survival over keeping your hair healthy.
The timing can be misleading. Because of the length of a hair cycle, TE may occur but not become apparent until three months after intense stress. It’s the same reason why women who have recently given birth may notice hair loss three months after the birth of their child.
While the cause may be evident or obvious, it might be difficult to identify additional factors that induce TE when it occurs on a delayed basis. If you are shedding, think back three or four months and see if anything untoward happened.
How could Covid-19 infection cause hair loss?
A Covid-19 infection could also cause hair shedding similar to that seen with TE. “While Covid-19 affects the entire body, it appears that the distress caused by lack of oxygen to the hair follicles, fever, and the pressure on the body can cause hair follicles to enter a resting phase,” the experienced hair transplant doctor in India explains.
According to research, the most common persisting symptoms of Covid-19 six months after the infection in hospitalized people were sleep problems, fatigue, muscle weakness, and anxiety or depression. The participants also reported hair loss.
The effects of telogen effluvium-related hair loss, regardless of the cause, can be significant, especially after washing or combing your hair. “As the follicles are loose, the hair falls out whole,” Dr. G.K.Sharma explains. Hair may appear to be coming out in clumps for some people. He says that you might not notice the thinning until you have lost a lot of hair.
In such cases, contact our hair transplant clinic in India, Regrow Hair Clinic, for safe and effective hair loss treatments under our expert hair loss specialist.
How to overcome Covid-19 hair loss?
The good news is that telogen effluvium is only a temporary condition. The bad news is that you will probably have to wait for your hair cycle to return to the anagen phase, which takes six to nine months on average.
“As long as there are no more upheavals or triggers,” Dr. G.K.Sharma states, “the body is usually already started to reset by the time the hair falls out.”
However, in the case of Covid-19, the pandemic’s length may make this return to normalcy more difficult. “Long stress period can lead to chronic TE,” the doctor says. As a result, you will want to make sure you are eating a diet that promotes hair health and growth, which includes a healthy diet rich in iron, protein, and vitamin D, according to him.
Suppose you have been losing hair, and it’s not improving despite these attempts. In that case, you should consult a hair transplant doctor in India, who will examine you for other medical disorders that might cause hair loss, such as nutritional deficiencies, hormone imbalances, or hereditary factors.
While you wait for your TE to correct itself, your dermatologist may prescribe a topical minoxidil product to encourage additional hair growth.You can book an appointment at our leading hair transplant clinic in India, Regrow Hair Clinic based in Haridwar, for high-quality hair restoration treatment under expert hair loss specialists.
