Can COVID-19 Cause Hair Loss?

So your coronavirus test has come negative? Congratulations! You fought quite well and have finally won the war against coronavirus. The war against the coronavirus might be over. However, there are still some little battles that you must fight every day for some time. The experts call these little battles “post-corona complications”.

You might experience muscle weakness, trouble breathing, cough, chest pain, headache, insomnia, stomach ache, and worse of all excessive hair loss. Every human does not experience all the above-mentioned health issues at the same time. However, hair loss after covid-19 is quite common. Almost everyone who recovered has complained about hair loss. It raises millions of questions that need to be answered. In this article we will provide you a detailed answer “Can COVID-19 Cause Hair Loss”.

What To Know About Can COVID-19 Cause Hair Loss?

It is true excessive hair loss is one of the few worrisome post-covid complications. It is not normally experienced immediately after the recovery, rather takes 2 to 3 months to become noticeable. Hair loss post-recovery is only noticed in people who had severe attacks and were hospitalized for some time. The rest of the former corona patients have not experienced it much.

Now that it is clear that hair loss happens normally happens post-coronavirus recovery, you all must be wondering why it happens.

Why do we experience hair loss post-recovery?

To understand the reason for this worrisome condition, we have to go into the basics a little. So, what normally happens is a healthy person’s hair passes through three different phases: active growing phase(anagen), transition phase(catagen), and resting or shedding phase(telogen).

In normal times each hair strand is normally in one of the three stages. Most of the hair strands in a healthy person are in an active growing phase called anagen, a few usually happens to be in the resting phase(catagen) as well.

The coronavirus causes physical and mental stress. The severe physical and mental stress throws the hair strands that are in the active growth phase to the resting phase. The movement of hair from the anagen to catagen phase makes you lose more hair than normal.

Should you be worried? Is it permanent?

No, you should not be worried it can make the condition worse. Just like the other post-covid complications, this does not last forever. It can not “exactly” be told how long you have to see yourself losing hair clumps as it is different from person to person. However, it can be told with utmost surety you would not go bald. Mostly the hair takes about 6 to 9 months to go back to the anagen phase. However, for some severe cases, it can take as long as 18 months as well.

Can you do anything about it?

Yes, there is a lot you can do to minimize the damage. As soon as you notice your shower getting clogged because of the amount of hair you are shedding, you have to visit a doctor. The doctor would take your blood sample and examine your condition and suggest something accordingly.

Most of the time, minoxidil is suggested to people experiencing hair loss after recovery. Minoxidil is an FDA-approved drug that stimulates hair growth. It is an over-the-counter medicine that you can take without a doctor’s prescription. It eases the condition by shifting the hair back to the active growing phase. You can continue taking it until the desired results are achieved. However, you have to be at least 18 to treat post-covid hair loss this way.

You can also improve your condition by being mindful of what you eat. The nutritionally rich foods diet would assist you in growing and regaining the volume. For the fastest recovery, you have to make sure your diet contains more iron, riboflavin, folic acid, vitamin B6, and B12. If you think your diet is not sufficient to meet your needs, supplements can also be used. However, they can only be added to the diet upon a doctor’s recommendation.

Besides that, you have to avoid using hair styling products, or tools and putting your hair up in a high ponytail. These practices weaken the hair follicles and prevent hair growth.