Infection severity depends upon the amount of inflammation present in the body.įor those in the throes of covid-19-related hair loss, there is no treatment except having a good attitude while the shedding runs its course, Young explained. Young says data suggests that unvaccinated hospital patients are more likely to develop hair loss as a side effect of the virus than patients with milder cases and people who are fully vaccinated. Cytokines affect the growth of all blood cells and other cells that aid the inflammation responses in the body. These small proteins are imperative in controlling the growth and activity of other immune system cells and blood cells. “Cytokines cause hair follicles to go into the resting state from the growth state.” ![]() “Cytokines wake up immune cells to fight the infection and those cells can affect hair follicles,” explained Young. One possible explanation, says Young, is overactive inflammation that occurs when the body is fighting off infection. The root cause of covid-19-related hair loss is unclear. Hair Loss: Getting to the Root Cause and Treatment “The biggest complaint I get from patients is seeing a ton in the shower drain and bedroom pillows covered in hair,” said Young. In this instance, hair won’t return to full density. One exception, however, is in covid cases of people who have androgenetic alopecia, or male pattern baldness. “I assure patients they won’t go bald from this,” noted Young. Hairs grow back slowly but surely, taking up to 18 months with hair eventually returning to its natural density. While shedding can persist for up to six months, the prognosis is excellent for most people, Young says. It is normal for people to lose between 50 and 200 hairs a day. As many as 70% of scalp hairs may shed eight weeks after the initial trauma. Telogen effluvium can be acute or chronic, and precipitated by a stress-inducing event. These hairs don’t grow or fall out, and new hairs start to form in follicles that have just released hairs during the preceding catagen phase, during which hair follicles shrink and hair growth slows. Typically lasting three months, roughly 10 to 15% of scalp hairs are in the resting phase. This so-called “shock to the system” can result from major surgery, childbirth, severe psychological stress and malnutrition it pushes hair roots prematurely into the resting state, or telogen (the third of four phases of hair growth). Alexis Young, an affiliate dermatologist at Hackensack Meridian Health.Īpart from being a side effect of covid-19, telogen effluvium can also arise from major stress on the body. Her thinning part is indicative of hair loss, according to Dr. Paula Diaz has two bouts of hair loss related to infection with Covid-19. “A lot of studies show that in most post-covid cases, shedding starts two months and is consistent with other causes,” explained Young. Last summer, Young saw approximately 10 patients a week for hair loss issues for “a good couple of months.” Now, she sees a handful a month for the same complaint. Hair loss, she said, is reported more by women than men given women’s ability to notice and be affected by it more than men. ![]() As many as a quarter of those exposed to the virus develop hair loss, although that number could be higher given unreported cases. Alexis Young, a dermatologist affiliated with Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, NJ, hair loss is a very common symptom among covid-19 patients. I don’t want to sound like a shallow person, but it really is scary,” said Diaz, an office manager who has been out on disability since falling ill.Īccording to Dr. ![]() “There was a tremendous amount of hair coming out. Her worst falling out occurred in July 2020. It really started to show after showering.” “When I got up, there was hair on the pillow case, more than normal. “It got on my clothes a lot more,” Diaz recalled of her first brush with hair shedding, medically termed telogen effluvium. But one of the most egregious symptoms, in fact, is most women’s worst nightmare: hair loss. These symptoms include crippling fatigue, migraines, bouts of vertigo and brain fog-a mental state that affects one’s ability to focus, recall information and think clearly. A victim of what health experts call “long covid,” the 52-year-old mother of two cleared the virus but still suffers from lingering symptoms. Nearly two years into Diaz’s initial diagnosis of the potentially deadly virus that has to date sickened more than 375 million people and claimed the lives of more than 5.6 million worldwide, she continues to feel the effects of covid-19. As if stage one kidney failure and bilateral interstitial pneumonia – complications brought on by covid-19 infection – weren’t frightening enough side effects for North Jersey’s Paula Diaz.
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