Recovering from Covid and all of a sudden, hair on your pillow, hairbrush, and drain is becoming a regular thing? You are not alone. Post-COVID hair loss has quickly become one of the most widely reported side effects globally.
While thousands – no matter how mild or severe their COVID symptoms were – had a scary and significant decrease in their hair thickness a few weeks after receiving negative results, there’s good news.
We break it down easily here.
Why Does Hair Loss After COVID Happen?
The doctor would usually call it Telogen Effluvium (TE) – it sounds complicated, but it isn’t. Our hair follicle develops through stages of growth, including a resting phase (the ‘telogen phase’). Stressors on your system – for example a severe illness, high fever or trauma – can prompt an increase in the percentage of your hair follicles that prematurely shift into that resting phase.
Generally, under 10 to 15% of your hair would enter this resting phase at any given moment, but Covid could increase this to 30 to 50 percent.
When those hairs are triggered to grow back, all those follicles shed at the same time, typically a few months later – which is why you may notice shedding when you’re recovering. This has been demonstrated in studies from before, during and after COVID outbreaks across the world – and in a large study more than 24% of those with long COVID had hair loss.
Is It Temporary or Permanent?
The majority of COVID-related hair loss is reversible. Since it’s an external trigger and not an issue with your follicles themselves, they are still live and ready to sprout fresh hair. Hair typically grows back naturally, once the system returns to equilibrium (often within 6 to 9 months). In cases of significant hair fall, if it lasts beyond those 6 to 9 months, or if you suffered from conditions like androgenetic alopecia, a prior medical problem will probably cause hair to become irrevocably shed.
When Should You See a Doctor?
Consider seeing a dermatologist or hair specialist if: you’re losing your hair more than six months after recovery from your infection; you’re experiencing a receding hairline, not just overall shedding; the density isn’t bouncing back even though you have a healthy diet and are generally feeling well; you’re losing your hair along with other lingering post-COVID symptoms. The earlier you know if your TE, or something that could be permanent, is responsible for your hair loss, the more treatment avenues there are to explore.
What Are the Treatment Options?
But for those whose hair did not bounce back on their own, there are few effective, evidence-based treatments:
Supplements to combat deficiency: Iron, B12, vitamin D and zinc are most likely to get depleted by the infection and replenishing these may be the answer to getting your hair back.
Minoxidil: Topical application to increase blood flow to the scalp and initiate a growth phase.
PRP Therapy (Platelet-Rich Plasma): This is an injection of a concentration of the patient’s own growth factors into the scalp. The PRP is becoming an extremely popular option for non-surgical hair restoration.
If you are hunting for a hair regrowth treatment in Delhi, many hair restoration clinics now offer complete post COVID hair loss recovery programmes with a blend of PRP, mesotherapy, laser therapy, all based on an individual assessment of your hair fall.
When Hair Transplant Becomes the Answer
However, if a substantial amount of hair has already been lost permanently – more specifically if some follicles have gone dead – the hair transplant surgery would serve as your best long-term remedy. It is FUE or follicular unit extraction. This is the most effective method where a person can harvest hair follicles and implant them in regions of the body with thinning. The operation will leave a faint linear scar in donor sites but the implant site will look natural. In India this surgery will be relatively less costly than any western country. The hair transplant surgery cost in India starts at ₹40,000 and goes up to ₹1,50,000 as per the number of grafts.
Therefore, if you have any such intention, consult the best clinic for hair transplant in Delhi, who has well trained professionals with impressive before and after records, transparent price list, and good care instructions.
If still not recovered even after COVID then immediately consult the right hair regrowth treatment in Delhi so you do not lose hair.
Conclusion
After COVID, people are really losing hair. Yes, it really is happening on a broad scale. For the most part, however, hair loss resulting from COVID is actually temporary and reversible!
Educate yourself on what’s causing this phenomenon, take an informed approach, and know that whether it resolves itself naturally, or you need a little professional assistance, you have solutions available.
Get in to see a specialist, get the blood tests, and start early – your hair will be back!