Hair loss and Covid: how long does it last and how to treat telogen effluvium

By Cristiano Antonino On Apr 14, 2023

The long-term side effects of Covid are known to be loss of taste and smell, as well as chronic fatigue. Less known is that among them there is also hair loss

In most cases it is a short-lived effect, actually.

EFFECTS OF COVID: WHAT CAUSES HAIR LOSS?

After a Covid infection you may notice clumps of hair falling out during daily combing or while washing your hair in the shower.

The phenomenon is known as telogen effluvium.

About 90 percent of the hair on our scalp is in a growing phase, called anagen, and about 10 percent of hair is in a resting phase, called telogen.

On our scalp, anagen lasts for about three years, then the hair begins to switch to telogen, which lasts for two to six months.

At the end of telogen, our hair is shed from its follicles and gradually replaced by new anagen hair. So, the growth cycle continues.

On average, people lose 100 to 150 hairs a day.

But when an individual experiences a stressful event, such as COVID infection, our bodies can prematurely shift a higher than normal percentage of growing anagen hairs into a resting telogen state.

Instead of the usual 10 percent of hair being in the resting and falling out phase, up to 50 percent of hair is resting and falling out, which is far more than normal.

WHEN DOES HAIR LOSS OCCUR AFTER COVID?

According to published reports, hair loss following COVID-19 infection may occur a little earlier than average.

Instead of three months from an incitement event, it could be closer to two months.

Other studies have also noted faster recovery, by about two to three months compared to six months on average.

HOW LONG DOES HAIR LOSS LAST?

The good news is that most cases of telogen effluvium resolve in about three to six months, when those additional hairs that were prematurely displaced into telogen have fallen out.

This characteristic recovery occurs after a triggering event, such as infection with COVID-19.

When that period is over, those hairs will slowly return to normal.

Telogen effluvium does not cause a person to lose hair follicles.

While the hair may not grow temporarily, the hair follicles are still present and the hair will eventually grow back.

Even after the hair loss has stopped, patients may notice that their hair is no longer as thick as it once was.

In less than 10% of cases, patients may experience a condition called chronic telogen effluvium, in which excessive hair loss can persist beyond six months.

This can last anywhere from a couple of months to a couple of years and usually no obvious cause can be found.

Chronic telogen effluvium can be a symptom for Long COVID patients.

This is likely because their bodies are undergoing a significant amount of stress and have not yet returned to normal.

Patients suffering from chronic telogen effluvium will not lose all hair, because the percentage of hair in telogen never exceeds 50%.

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