Fever is a common symptom of COVID-19. A few months after having a high fever or recovering from an illness, many people see noticeable hair loss and this is something I am seeing increasingly in clinic in recent times.
The medical name for this type of hair shedding is telogen effluvium (TE).
TE is characterized by diffuse hair loss within months of a significant systemic stressor because of premature follicular transition from the anagen (active growth phase) to the telogen (resting phase). The telogen phase lasts anywhere from 2-6 months.
On average, people shed about 100 to 150 hairs a day. But when an individual experiences a stressful event, such as COVID-19 infection. Other examples of physical stressors may be trauma, shock, stress, high levels of exercise, rapid weight loss or gain, or chemical exposure. Our bodies can prematurely shift a greater than normal proportion of growing anagen hairs into a resting telogen state. “Instead of the usual 10 percent of hairs that are in the resting and shedding phase, up to 50 percent of hairs are resting and shedding, which is much more than normal,” says Powell Perng, MD, a dermatologist and specialist in hair loss at University of Utah Health.
It is always worth looking at any pre-existing health conditions that may exacerbate this or make one vulnerable to this such as autoimmunity, chronic inflammatory conditions, recent or ongoing stress not related to covid itself, poor immunity and working on these to improve outcomes and lowering inflammation and using adaptogenic herbs to assist with improving stress response in the body.
Some general questions to be asked are:
Is this the first time you have experienced significant hair fall?
Do you take any prescription medication?
Do you have any pre-existing medical conditions?
Have you recently had covid and what was that like in terms of symptom presentation and recovery ect?
Dietary changes? Nutrient intake? GI related problems?
All of which can contribute to exacerbation of symptoms and need to be taken into account.
As always there is never a one size fits all for everyone.
General Supplements I love for hair include:
Nordic Naturals Arctic D cod liver oil is one of my favourites as it contains vitamins A, D and omega 3s to support healthy hair growth & lower inflammation
Best of The Bone broths are also my go to bone broths if you’re not brewing your own at home and contain an abundance of nutrients for healthy hair such as collagen, protein, amino acids and essential fatty acids.
For vegan patients I love Formula Health Vegan Collagen Boost which provides Pro collagen nutrients such as Zinc, Silica, Vitamin C, Vitamin D and Vitamin E for hair skin & nails.
If this is something you would like to discuss further, please get in touch.
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