Basically, we all know by now that the coronavirus affects people in different ways. For instance, from a dry cough to a high fever. Some people have mild symptoms and others have very severe symptoms. You also know, that Covid19 has come at us with a vengeance and on a global scale. However, as the CDC, WHO and the medical community at large catches up with the unknowns of the virus, one side affect I don’t think anyone saw coming is Covid Hair Loss.

The Science

According to Dr. John Griffin from Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, it’s one of those things the body does when it needs to redirect all of its energies to fight the trauma going on in your body, (the virus), and has no time to worry about making hair. In addition, the hair loss seems to affect those who have been termed long haulers, people whose symptoms aren’t going away after a few weeks of being pronounced Covid free.

Moreover, the pandemic is only months old, so the experts can’t make any definitive statements about long lasting affects. Those answers won’t come for many more months or up to a year, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease.

There Is Hope

However, the American Academy of Dermatology states the hair loss for most people will be temporary. That COVID-19 patients are experiencing a type of hair loss called telogen effluvium, a temporary form caused by a physical or emotional stress, high fever, illness or weight loss of more than 20 pounds.

What To Do

Sara Hogan, MD, a health sciences clinical instructor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA recommends that you reach out to your health care professional or a dermatologist to rule out any other factors like medications, nutrition and hormone imbalances. Hogan says “I think it’s important to tell patients that in most cases, this is not a permanent hair disorder. It will likely get better within 4 to 6 months. That reassurance and knowledge often does help.”

— Coils to Locs cofounder and CEO, Dianne Austin, shares her cancer hair loss story on the Hot Mama Chronicles podcast!