Several doctors assure that in recent months they have treated several patients with significant hair fall. Although many of them have overcome COVID-19, specialists suggest that it is the stress that triggered the spread of the pandemic.
Several people who suffered from coronavirus say they lost a lot of hair months after having overcome the virus. The norm is to lose between 50 to 100 hairs a day, but according to the testimonies of the patients, they fell out at the time of combing or while they were in the shower.
According to the doctors consulted by The New York Times, this phenomenon is related to COVID-19, but not directly because it is actually a consequence generated by the stress that people experienced during the disease, the economic crisis or job loss due to the pandemic.
“There’s many, many stresses in many ways surrounding this pandemic, and we’re still seeing hair loss because a lot of the stress hasn’t gone away,” said Shilpi Khetarpal, a dermatologist at the Cleveland Clinic.
In turn, the director of the Department of Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine in Mount Sinai, Emma Guttman-Yassky, said these cases of hair loss were also detected among medical personnel.
“Some of them had COVID-19, but not all. It is the stress of the situation. They were separated from their families, they worked long hours,” he said.
A survey on post-coronavirus symptoms included 1,567 survivors and found that at least 423 people suffered unusual hair fall.
According to specialists, as soon as hair loss is detected, you have to go to the doctor to start a treatment that does not always consist of drugs. In many cases, good nutrition, vitamins, yoga, meditation, scalp massages and other techniques that can reduce stress.