The COVID-19 pandemic took the world by storm and left a devastating impact on the well-being of millions of people around the globe.
Well known symptoms of the illness include coughing, fever, shortness of breath, and loss of taste and smell. But did you know that COVID can also cause hair loss?
When your hair is falling out, it can cause a reasonable sense of alarm and panic. Losing your hair can feel like this:
Fortunately, the hair loss that results from COVID-19 is not permanent. In this article I will share 3 ways to recover from post-COVID hair loss.
Why Does It Happen?
According to the University of Utah Health Communications, COVID patients may experience an abnormal increase in hair shedding. This can be caused by a number of factors including:
- Stress
- Inflammation
- Nutritional deficiency
The shedding can occur two to three months after infection. The good news is that post COVID hair loss can typically be corrected in a shorter amount of time than usual. If you are suffering from post-COVID hair loss, here’s what you need to do:
1. Eliminate Stress
The irony behind stress induced hair loss is that losing your hair is stressful in itself.
If your hair begins to fall out after you get COVID, try not to worry. This may be difficult to do. But stressing over your hair can trigger further loss.
You should get plenty of rest, engage in enjoyable activities, exercise, and meditate to decrease your stress levels.
2. Reduce Inflammation
The COVID-19 virus attacks the body’s immune cells and causes severe inflammation (Fliesler 2022). This inflammation can contribute to post-COVID hair loss.
You can reduce inflammation and stop your hair fall by consuming foods and liquids that possess anti-inflammatory properties such as green leafy vegetables, fruits, fatty fish, and apple cider vinegar.
Making sure your body is well hydrated by drinking adequate amounts of water, exercising, and staying stress free can also decrease the inflammation in your body after COVID.
3. Replenish Your Body’s Nutrient Stores
Healthy, well nourished bodies tend to fight off illness better than bodies that are vitamin deficient. Vitamins like Vitamin D, Zinc, and Iron, support your immune health and are essential to your critical bodily functions. They also play a large role in hair growth.
These nutrients can be severely depleted after your body suffers through a major illness. You have to replenish these vitamins to regrow your hair.
Be sure to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet after recovering from COVID-19. You many also want to take a nutritional supplement like a hair vitamin.
Brandelyn Green is the Founder of VoiceOfHair, a platform to help women of color find the best hair care products, regimens and hairstyles! Since starting VoiceOfHair in 2014 she has grown the social media platform to over 1MM+ on Instagram and Facebook. As a natural who is also a salon goer, she wanted to create a platform where people could find the best products, hairstylists, advice and trends.
