COVID and Hair Loss.

Data published after pandemic suggests that people who have gone through full course of COVID disease experienced heavy to moderate hair loss after recovery. Hair loss may be caused by a weakened immune system due to virus attack and treatment. Though this seems to be common after one experiences attack by different viruses, there could be other reasons too. Most of the cases reported had reversible hair loss and after correcting the diets and taking right supplements they could regain their hair.

Body stress and mental stress/trauma caused by the COVID virus was higher than any other viral attacks. People had a great fear of contracting disease after their neighbors/near and dear one faced the virus. This lead to heavy mental stress. Stress itself is a bigger reason to lead hair fall. During pandemic people were locked in homes and physical activities were almost halted. Many had mental stress of getting or attracting lifestyle diseases due to such sedentary lifestyle. This additional stress burden lead people to consume many supplements. These could have impacted the absorption of Vit- B12 in people taking it and thus lead to hair loss. The deficiencies caused by a compromised nutritional intake, sudden changes in weight, hormonal disturbances and reduced vitamin D and B12 levels are some of the major reasons for the large volumes of hair loss post Covid-19.

One should keep in mind that the daily healthy routine and nutrition rich diet is a key in post covid recovery of hair loss. The natural sources of vitamins and iron play important role. Supplements containing Moringa, Amla, Eclipta alba and Brahmi play a big role in recovery. Moringa is considered as a superfood and is natural source of amino acids, biotin and vitamins. Amla is rich in Vit-C and polyphenoilcs which are good antioxidants. Eclipta helps in regenerating new hair follicles. Brahmi is a Medhya Rasayana and helps in combating stress levels. Taking protein rich food will help recover fast from this episode.

Some other common hair care solutions that can be administered to avoid an excessive hair loss are; use of mild, paraben and sulfate free shampoos.

Many those who have not contracted virus and taken vaccines too reported hair loss. The possible reason could be the interaction between the immune system and vaccines that may have enhanced other autoimmune mechanisms. Alopecia areata is a common autoimmune disease leading to non-scarring hair loss.

In both the cases (those who suffered hair loss after contacting COVID and those after taking vaccine) as a herbalist we recommend to use dietary herbal supplements and external nutrition to be provided to hair strand. Not to worry as in most of the reported cases the hair loss was reversible.