Coronavirus Effects: COVID-19-Related Hair Loss Could Be Due To 'Physical Shock'

Coronavirus patients need to prepare themselves on several possible offshoots as their battle against the deadly disease drags on for weeks. Hair loss is rapidly emerging as one of the likely consequences of such a lengthy fight.

While hair loss is not among the COVID-19 symptoms listed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 27% of around 1,100 respondents reported losing their hair in a survey conducted by the Survivor Corps Facebook group. Doctors say the virus may not be the cause of their hair loss but the physical shock that the bodies of patients experience as they struggle with high fevers and other severe symptoms, USA Today reported.

Dr. Michele Green, a dermatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, says the number of patients seeking hair loss treatment after grappling with COVID-19 infection is growing.

"Patients with similar stories about coming down with very high fevers have literally come in with bags of hair looking like a full head of hair was in the bag," she said. Dr. Green said the patients told her they have "never been sick like that all their lives."

Harvard Medical School says that surgery, extreme weight loss, major psychological stress, abrupt hormonal changes, iron deficiency, major physical trauma, severe infection, or high fever can trigger the medical condition called telogen effluvium.

Dr. Shilpi Khetarpal, a Cleveland Clinic Foundation dermatologist, says the condition happens when the body confronts a shock to the system, which then forces hair to shift from a growth stage to the resting phase, and then the shedding stage after several months. The doctor says this is the reason why many coronavirus patients experience hair loss a few weeks to months after recovering from the preliminary “shock” that activated the telogen effluvium.

COVID-19 patients stand to lose up to 50% of their hair due to the condition. But it is temporary as the shedding subsides in the following six months and then hair returns to its normal thickness.

Health experts are still at a loss to understand why certain patients suffer hair loss while others do not. Khetarpal says that some people may be genetically susceptible to the condition. Although there are medical remedies that can help speed up the growing phase, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation dermatologist recommends maintaining a well-balanced diet and taking vitamins that boost hair growth.