Raechele Cochran Gathers, MD Coronavirus, Stress and Hair Loss
For many of us, stress levels have been high for the last few months. Job uncertainty, school closures, illness or the constant threat of coronavirus can increase your stress and lead to hair loss. It’s no secret that coronavirus and all of its associated threats and disruptions can cause stress. This increased stress can also make you lose your hair.
Stress, Telogen Effluvium and Hair Loss
Normally, we lose between 50-100 hairs per day. Stress can lead to a condition called telogen effluvium. Normally, most of your hair is in the growing (anagen) stage, and only about 15% of your hair is in the telogen (resting) phase. In telogen effluvium, however, a lot more of your hair is shifted away from growing and into the resting phase, and you’ll eventually experience a lot more shedding than normal.
You can think of it like this: When your body is under stress, hair growth is not really a top priority. Therefore, your body shifts its resources away from your hair, towards more essential functions. Your hair follicles interpret this shift in resources as a stress, and a significant amount of your hair exits the growing stage and enters a resting stage and is later shed.
Coronavirus and Hair Loss: How Much Hair Will I Lose?
During stress hair loss from telogen effluvium, you can lose anywhere from 150 to 400 hairs a day! Even though that’s a lot of hair, people with telogen effluvium usually don’t go bald—though it’s not uncommon to see some thinning, especially thin edges.
Shedding doesn’t start as soon as the stress starts. In general, you won’t start to notice the excessive shedding of telogen effluvium until about 3 to 4 months after the causal (stressful) event. So, if you’re suffering from coronavirus stress induced hair loss, now is about the time that you may be noticing that your hair is starting to shed more when you wash and comb your hair.
Treating Stress Induced Hair Loss
Thankfully, the increased shedding and hair loss from telogen effluvium is typically not permanent! After the stress passes—or you get a better handle on it—the excessive shedding usually stops on its own, usually within 6 months. Your hair will then resume its normal growth patterns.
If you’re dealing with increased stress from coronavirus, make sure to talk to trusted individuals and your doctor about your stress. Try to practice self-care regularly, and things like meditating and exercise can all help to reduce your stress and boost your mood.
If you’re having lots of hair loss, be sure to check in with your doctor too. You’ll want to make sure that nothing else is causing your hair loss. Other conditions like alopecia areata and trichotillomania (stress pulling of the hair) can cause more hair loss during stressful times too.
Recovering from Coronavirus Stress Hair Loss
For most people, hair loss from coronavirus stress will go away on its own! Telogen effluvium generally goes away spontaneously, without any medical intervention. Your doctor will evaluate you to make sure that nothing else needs to be done. Some doctors recommend using minoxidil for excessive shedding to try to get the hair back into the growth phase. But even without treatment, this type of hair loss should typically go away on its own.
