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She first noticed it back in June about three months after her earliestCOVID-19symptoms set in.
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“Then it was like a dam had broken: I was pulling out handfuls in the shower.
After, when I combed my hair, I felt like I was removing hair extensions.
I could’ve put clips on the end and stuck the hair back in.
These long strands were everywhere.
I was vacuuming three times a day.”
Her positive result was followed by a negative swab a few weeks later.
Her story is hardly unique.
“The hair loss started in June and slowed down in August.”
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She didn’t have COVID-19, however.
“It was kind of like a perfect storm,” she says.
But what exactly is going on here?
(Emphasis ontemporary; telogen effluvium will not render you forever bald.)
“It can be seen across races, ethnicities, skin types, and hair textures.”
“Those are two separate precipitants that can lead to the same pathway.”
Over time, this signals them to stop growing and then, months later, fall out simultaneously.
Still, she might consider herself lucky.
Youll shed for three months or so.
Which makes sense when you recall the basics of the human fight-or-flight response.
“That’s why we’re seeing more of it right now,” she adds.
Patterns of hair loss also provide clues.
“I deliberately tell my patients, Don’t count [the hairs] that fall out.
Don’t bring in bags of hair,” says Hausauer.
That merely heightens anxiety, because there is no benefit to fixating on hair loss.
Anytime you apply tension to your hair while shampooing or styling, say some strands will naturally give way.
Unprovoked shedding, however, may warrant a call to your dermatologist.
Zeichner co-signs: “Even with no treatment, the condition will correct itself over several months.
[There’s] a much higher proportion of people jumping on doing something now versus waiting.”
Treatment typically starts with what’s known as a pull test.
When the strands dislodge, they have tiny bulbs attached to the roots.
“Most hairs should be in the anagen phase and have plump, beautiful bulbs,” she adds.
Your dermatologist will likely send you for bloodwork next.
“We always check thyroid function when someone has hair loss,” Sarkar says.
Rogaine(5 percent minoxidil) is another first-line fix for telogen effluvium.
It’s not without drawbacks though.
Minoxidil can take months to show results.
It can be irritating.
And sometimes it worsens shedding before improving it.
The plasma is then reinjected into areas of thinning on the scalp.
(There’s moredatasupporting PRP as a beneficial therapy for hormonal hair loss than telogen effluvium.)
Sincetelogen effluviumis so distressing, doctors often take a multipronged approach to treating it.
My ponytail feels fuller and is shinier."
This sort of change can be beneficial in more ways than one, notes Hausauer.
And with a condition as emotionally charged as hair loss, a mood boost can be the best medicine.
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