How Can You Treat Hair Loss After Covid?
I’ve had numerous reports from clients who have experienced hair loss as a result of Covid infection, and I’m seeing people who’ve tested positive for Covid with proportionally greater hair loss in my day-to-day client visits.
As a Brazilian Blow Dry and Yuko Straightening Specialist this trend concerns me, and I’ve outlined here the best ways to get your hair back to full thickness after Covid.
Does Covid directly lead to hair loss?
Research from China shows that hair loss is a long term effect of Covid. Nearly a quarter of past Covid patients studied in Wuhan said they experienced hair loss in the six months after being infected with the illness. A further 26% suffered from sleeping problems, 63% experienced fatigue or muscle weakness, and 23% had anxiety or depression.
Anecdotally, evidence that Covid leads to hair loss has been overwhelming and undeniable. However, we can’t say that Covid itself is to blame for the loss. I’ll await more concrete scientific research studies to back this up, but my feeling is that it’s more to do with the stress that results from Covid.
The average adult loses around 100-150 strands of hair each day, but greater stress is known to increase this number. If you’ve had Covid, it makes sense that the stress about isolating, missing work, infecting others, and being really unwell could be responsible for rapid hair loss.
You could even be experiencing hair loss as a result of the general fear around the pandemic, without catching Covid yourself. The amount that people are reaching out to me about hair loss is overwhelming due to the greater stress and anxiety in our daily lives.
On top of Covid, hair loss could also be down to your age, and how old you are could influence how well your hair grows back.
Everyone’s hair is different and your hair grows in a cycle, with three main phases: growth, rest, and shedding, which are influenced mainly by age.
From the age of 40, if you are experiencing exacerbated hair loss, it’s important to protect and strengthen the hair that you do have. I might need to alter treatment on a client who turns 40, for example, as they notice their hair changing. Our bodies change and hormones fluctuate throughout life and it’s important to adapt the hair regimen to such changes.
Hair loss is also seasonal, so if you’ve noticed your hair falling out with the changing of seasons this could be normal. A lot of my clients’ hair falls out during wintertime, and water hardness plays a huge part in this too.
How to reverse hair loss
Reversing or slowing down hair loss is tricky, but not impossible. The key is to start from within by changing up your diet to include plenty of protein, iron, Vitamin B, collagen and omega-rich food.
On top of this, you should pay special attention to your scalp and apply products accordingly. If you have a healthy scalp, you have the best site for fuller hair growth.
Unfortunately, you might need to throw away your shampoo because it’s probably full of silicone. Silicone is what makes shampoo lather, but silicone-based shampoos are heavy and the silicone weighs down on your hair.
Silicone shampoos can contribute to hair fall out by blocking oxygen. The less oxygen that’s available, the more you’re starving your hair of growth.
Your scalp and hair follicles really need that oxygen to breathe and if you starve it of oxygen with silicone products, then it won’t breathe very well!
I like to use silicone-free products which are also free from sulphates and any other nasties that may minimise oxygen uptake. You can head to my <Recommended Product> page (link here) of my website to check out the best products to use for Brazilian and Yuko-treated hair.
As a side note, although they don’t feature on my website silk pillowcases are great at preventing hair fall out and frizz, and also help you sleep better. They’re also excellent for your skin!
Contact me on 07739 175800 to find out more about how I can transform your frizz-prone hair though the Brazilian Blow Dry or Yuko Straightening System, and to assess your suitability for either treatment.
If you’re concerned about hair loss please consult your GP, or visit the NHS website.