Does the COVID Pandemic Cause Stress Hair Loss?
00:00 Announcer: Local 10:00 news starts right now.
00:02 Kristi Krueger: Plus, some people are so stressed out by the pandemic, they’re losing their hair. We’ll explain why it’s happening and what you can do to stop it, coming up in our health cast. In our health cast today, about one in every five Americans over the age of 30, suffers from some form of hair loss, and that number may be growing during this pandemic. Here’s why it’s happening and what you can do to stop it.
00:23 Rosary: Well, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve gotten so many calls since this virus began.
00:28 KK: One after another, the phone calls keep coming into the office of hair loss specialist, Dr. Alan Bauman.
00:34 Dr Alan Bauman: We’ve seen a huge increase in shedding during this time and it’s not so good. When you see hair falling out, gosh, that could be a big problem.
00:43 KK: Shock-induced hair loss can happen simply by being stressed out about the Coronavirus or becoming infected.
00:49 DB: What we do know, is that if you have a fever or a stress to the system, your body is fighting an infection, your hair follicles can suffer and they can turn into a shedding phase.
01:01 KK: The doctor says, similar shedding occurs during other stressors like the loss of a job, divorce, death in the family, or hormonal changes throughout your lifetime, including during pregnancy.
01:12 DB: These are all things that are either psychologic or physiologic stresses that are self-limited.
01:17 KK: The hair should return once the stress is passed, but if you have a genetic predisposition for male or female hair loss, you may need treatment. Over-the-counter topical medication, supplements, oral prescription medications, hair laser therapy, and even scalp injections of platelet-rich plasma, can really help support hair follicles that are still active but in a dormant stage.
01:41 DB: If the follicles are dead and gone, then you’re gonna need some degree of hair transplantation.
01:45 KK: Now, if the hair loss your experiencing, is due to the physical or even emotional stress of COVID-19, That follicle is likely still functioning and your hair will stop shedding eventually and eventually even grow back, although it could take as long as eight weeks to see any kind of real improvement.
*Each individual's treatment and/or results may vary
If you or someone you know has hair loss, hair thinning, baldness, or eyebrow / eyelash concerns, click to start either a long-distance virtual consultation OR an in-person, in-office consultation with Dr. Bauman. You can also Ask Dr. Bauman a Question or simply call Bauman Medical Group at +1-