Does COVID cause hair loss? The short answer is yes! As a clinical trichologist, I have encountered an influx of diffuse shedding concerns from April 2020 to the current day, and there are more and more people sharing their disdain over the lost clumps of hair with the hashtag #covidhairloss.

Recommended Video Let’s see what the connection between COVID and hair loss is and how you should deal with the issue.

Why Hair Shedding Happens

Let’s back up a little, and see what happens to the body during periods of illness, stress, and shock. Think of your body as a huge manufacturing plant, producing everything from hormones to excreting waste. When one of the manufacturing lines, in this instance the virus COVID-19, interrupts or disrupts the manufacturing line/the body’s natural equilibrium (homeostasis), the body makes a choice and stops feeding its Z – organs, the ones we can live without, to maintain the main organs – A, such as the heart and lungs.

So, if the energy is being redirected to protect the fundamentals of our inner mechanisms, the Z, or lesser important organs such as skin hair and nails are halted. A bit like turning the lights off at home to save energy! The lights don’t become obsolete, but once they are not needed and the energy is saved, then so be it.

Now you may understand a touch better why hair loss happens when infection, illness or even stress affects the body. Our body is redirecting energy to its main manufacturing needs, aka keeping you breathing and beating. The same hair shedding, or telogen effluvium according to its medical term, happens after childbirth, an operation, or trauma.

Advertisement If we need to direct energy, hormones or antidotes, in the case of COVID-19, the body will disrupt the balance and direct these to help the A organs fight the cause. This is why the blood analysis and the disruption of the balance that doctors spot in the blood analysis allows determining a correct diagnosis and swift treatment pathway.