Hair Loss-Covid or Stress? Take Your Best Guess

Even though it takes up all that space in our heads, stress isn’t just confined to our mental capacities—it is, Devgun says, a domino effect that can lead to physical effects with very real (and sometimes very devastating) consequences.

August 10th by Jamie Korf https://mspmag.com/health-and-fitness/yes-your-hair-is-falling-out-no-youre-not-alone/ 

“With stress, our inflammatory markers increase. The cytokines and neurohormones that get released can impact the hair shaft protection, which can go on to expedite hair loss,” says Devgun.  “[With patients we treat] we make sure we’re addressing protein deficiencies, mineral and vitamin deficiencies, and we’re making sure that person is getting sleep.”

Devgun says that just like there’s a gut-brain connection, there’s also a skin-brain axis where the brain responds to external stressors (like tension, heat, cold, and pain) in ways that can negatively affect skin’s permeability barrier function. It all makes sense when you consider that skin is the largest organ of the human body. That hair oiling treatment she mentioned? Not only does the oil contain cool and calming components, the actual practice of massaging it into your skin feels meditative, naturally bringing your heart rate down and offsetting adrenaline surges. Even if for a moment.

Touting the importance of destressing is easier said than done, but finding our calm won’t just potentially save our tresses, it can help build immunity and resilience—Covid’s biggest threat. “When people hear the word ‘Covid,’ they may immediately go into this heightened stress response,” says Devgun. “There’s the stress of the pandemic and the anxiousness of our political situation and on top of all of that, if a person hears that they have Covid, the stress is just immediate. It sets off an alarm reaction which negatively alters our immune system response which affects our resilience and etcetera.”

Devgun says it’s because it’s a new disease with so many unknowns, so it’s only natural to have these cascading worries. She adds, “even if someone doesn’t develop a fever or major side effects, there’s this underlying anxiousness where you’re constantly thinking: Am I going to be okay? Is this going to get worse? It’s just that we’ve experienced so much loss.”

And then, of course, there’s the (very real) fear of losing our hair post-Covid, thanks to a surge of articles and headlines pointing to this as a developing side effect. Devgun says this is the perfect opportunity to remember that viral illnesses and fevers have always played a role in hair loss; this isn’t new news. “Normally, a viral illness will precipitate hair loss because of the fever,” she says. “Then on top of that, the inflammation that Covid causes is like a double whammy.” Devgun says she’s seen long haulers in her office with hair loss, muscle and joint pain, and unremitting fatigue and brain fog. She says it’s key for her patients to learn healthy stress management strategies. “Not only are we trying to support a healthy inflammatory response, we want them to know that they are safe in their body, and know deep down that they’re okay or are going to be okay.”