If the coronavirus pandemic taught us anything, it is to not take anything for granted and always be prepared for the unexpected. However, it may not be too surprising or unexpected if you are dealing with hair loss post-Covid recovery.
Dr. Manas S N, an eminent hair transplant surgeon and founder of the Reniu Clinic, Mysore, says that the COVID-19 illness can affect people in several different ways.
Some people are asymptomatic, while others suffer from severe symptoms or have long-term complications. COVID-19 infection can trigger emotional and physical stress that can develop into a more bothersome ailment.
In this article, we shall discuss how COVID-19 and hair loss are linked.
COVID-19 and hair loss
Studies have shown hair loss to be a prevalent symptom among those affected by the SARs-COV-2 virus during the 2nd wave of COVID-19. What is more alarming is that the condition persisted for months after the patient had recovered.
The renowned dermatologist and hair transplant surgeon, Dr. Manas S N, says that there are a variety of reasons why you could shed your hair, and one of the most common causes is stress. COVID-19 can cause long-term consequences such as telogen effluvium – the medical term for hair loss due to stress.
There has been a significant increase in cases of telogen effluvium since the pandemic began – it is over 400% globally.
If you or your loved one is facing hair loss, please consult with Dr. Manas S N for a suitable treatment for you. He has over 5 years of experience and has performed over 1000 successful hair transplants.
You may be wondering how hair loss can cause stress. To understand this, let us first learn the life cycle of hair.
The 4 stages of hair growth
Hair growth and loss may appear to be a straightforward procedure, but the entire cycle is typically divided into 4 stages.
- Anagen: The anagen phase is the first stage of hair development. It is the longest period and lasts about 3 – 5 years; however, in some people, a single hair can grow for up to 8 years. In this stage, the hairs are being pushed out by your hair follicles and will continue growing until they are trimmed or reach the last phase. Approximately 90% of your hair is in the anagen stage at any given time.
- Catagen: The catagen phase begins after the anagen stage ends and lasts for around 10 days. Hair follicles weaken and shrink, slowing hair growth. The hair also loosens and separates from the base of your hair follicle, but it stays in place throughout its last days of growth. At any given time, only around 5% of your head hair is in this phase.
- Telogen: In most cases, the telogen phase lasts 3 months. This phase affects approximately 10% to 15% of the hairs on your scalp.During this phase, hairs do not develop, but they also do not fall off. New hairs start to grow in the follicles that are now empty after releasing hairs during the catagen period.
- Exogen: The exogen phase of hair growth is an extension of the telogen stage. During this phase, hair falls out from the scalp, which is typically aided by washing and combing. It is common to lose 50 – 100 hairs every day throughout the exogen period. New hairs grow in the follicles while old hairs fall out, and this phase can last anywhere from 2 – 5 months.
How can stress cause hair loss, and why does it occur months after the illness?
Patients afflicted with COVID-19 are likely to be physically and mentally worried. Dr. Manas S N, a highly-experienced hair transplant doctor, says that the emotional and physical anxiety which accompanies a COVID-19 infection may cause individuals to develop telogen effluvium.
Stress forces and pushes more hair follicles into the telogen phase, thus resulting in hair loss. Hairs rest in the telogen phase for 2 to 3 months before being removed from the scalp to make place for new hair growth.
As a result, hair loss caused by TE might take a long time to appear following a triggering event such as an illness or a very stressful circumstance.
How long is the hair loss phase?
Hair shedding is usually visible 2 – 3 months following a fever or sickness. It may extend anywhere from 6 – 9 months before ceasing. Telogen effluvium frequently happens as a result of other stressful events as well, including the birth of a child or a serious surgery.
If you need assistance with your hair loss problems, please visit Dr. Manas S N, who is among the leading hair transplant surgeons in Mysore.
What are the first indications of telogen effluvium?
While hair loss of 50 – 100 hairs every day is completely natural, people with telogen effluvium may lose 300 or more hairs each day, and this might last for several months.
You may start to notice clumps of hair when combing your hair or more than usual hair collected in your bathroom drain after a shower. You might even notice that your hair is thinning and a significant decrease in the volume of your hair.
If you are dealing with hair loss problems, do not hesitate to meet Dr. Manas S N, a top-notch hair transplant doctor in Mysore. He has expertise in various advanced hair treatment techniques like mesotherapy, PRP, and FUE treatment.
Mesotherapy treatment in Mysore
Mesotherapy treatment for hair involves injecting minerals, vitamins, and amino acid mixtures into the scalp to promote hair growth. The ingredients provide rich nourishment to your hair follicles and aid in settling the hair smoothly. This promotes the thickening of weak hair, prevents hair loss, and makes your hair stronger. Hair experts estimate that mesotherapy treatment has a 90% – 92 % success rate.
There are 2 processes of mesotherapy:
- Chemical Mesotherapy – In this procedure, the mesoderm layer of the skin is injected with ingredients such as minoxidil, buflomedil, dutasteride, finasteride, vitamins, organic silicium, and biotin. These nutrients act together to improve your blood circulation, reduce inflammation, increase collagen formation to halt hair loss, and neutralize excess DHT. DHT is a sex hormone which in excess amounts can interfere with your hair growth cycle.
- Mechanical Mesotherapy – In this procedure, the surgeon makes micro-perforations in the targeted area, which stimulates hair growth. Elastin and collagen and are produced as a result of this motion, and they aid in the development of new hair tissues. The existing collagen is not harmed during this procedure. The highly-skilled hair transplant surgeon, Dr. Manas S N, ensures that the formulations used in this procedure are produced and planned specifically for each person. The cost of hair mesotherapy in Mysore is determined by the number of sittings required, the procedure’s ingredients, and the size of the treatment region. At our state-of-the-art Reniu Clinic, we offer hair mesotherapy that is both effective and affordable.
Benefits
- Mesotherapy is a non-surgical therapeutic option for hair restoration.
- Mesotherapy is a technique that boosts vitamin levels in the scalp while also boosting blood circulation for hair regrowth.
- It remedies bald spots and activates healthy follicles, resulting in positive hair regeneration in both men and women.
- Mesotherapy is a hair loss treatment that involves injecting a vial containing the components needed for hair revitalization or restoration.
- Mesotherapy treatment takes 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the extent of balding or thinning hairs.
- Up to 5 treatments of Mesotherapy treatments are needed for maximum results.
- Active blood flow causes your hair follicles to develop faster and survive for a more extended period.
PRP for hair in Mysore
PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) therapy is a non-surgical, sophisticated therapeutic procedure used to address hair loss in people who need hair growth stimulation. Scientific research and technological advancements have helped the medical community to gain new insights into injury and tissue healing.
PRP is a 3-step medical procedure that involves drawing, processing, and injecting a person’s blood into the scalp. Most PRP treatments require 3 sessions 4 – 6 weeks apart. You also will have to go for maintenance treatments every 4 – 6 months.
Step 1: Your blood is taken (usually from your arm) and placed in a centrifuge (a rapidly spinning machine that separates fluids of various densities).
Step 2: Your blood will have divided into 3 layers after approximately 10 minutes of spinning in the centrifuge:
- Plasma that is platelet-poor
- Plasma that is rich in platelet
- RBC – Red blood cells
Step 3: Platelet-rich plasma is collected in a syringe and administered into those areas of the scalp where hair growth is required.
The cost of PRP treatment varies in different people, depending on the client’s needs. The following are the factors:
- Your current location
- Your desired result
- The doctors’ expertise
- The extent to which you will make use of modern technology
- The number of visits you require
The PRP treatment cost in Mysore ranges between Rs. 3000 – Rs. 5000 each session. Please contact the highly experienced hair transplant specialist, Dr. Manas S N, for more information.
Benefits
- It is a non-surgical hair loss treatment.
- It carries no risk and is an entirely natural process.
- Treatment time is reduced due to the simplicity of the method.
- The maximum length for each PRP injection treatment is 1 hour.
- The treatment
- brings about reliable, safe, and speedy results.
- The time it takes to recuperate following therapy is relatively short.
- Hair regrowth produces beautiful and natural-looking results quickly.
- It is performed by highly-experienced hair transplant surgeons.
FUE hair transplant in Mysore
Follicular Unit Extraction, generally known as ‘FUE,’ is a sophisticated hair restoration method. FUE, or Follicular Unit Extraction, is the most common hair transplantation process, and it ensures a perfectly natural appearance with actual growing hairs.
‘FUE’ is one of the most sophisticated technologies for ‘Hair Transplantation;’ it is extremely safe.
Because the ‘Follicular Unit Extraction’ approach is not incisive, there are no concerns about sutures or scarring. Suction is used to extract the hair transplants, which are then placed in the recipient site right away.
The cost of FUE hair transplantation in Mysore at Reniu Clinic is between Rs. 30 – Rs. 35 each hair graft.
Benefits
- Your scalp will be free of scars.
- The procedure is entirely safe, with very few adverse effects.
- You should see the desired outcomes in around 8 – 12 months.
- It produces outcomes that are totally natural-looking.
Bio-FUE hair transplant in Mysore
Bio-FUE is a new variant of the FUE hair transplant procedure. In this procedure, the surgeon takes hair transplants from the donor site and keeps them in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) solution.
It is a nutrient-rich solution that helps your hair grafts to survive outside of the body. It also significantly improves the hair grafts’ growth factors. These grafts are now implanted in the bald area by the surgeon.
The cost of Bio-FUE hair transplantation is between Rs. 35 – Rs. 40 per hair graft.
Benefits
- There will be no scars on your scalp, just like with FUE.
- It is a safe technique that can help you get greater density.
- In 6 – 12 months, you should observe total hair growth.
- No one will know that you have had a hair transplant because the results are so natural.
Conclusion
Your body might be put under a lot of stress while healing from a coronavirus attack. COVID-19, along with other side effects, causes hair loss, which is a common occurrence of stressful events. Fever is a typical COVID-19 sign, but when the person heals, many people begin to notice hair loss—which is actually hair shedding.
Hair loss appears 3-4 months after physical or psychological trauma, such as a viral infection, serious injuries, emotional stress, surgeries, strenuous labor, drug use, endocrine abnormalities, and malnutrition. Even if your COVID-19 illness was not serious, the mental stress connected with it could lead to telogen effluvium (TE).
If you or your loved one is facing hair loss and needs expert advice, please schedule an appointment with Dr. Manas S N by clicking the Reservation Form button. He is one of the most trusted and preferred doctors in Mysore for his expertise in skin and hair treatments.