Can COVID-19 Cause Hair Loss? And If So, Will It Keep Going?

"Doctor, I've been losing so much hair since I had COVID. What if it never comes back?"

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people coming to Lee Moon Won Korean Medicine Clinic with hair loss has risen noticeably. Even after acute symptoms like body aches, high fever, and cough are gone, hair loss that drags on for months brings many people fresh anxiety and stress. Let's take a closer, evidence-based look at whether COVID-19 really causes hair loss and, if it does, whether that hair loss will continue.

1. How Does COVID-19 Cause Hair Loss?

The coronavirus doesn't attack hair follicles directly. Hair loss shows up as an aftereffect of the intense physical and mental stress the body goes through during the infection. Here are the key mechanisms.

• Telogen effluvium: When the body undergoes severe stress such as high fever, inflammation, or a cytokine storm, it cuts off energy to anything not essential for survival. Many follicles that were actively growing hair treat this as an emergency, stop growing, and shift into the resting phase. As a result, starting 2 to 4 months after infection, the hairs that entered the resting phase fall out all at once.
• Inflammation and blood vessel damage: COVID-19 can trigger body-wide inflammation and damage the tiny blood vessels that supply hair follicles. This can disrupt the flow of oxygen and nutrients to the follicles and weaken hair.

2. How Many People Experience It, and Is There a Difference Between Men and Women?

Rates of hair loss after COVID-19 vary from study to study, but it's a common aftereffect that affects far more people than you might expect. Taken together, several international studies support a fairly reliable estimate that more than 50% of people experience hair loss after a COVID infection. Most studies also consistently report post-COVID hair loss more often in women.

3. It Can Come With Scalp Pain (Trichodynia)

Many patients tell me that along with the hair loss, "my scalp hurts just from brushing or touching my hair." This symptom, called trichodynia (scalp pain), has been reported as one of the aftereffects of COVID-19. It's thought that the same inflammation that causes the hair loss irritates nerve endings in the scalp and produces pain or unusual sensations, and it often appears together with hair loss.

4. The Most Important Question: Is It Permanent or Reversible?

Most experts and studies say COVID-related hair loss is temporary telogen effluvium and therefore not permanent. A dermatologist at University of Utah Health explains, "The good news is that most telogen effluvium ends after about 3 to 6 months," adding that "because the hair follicles themselves don't disappear, the hair will eventually grow back."

I, too, believe that COVID-related hair loss is temporary telogen effluvium. But I want to point out a practical problem I see in my clinic. "The shedding stops" and "the lost hair grows back to its former fullness" can be two different stories. Despite the expectation that "hair will grow back because the follicles themselves don't disappear," many patients come to Lee Moon Won Korean Medicine Clinic because their lost hair still hasn't recovered 2 to 3 years after having COVID.

I believe the degree of hair recovery inevitably varies from person to person. Just as COVID-19 symptoms range from mild to severe, aftereffects and resilience differ greatly between individuals. In particular, for people whose hair loss was already progressing before they caught COVID, the infection can act as a trigger that rapidly worsens existing hair loss. In that case, the worsened hair loss may continue to progress even after the effects of COVID have faded.

In conclusion, in most cases the amount of shedding from COVID-related hair loss decreases over time, but fully regaining your previous fullness may take personal effort and active treatment. If hair loss lasts more than 6 months, if lost hair hasn't recovered 2 to 3 years after having COVID, or if new hair is noticeably thin and weak, it's a good idea to consult a specialist like me and begin recovery treatment tailored to your scalp and hair condition.