The physical and emotional trauma that accompanies having COVID may lead to excessive hair shedding a few months after having the illness.
Hair shedding is a natural part of your hair’s growth cycle, on average you shed between 50-100 hairs per day. When you shed significantly more than that, excessive hair shedding, it’s called telogen effluvium. If you have telogen effluvium, you may lose an average of 300 hairs a day instead of 100.
Hair Growth Cycle
Telogen effluvium happens when more hairs than normal enter the shedding (telogen) phase of the hair growth lifecycle at the same time. Because hairs that enter the telogen phase rest in place for two to four months before falling out, you may only notice the hair shedding a few months after having COVID. A fever is a common symptom of COVID, it can force more hairs into the shedding phase. There are other triggers that can cause telogen effluvium, these include
operations
end of pregnancy
severe trauma
stressful life event
medication
Telogen effluvium is generally temporary and self-correcting when the trigger event is treated. The hair shedding can last for six months before it stops.