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The confinement that the population has experienced during this period could be leaving consequences on the population's hair.
The confinement that the population has experienced during this period could be leaving consequences on the population's hair, according to Dr. Miguel Sánchez Viera, director of the Institute of Comprehensive Dermatology, there has been an increase in consultations related to acute telogen effluvium, an alteration characterized by very accelerated hair loss, in which stress and anxiety are risk factors.
Although with spring there is always an increase in hair loss, "however, this year we are seeing cases in which the hair still does not recover the thickness and density produced by this process. These are cases of acute telogen effluvium, characterized by a very accelerated hair loss associated with an event that occurred approximately 3 months before the diagnosis, that is, coinciding with confinement," he points out.
The usual thing is that about 100 hairs are lost daily, however in acute telogen effluvium the number of hairs lost can triple. In addition, the recovery of these hairs is slower, and can take up to 3 months. Among the main causes of this pathology are: infections, fever, flu, sudden changes in diet (very restrictive or high-calorie diets), postpartum and, of course, stress.
In addition, the fear of contagion by covid-19 has made patients stop going to the dermatologist to have a diagnosis or follow a treatment already started. "Many patients undergoing hair treatment have stopped going to the specialist during confinement for fear of contagion," says the expert.
On the other hand, consultations for alopecia areata (hair loss in patches) have increased. This type of alopecia, whose origin is believed to be an autoimmune process by which the body itself attacks the hair follicle, appears or worsens during periods of stress. "However, diagnosed in time, there is no destruction of the hair follicle, so the lost hair can be returned when recovered with the appropriate treatment," adds Sánchez Viera.
Regarding a possible relationship between hair loss and having suffered from coronavirus, the expert states that it is still to be clarified whether the COVID19 infection could also affect the hair through these mechanisms or through other more specific ones. What is significant, he points out, is that hair specialists have seen an increase in consultations from patients who have suffered from this disease and have suffered greater hair loss than before being infected by the coronavirus.
For this reason, the director of IDEI advises that patients should recover their dermatological check-ups, since if they do not do so, they may worsen or develop new diseases, which with early diagnosis and treatment can be solved in the vast majority of cases.
"We have also seen the worsening in cases of skin cancer, which have advanced during confinement, whose patients have had to undergo more invasive surgeries to eliminate them," concludes the dermatologist.
