Sadly, Covid Shedding is a real thing..

August is National Hair Loss Awareness Month so I wanted to take the time to educate about shedding due to covid. 

With so much to be worried about the past few years, hair loss was the least of our worries. However, many people all over the world started to experience what they thought to be hair-loss around the same time, including me. It turned out to be that due to the physical and emotional stress created by COVID many of us started to experience more than normal hair shedding months after recovering. 

The medical term for this type of temporary hair shedding is known as acute telogen effluvium. The stressors created from COVID shock your body and disrupt the growth/rest cycle several months after becoming infected with the virus. The result is increased shedding of hair, as much as 30 to 50 percent of hair follicles are in the telogen stage compared to the typical 5 to 10 percent. 

As i'm officially coming up on a year when I first noticed hair shedding, I want to give other people hope. 

Here are a Few Things I've Learned. 

• You’ll typically notice hair shedding two to three months later
• The severity of hair loss isn’t necessarily directly tied to the severity of illness
• The hair will likely grow back but it takes some time (some people do suffer from long term symptoms)
• Hair texture may change during this phase
• Shedding becomes more obvious whenever agitating the hair & scalp. This includes brushing, washing, and any manipulation.

Tips to manage Hair Shedding. 

•  Supplement diet with vitamins and minerals. Covid wreaked havoc on our bodies and depleted the body of many important nutrients. Its important to see a doctor and figure out what areas need improvement. 
• Keep hair manipulation at a minimum while in this phase. Constant manipulation will just remind you that you're going through this and tight styles will just cause tension and make hair more prone to falling out. 
• Stay away from heat styling. The hair is going through a lot right now so this will only weaken and damage the hair more.
• Remove stress from your life as best as you can.

Last, handle yourself and your hair with care. ♡ Continue to remind yourself that this is only temporary. 

Bodthentic Products I used to aid with shedding: Pumpkin Seed Oil, Ayurvedic hair Growth Oil, Botanical Scalp Oil, Raw Sea Moss

Other Products Used: Mary Ruths Women's Liquid Multivitamin, Mary Ruths B12, My Kind Organic Vitamin D Spray