More and more people in the world suffer from long COVID or post COVID vaccine syndromes, with common symptoms like brain fog, reduced physical strength, and loss of taste and smell.
Another common effect is hair loss.
Why does this coronavirus lead to hair loss? Dr. Shu Rong, a senior traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioner based in the UK, explained the causes of hair loss from the perspectives of TCM and Western medicine, and shared ways to reverse this problem.
Compared with those who had not been infected and those who recovered from the infection without sequelae, the study found that long COVID patients have an intestinal micro-ecological imbalance, with significantly less “good bacteria” and more “bad bacteria,” and that individual intestinal bacteria species are specifically associated with certain sequelae. The hair loss of “long COVID” patients is related to the reduction of the gut flora which produces butyrates, such as R. inulinivorans and F. prausnitzii.
READ MORE : Have You Experienced Pandemic-Driven Hair Loss?
Widespread Hair Loss?
Dr. Shu also noticed that more people have the problem of hair loss recently. A hair loss patient in her 30s told her that many of her friends had suffered severe hair loss in the past one or two years. The patient did not think it was anxiety, and she wondered if it was the coronavirus in the air that caused their widespread hair loss.How Hair Loss Is Related to Organ Health
In TCM, qi, blood, essence, and body fluids are the essential substances for life activities, all originating from the internal organs and flowing constantly inside the body.Ensuring these essential substances are sufficient and circulating throughout the body is very important for health and wellbeing. Illnesses or other conditions are caused by the stagnation or lack of these substances.
Shu explained that there is a concept that “blood and sweat share the same source” in TCM, and they are closely related. Sweat comes from body fluids, and body fluids exchange substances and energy with blood in blood vessels. If the amount of body fluids decreases, the amount of blood will also decrease.
In TCM, it’s also believed that “hair is the extension of blood.”
It means that hair depends on blood to provide nutrients, and hair is nourished only when there is excess blood. If there is not enough blood in the internal organs, the body will choose to lose the hair to protect the general functions of the internal organs. It will nourish and grow the hair again when there is sufficient blood.
- Viral infection may have caused microthrombi: When there is condensate in the blood, the blood cannot transport nutrients to the hair root, so the hairs fall out.
- Virus remains in the body and continues to replicate: During the process of virus replication, qi (vital energy) and blood are consumed and compete for the nutrients from the body.
- Abnormal immune functions caused by infection: the body will consume a lot of energy and nutrition and produce more harmful substances, causing weak qi and blood , which leads to insufficient nutrients to hair roots.
1. Poor internal organs function: Hair is affected when the internal organs cannot provide enough qi and blood. If we look at the hair follicle structure, both blood and sebaceous glands have the function of delivering nutrition to the hair roots. When there is insufficient qi and blood, the secretion of sebaceous glands will decrease, and one’s hair will look relatively dull.
2. Insufficient kidney essence: Essence and blood share the same source, and kidney essence can help produce more blood and nourish the hair roots.
3. Liver malfunction: Liver can store blood, and the blood stored will be transported to where it should go when necessary. When there is a problem with the regulatory function of the liver, blood cannot be transported as usual, and then hair loss takes place.
In TCM, emotions are directly linked to the health of our internal organs. Nervousness and anxiety have the greatest impact on the liver, thus affecting blood flow.
READ MORE : Study Links COVID-19 Infection to Excessive Hair Loss
3 Cases of Hair Loss and Regrowth
Can hair grow back after you lose it?The state of your hair is a good representation of the state of the inner body, according to Shu. If the inner body is healthy and the supply of qi and blood is sufficient, the excess qi and blood will then transport nutrients to the hair roots automatically, and the health of your hair will improve.
There are many ways to improve qi and blood, including internally used and externally used traditional Chinese medicine to allow the hair roots to absorb more from nutrients, acupuncture, combing, and massage. These can all help with hair regrowth, to different extents depending on the individual’s condition.
- Case 1: hair loss due to aging and habits
According to TCM, after the age of 40, the kidney qi is halved, and the kidney essence, blood, and qi are insufficient. In addition, she realized that she was only sleeping three to four hours a day, and often went to bed after midnight. It was obvious that her sleeping pattern worsened the problem of hair loss.
- Case 2: Hair loss due to illness
- Case 3: Hereditary hair loss
2 Types of TCM Prescription for External Application
1. Blood Nourishing Hair Lotion
This is for: People with weak of qi and blood, dry scalp and dry hair- 10 grams red ginseng slices
- 10 grams angelica
- 10 grams rehmannia glutinosa
- 10 grams Chuanxiong Rhizoma
- 10 grams allium macrostemon Bunge
- 10 grams shouwu
- 10 grams licorice roots
- 10 grams lucid ganoderma
- 10 grams Malaytea scurfpea fruit
- 10 grams clove
- 10 grams sandalwood
- 10 grams frost mulberry leaves
- Mash the ingredients into powder.
- Pour water and mix into a runny paste, and then apply on the scalp. Or
- Pour 500 ml of water and cook for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat
- Let it soak it for two hours, filter it, and collect the liquid medicine.
- Then add 500ml water into the dregs, cook for 5 minutes and soak for an hour. Filter and collect the liquid medicine.
- Mix the two liquid medicines together and boil them again. Turn off and let cool.
- After cooling down, keep them in an ice cube tray and freeze them.
- The volume of each cube is around 15ml. For each application, take one cube out and leave it at room temperature and melt for application. Use one cube for each application.
2. Dampness-Removing Hair Lotion
This is for: People with dampness, oily scalp and hair- 10 grams leaves of platycladus orientalis
- 10g mulberry leaves
- 10 grams wild chrysanthemum
- 10 grams atractylodes atractylodes
- 10 grams duckweed
- 10 grams mulberry bark
- 10 grams densefruit pittany root-bark
- 10 grams tuckahoe bark
- 10 grams parsnip
- 10 grams ligusticum
- 10 grams rhubarb
- 10 grams licorice roots
- 10 grams magnolia
- 10 grams cloves
- Mash the ingredients into powder.
- Pour water and mix into a runny paste, and then apply on the scalp. Or
- Pour 500 ml of water and cook for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat
- Let it soak it for two hours, filter it, and collect the liquid medicine.
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Avoid Chemical Hair Dyes and Shampoos
Shu said that even if the chemical hair dye does not dye the hair roots, the vapors are penetrating, which damages the hair and causes a lot of hair to fall out. In addition, the chemical ingredients in the shampoo will form a protective film on the scalp, making the scalp unable to breathe, slowing down blood circulation, damaging the hair roots gradually, and causing hair loss. She recommended using natural hair dyes and natural soaps to wash hair.Shu said that people should massage the scalp and repeatedly comb it before hair washing, as this can promote blood circulation.But avoid excessive combing on wet hair: the water makes hair fragile and prone to breakage.