GREENSBORO, N.C. — The loss of taste and smell is a common COVID-19 side effect.
It can take days, weeks, months to get the senses back.
Now, hair loss is being reported, even if you just had a mild case of COVID or no symptoms at all.
“So if your body is in a state of major physiologic stress where it's doing everything it can just to survive you know then it's going to come at a cost of some of the more accessory organs like your hair follicles,” said Dr. Nicole Rogers, Hair Restoration of the South.
The good news is, the hair comes back after COVID. What's really weird is, the shedding of hair can start a month and a half or even three months after you had COVID.
Just recently, WFMY News 2’s Meghann Mollerus talked to a woman who experienced this shedding issue.
“I lost my hair, just hand handfuls of my hair and I haven't been able to walk right. My leg has been swollen, and they don't know why. There's no reason for it to be other than COVID,” said Deborah Williams.
Research shows more than two-thirds of people hospitalized with COVID-19 have at least one lingering symptom six months after discharge. The experience is so common it now has a name, long-haul COVID.
When it comes to the hair issue, the experts who deal with this say to add in a multivitamin to your diet. You should start seeing the new baby hairs come back on their own. If it is longer lasting, you need to see a dermatologist.
One more note, doctors are also seeing problems with the fingernails. COVID-19 is interrupting the nail growth causing horizontal dents and ridges.