April 15, 2024 • 34 mins
If you’ve suffered hair loss after an acute illness or stressful situation, you’ll know that the rate in which your hair falls out can be alarming. This phenomenon is called Telogen Effluvium or TE.
In this episode of the Hair Loss in Women podcast Bambi talks to a woman who has recently recovered from a bout of TE after a serious illness.
You’ll also hear exactly why illness and other stressful events can result in hair loss and what to do about it.
In this episode you’ll learn:
- What Telogen Effluvium is
- How long you’ll likely have to wait for your hair to grow back if you have a bout of TE
- Why it’s still a good idea to search for an underlying cause if you have TE
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DISCLAIMER:
While Bambi is a former registered nurse with extensive knowledge on hair loss in women, she is not a medical doctor.
All information shared in this podcast is of a general nature.
Please see your GP or other medical professional for specific advice related to your circumstances.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello ladies, are you struggling with hairloss?
I want you to know you're not alone.
Hi, I'm Bambi Staveley, former registerednurse, author, founder of Boost N Blend
and someone who probably just like you hashad first -hand experience with hair loss,
which is all covered in my latest book,Hair Loss in Women.
(00:23):
When I noticed my own hair thinning 15years ago,
I went looking for information and I wentlooking for products for women, just like
you and me.
But all I could find out there wasproducts made for men.
And most of the information I could findwas about male pattern baldness.
Well, that's not much help.
So I set out to change that.
(00:44):
I want to see women with hair loss talkingabout it and talking to each other,
sharing their stories from a place ofknowledge.
So join me.
as I meet some courageous women.
I'll share some information and we'lllearn together on the Hair Loss in Women
podcast.
(01:10):
Hi there.
It's nice to have you here for anotherepisode of the Hair Loss in Women podcast.
As you probably know by now, I'm BambiStaveley.
And today we're talking about hair lossafter an illness.
It can be a big problem and includingafter COVID -19 actually.
But the good news is that if you are goingthrough hair loss following an illness
(01:32):
right now, it will not always, but mostlyit will grow back.
And I'll explain a bit more about why thatis.
throughout this episode.
And of course, as in all of theseepisodes, the advice that I give is of a
general nature.
So please check in with your doctor forspecific health advice.
(01:52):
But speaking of hair loss and illness,today's interview is with a woman who
experienced just that.
Candice had no history of hair loss beforeshe became very unwell in 2022.
And not long after that,
bout of illness that she had, she startedto lose her hair at an alarming rate.
There is some good news in this storythough, so I hope you enjoy this
(02:15):
conversation I had with Candice.
Candice, hi and welcome to the podcast.
Thank you so much for taking the time totalk to me today.
It's really very generous of you to giveup your time to help other women really.
(02:38):
No worries.
Thanks for having me.
I'm happy to be here.
Yeah, thanks.
Okay.
Well, your story is actually quite adramatic one, I think.
So maybe we could start.
at the beginning and tell us how this allbegan, how your story actually started.
Yeah.
(02:58):
So it started off in September of 2022.
I ended up getting really sick for abouttwo and a half days.
I stayed at home with high fevers and justthought that I was sick with the flu or
gastro.
Didn't really think anything of it.
(03:19):
I even went to the doctor because
I was really, really sick and my headactually hurt to touch, like my scalp.
Even to lie down on my pillow, it wasreally sore and he didn't think much of it
really.
He gave me some painkillers and sent mehome.
And so I went home that night and justsuffered and I could just see my...
(03:46):
like a line going down my forehead, slowlymoving down and down.
And I called my dad in Canada.
I woke up, it was like four o 'clock inthe morning in Australia, and I FaceTimed
with my dad, and he got really worried andbegged me to go to emergency.
I had also looked at Google, Dr.
(04:08):
Google, and I thought maybe I had shinglesor something.
Um, and that if the infection went to myeyes that I would go blind.
So that scared me enough to drive myselfto emergency.
It took a while to get admitted, likehours and they just couldn't figure out
what was wrong with me.
They were thinking that I was having areaction to Botox, but I hadn't had Botox
(04:33):
in four months and had Botox many times.
So I, to me, that seemed ridiculous.
And then.
I ended up in the hospital for five days.
It was sepsis.
So what they think happened was that I gotcellulitis on my scalp.
I have psoriasis.
(04:53):
So I'm not sure if I had nicked my scalp,like scratched it and then caused like an
infection with bacteria turned cellulitisand then left untreated turned septic,
which I think is quite common.
So I ended up being in the hospital forlike,
five days.
(05:14):
Then when I got out, everything was fine,but then in December, my hair started
falling out.
Okay.
So that was September when this allhappened and you were in hospital.
And sepsis is actually a very serious andpotentially life -threatening illness
actually.
So your body was obviously going throughsomething pretty horrendous back then in
(05:37):
September.
You were very sick.
So, yeah.
So then September, then in December.
So what happened in December?
In December, I didn't even notice reallyuntil I went camping.
And because I was in a car for a daytraveling and then in a swag, like a
(05:59):
small, what you're sleeping in, I justnoticed that my hair was everywhere.
And then I started running my fingersthrough my hair and just, it was coming
out a lot and an alarming.
rate to me anyways, because I don't havethat much hair to begin with.
I've always had really fine hair.
So when I got back home, then I looked inthe mirror and could just see like how
(06:22):
much density I had lost, whether or not ithad like, I don't know how long it had
been happening for.
But it was, yeah, it was prettyconfronting.
Yeah, immediately I just started Googling,why am I losing my hair?
Like what's going on?
And I came across...
I think, telogen effluvium.
Which we call TE, so we don't have to saytelogen effluvium all the time.
(06:47):
But yeah, so that was TE for sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I was convinced that that's what itwas, but I wanted to know, like I needed,
I wanted to go to the doctor and see whatthey said.
So I went back to my doctor and explainedlike hysterical because I had lost so much
hair.
And it was right before Christmas.
(07:08):
It was.
just hysterical and was like, I think thisis what it is.
And he suggested that we run some bloodwork just to make sure that it wasn't
thyroid or iron deficiency or yeah.
So we ended up taking the blood and itcame back actually that my iron levels
(07:28):
were critically low.
So my ferritin was less than four or five.
Like it was crazy low.
And the next day I got an iron infusion.
Actually, that's really sort of quite aclassic case of you had something that
shocked your body.
(07:49):
And then lots of people have things thatshock their body, but they don't lose
their hair.
But of course, because you had anunderlying cause, you had something else
going on, which was the low iron.
And that's why for you being sick causedthe severe hair loss that you had.
Perhaps if your iron had been totallyfine, you wouldn't have had the hair loss
(08:09):
following the sepsis.
So, okay, so you had an iron infusion,which was obviously needed.
I mean, my ferritin's been eight, that'sthe lowest I've ever been and had hair
loss at the time.
So four is pretty, pretty severe.
So what happened from there?
I actually went out and bought a hairtopper to get me through.
(08:34):
because I couldn't, like, you neverrealize how vain you are until, you know,
for me anyways, until you don't have yourhair, you go something through like that.
And it's, I hate to say it, because I knowit's not the end of the world and so many
other women have it much worse.
But for me it was, yeah, it was reallyconfronting.
(08:55):
So I went in to a wig shop and this lovelylady fitted me for a hair topper.
And I wore that for basically like eight,nine months almost every day except for at
work when I felt comfortable around mycoworkers or that I just started to get
(09:21):
enough.
I got the shadowing stuff and the fiber,the boost and blend stuff actually to like
cover in and just make it look a littlebit fuller and everyone.
did their best to reassure me that theycouldn't even tell.
But when I look at photos, it's veryapparent.
Yeah.
So tell me just on the, on the topper, howdid you feel wearing a topper?
(09:44):
Did you, did it give you that confidencethat you needed or did you feel, or how
did you feel?
I loved my topper.
It did everything for my self -esteem.
In fact, it was better than my real hair.
Like I've never had a big, thick, lusciousponytail or like, you know, the
hair that you can flick around.
So it was good like that, but I'm a singlewoman and you know, dating and you know,
(10:09):
meeting new people and then having toexplain to them that you're wearing a
topper or a wig, that was a bitconfronting and it was really hard.
Like I feel like that it affected my self-esteem.
when it came down to that because youcan't swim with them, you can't sleep with
them.
It was really awkward for me to have totake off the topper and then be like, oh,
(10:33):
this is actually what my hair looks like.
Yeah.
So I think it was good, but also just hardbecause I wasn't being honest with myself
or I don't know how to explain it.
Well, I think we all have these
things about ourselves that other peopledon't really notice.
I mean, I know that people say that theythink everybody looks at their hair, but
(10:54):
actually I don't think people do really.
I mean, we're very self -conscious of it.
I am, you are, and I guess at times we'remore self -conscious than at other times,
but it is one of those things that we takeon board and we feel all the feelings are
ours.
There aren't people looking at us going,oh, I can see you're wearing a top.
(11:15):
I mean, you can't really, toppers arefantastic.
because they do give you that, you know,so much more hair, bulks it out a lot.
So was that easy to put on every morningor was that difficult?
I mean, you obviously - Yeah, no, it wasso easy.
I've always, because I've got fine hair,I'm like a clip -in extension girl, so I'd
always be putting those in to give my hairvolume anyways.
(11:37):
So - Great.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was really easy.
And nobody, like you couldn't tell at all.
I got a really good quality one.
Um, it cost me a lot of money.
Well, almost $2 ,000, which is crazy.
That is a lot more than my first car andsecond, but yeah, for what it did for my
(11:58):
self esteem and just because I work in acustomer service, I see people every day.
I did it for myself, for my own mentalhealth.
Yeah, no, I think it's great.
And so it was perfect color for you.
Yeah, they actually dyed it.
So she was able to she like dyed the rootsa little bit to match like my natural and
(12:21):
then matched it in with the highlights.
And I even went back just at the start ofthis summer because it had gone a little
bit lighter and brassy.
So I brought it back to them and they justredyed it for me.
They looked at the color of my hair nowand then just again color matched it and.
cut a bit of more fringe into it because Iwanted more bang.
(12:44):
And yeah, they're just so lovely.
I'll wear it forever still.
I still wear it when I go out, but it'snice to have hair and not like I'm hiding
something, you know?
Now it's like, oh, I just use it because Ilike the way that my hair looks in it.
It's not like hiding this secret that Ifelt like I was hiding.
And for those who don't, haven't ever worna topper,
(13:09):
Just tell us, how do you have to lookafter it?
What do you have to do to it?
You obviously wash it?
Yes, you wash it.
I washed it.
Not that often though, like maybe twice amonth.
It depends on how much you wear it.
And I didn't really have to put anystyling products or anything in it because
I mostly wore it in a ponytail.
(13:30):
And they gave me shampoo with it that Istill have.
So the shampoos lasted well over a yearand a half now.
And I bought like a styrofoam head to putit on.
And then you just secure it with sewingpins to make it stay onto the crown of the
(13:50):
mannequin head or whatever.
And then you can curl it.
Like I would curl it once after I wash itbecause it would go quite flat.
So I would curl it, put some hairspray init.
And then, yeah, it would be good until...
till I washed it again the next time.
The only time I found that it got grosswas when I went to Bali for eight days.
(14:12):
And I feel like the humidity and the like,I don't know, whatever's in the air there
just made it yuck.
Oh, interesting, interesting.
And while you had the topper, you wereusing hair fibers at the same time?
Yeah, when I wasn't wearing the topper,then I would put the hair fibers in to
just give it.
thickness and like volume at the roots andthen to fill in like, you know how you can
(14:37):
get, there's like a little squeezy kind ofapplicator, I guess that.
Oh, the little puffer applicator.
Yep.
Yeah.
So I would use the applicator to do likemy hairline.
Yeah.
And then I would just sprinkle because Ibought naturally curly hair.
So I would just sprinkle the, the fibersin the roots kind of to fill out the shape
(14:57):
and then it would give me more volume.
Yeah.
Yeah, well, that's what I still do everyday with.
Yeah, so do I when I have...
You do, yeah.
Yeah, because my hair is still quite thin.
So it looks like I never really paidattention to how, like I always knew my
hair was thin, but like I didn't thinkmuch of like when you go like that and you
(15:18):
see your scalp, like that was just, hasalways been my hair.
Yeah, when you pull it back, you can seeyour scalp.
Well, actually it's not too bad.
So tell us what happened then, your hairgrew back?
I started taking supplements and thentrying to eat more stuff with iron.
I wasn't super vigilant on taking the ironpills.
I went back every six weeks to get myblood tested and just watched my iron
(15:42):
fall.
I get really bad periods, like terrible.
And so I feel like they said that that'sprobably where the low iron is coming
from, that I'm because iron's the only.
vitamin that your body doesn't create, itingests it.
And so you can't, like if I'm losing itand not storing it, then you can't get it
(16:06):
back, I guess.
So, yeah.
So how long was your hair falling out forbefore it sort of stopped?
At six weeks, I started to see after theiron infusion, I started to see like that
I had growth coming in.
And that's the, so you weren't pullinghair out for much more than about.
(16:27):
a couple of weeks.
Yeah.
Yeah, I don't think, I think it was justlike one major, when I went camping and
then was in my friend's car and just waslike, Oh my God, my hair is everywhere.
And like in this little tiny camping swagin there and just having hair everywhere,
like getting in my mouth, get it.
Like it was just everywhere, everywhere.
(16:48):
Yes.
I remember that feeling as well when ithappened to me and there'd be other people
listening in now who would.
Absolutely.
No, exactly what you're talking about.
Many of us, not everybody with hair loss,but many of us have gone through that
super severe T E that's just quitedevastating and alarming, especially when
(17:10):
you weren't expecting it, which I wasn't,and you no doubt weren't either.
And so then it's stabilized and your hairstarted to grow back.
So how long did that take?
Did you, do you sort of have a moment whenyou went, ah,
Okay.
It's sort of back.
Do you remember having a moment like that?
I think that it was only probably inOctober, just this October past, that I
(17:37):
felt comfortable to not wear the topperreally anymore.
That I was like, okay, my hair looksnormal now, a bit of a mullet, because it
did fall out mostly around the top andlike crown, but then I had the like the
hair at the back.
that stayed and that was the other thingthat everybody at work when my hair was
falling out and I was freaking out, theywere like, just cut it all off, Candice,
(17:59):
just cut it all off.
And I almost took the scissors to mymullet.
And when I went to the lady at the wigshop, she just said, thank goodness you
didn't because if you did, you wouldn'thave been able to use the topper.
So just keep that mullet and work with it.
And so that's what I've done is just,yeah, I kept the mullet.
(18:20):
Well, actually, um, I can see obviouslybecause it's a podcast, nobody else can
see you, but I can see you've got lots ofgood growth around the front of your, the
front and the top of your head now.
So it happened in September.
You were sick in September 22 and thenOctober 23, you felt like you had sort of
(18:41):
recovered.
So that's a year.
Um, so for people who are going through TEat the moment.
That's really, for me, it was 18 months.
So for you, it was much quicker than forme.
I didn't actually ever have an ironinfusion.
I just took iron supplements.
So perhaps the infusion got your ironlevels up faster than mine.
(19:02):
It definitely, yeah.
For sure.
So for anyone who's going through TE atthe moment, it's important for them to
know that it does take a long time foryour hair to turn around, for it to stop
falling out.
And then you've got to...
super sleuth around and find yourunderlying cause, then you've got to fix
that.
(19:22):
And then your hair needs to start growingagain.
And all of those processes take time.
So, you know, I hear of women saying, Oh,well, you know, my hair fell out, you
know, a couple of months ago and it's, ithasn't grown back.
And I sort of think, well, yeah, it will,if, you know, if it's TE and if you can
find your underlying cause, not everybody.
(19:44):
has an underlying cause, but usuallythere's something else going on.
And of course, I should just make a quickmention of postpartum hair loss, which is
also a TE.
So not following an illness in that case,but following the normal and sudden drop
in estrogen that happens followingchildbirth.
So that kind of hair loss, postpartum hairloss, is also temporary and it will come
(20:08):
back, but it can take a year or more forthat to happen.
So it's really a very important messagethat we get out there that it does and can
take a long time.
So now that your hair has stabilized, haveyou been given any advice on watching out
for hair loss in the future?
(20:30):
Or has anyone said anything about youriron or ongoing treatment for your iron?
No, unfortunately, I did go to an ironclinic.
and they wanted me to go to get anultrasound of my insides to see what's
(20:50):
going on there.
But it's quite expensive and I'm a singlemom and I just haven't gone.
If it's endometriosis, I don't know.
I just go and get my iron checked everysix weeks and then just watch the levels
and try and really stay on top of that.
So...
I was really worried actually in April oflast year, my mom passed away and it was
(21:16):
really traumatic and I was quitehysterical for a while.
And I thought maybe that was going to beanother trigger.
It can be a death in the family, which isreally heartbreaking.
That actually can be a trigger, you'reright.
But it wasn't for you.
It wasn't for you, probably because youwere working on your iron at the time.
(21:36):
Yes.
I went.
home to Canada for her funeral orcelebration of life in June.
And my hair, I felt like it was reallystressful though.
I hadn't been home in five years and yeah,it was just a stressful, stressful time.
And then my hair started to fall outagain, probably just at a normal rate, but
(22:00):
I was really aware.
Like just, I'm always looking at how muchhair comes out in the shower.
Like I ball it up and watch for the...
I obsess about it probably too much.
Well, actually you do know that, and Imentioned this because I think it's really
important, the stress of hair loss canexacerbate hair loss.
There've been some studies.
(22:21):
So I think that this sort of problem thatwe have, this sort of vicious circle that
we feel like because we don't want to losehair again, we don't want to go back
there.
And so there's always this worry that itwill happen again.
And as easy as it is for me to say,
Don't worry about it.
Of course we do and you will.
(22:43):
But it probably won't happen again whileyou've got such a good handle on your
iron.
I mean, you know, nobody can predict thefuture, but you seem to be doing the best
thing by your body in having your ironchecked so regularly.
So you're not going to overdose on it,which of course is another problem.
And you're doing the right thing.
You know, you're having it checked, you'restaying on top of it.
(23:05):
Because when I got back from Canada, I gotmy iron checked again and it was below 30.
It was 29.
So just like in the critical, like whereit goes into the red.
And my doctor agreed again for me to beallowed to have the iron infusion.
So I had another one on July.
(23:26):
So like seven months apart and I've beenfeeling really tired again.
So I went and got my iron checked again.
but it's at 128.
So I was surprised that I thought that itwas going to be, cause it's been seven
months and the last time was seven monthsbetween, and then it was 30, but it's
yeah, it's high.
So I was so happy today.
It was just today actually that I got theresults.
(23:47):
Great.
And now I feel better now.
I'm like, I'm just shedding it'ssummertime.
Yeah.
It's, it's really funny.
You should say that.
I think a lot of people who are aware ofhair loss because of something like a T
also,
then become more aware of the seasonalshedding, which many of us have.
(24:08):
In fact, probably most people do, butbecause a lot of people have a lot of hair
and they don't really think about it andthey've never had a hair loss episode, so
they're not really focused on it.
But if you have had a hair loss episodeand then you realize that actually, and I
realize this with me, sort of about once ayear, I do actually lose more hair than at
any other time.
(24:28):
So.
Seasonal shedding is very much a part ofmy life and it sounds like it's also a
part of yours.
Yeah, I think so as well.
I think you have an amazing story and it'sbeen lovely to be able to give women,
other women out there who are goingthrough something similar or T or low iron
or even who are currently looking fortheir underlying cause.
(24:49):
It doesn't have to be iron, it could besomething else.
But so what would you like to say to...
other women out there who might be goingthrough something like this or who may
have only just recently discovered thatthey have some form of hair loss?
That you're not alone.
It's very, very common.
Hopefully it will get better.
(25:10):
Mine got better.
And if you can afford some kind of hairpiece that will make you feel better
looking in the mirror and going out inpublic, then I would.
highly recommend to do that and not justhide at home and cry.
Cause yeah.
Well, that's great advice actually.
(25:30):
I think getting out there and we'll eitherusing something like a willow wig or a
topper or, and, or hair fibers, you know,or there's so many things you can do to
hide hair loss.
You just need to research and find out, oryou need to try them all.
We need to at least start with fibersbecause.
At least with hair fibers, it's a, it's alow cost option and you can give it a go
(25:55):
to give you some more confidence.
They're so good.
Just for the shadowing of making your hairlook fuller and yeah, cost effective.
Cause I've seen on my TikTok now peopleare getting their scalps tattooed or
feathered.
You know how you do the eyebrows?
I guess you can get your scalp featherednow.
Yeah, you can.
And lots of people do that.
(26:16):
The only problem, well, it's not really aproblem, I guess, but it fades.
So then you've got to decide what to dodown the track.
And it's expensive.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But still it's an option.
Well, that's, that's really an amazingstory.
So thank you for sharing that with us.
So thank you.
No worries.
Thank you for having me.
(26:37):
It was lovely to talk to you.
What a reminder that serious illness canstrike at any moment and can have really
long lasting effects.
I want to tell you more about illness andhair loss.
So that's the topic of today's Did YouKnow?
(26:57):
Okay, so time to talk about how gettingsick can affect your hair growth.
In the very first episode of this podcast,we did speak about how stress and
stressful events in particular can triggerhair loss.
And you've just heard a prime example ofthat from Candice.
So let's talk a bit more about how and whyillness, including COVID -19, which I'll
(27:21):
talk a bit more about later, can cause...
Telogen effluvium or TE.
So just a reminder of what Telogeneffluvium or TE is, that's actually acute
and sudden hair loss.
We call it TE and it's associated withlots of illnesses.
It happens after many viral infections,including the flu, but also acute
(27:43):
illnesses or infections, a trauma,surgery, anything that puts enough stress
on your body that can cause a shock toyour body.
even a bad bout of gastro.
And as you've heard with Candice,bacterial infections, which can turn
septic, can have that same effect.
(28:03):
All of these things put our bodies understress.
So what's actually happening?
Well, as you might recall, the hair growthhappens in a cycle.
There's the growth phase, which is knownas the anagen phase, and there's the
resting phase.
So the hair stops growing, and that'scalled
the catechin phase and then there's theshedding phase.
(28:24):
So after the hair has rested for a while,it then sheds and that's the telogen
phase.
So that's where we get the term telogeneffluvium from.
So the stressful event shortens the growthphase, the anagen phase of the hair
follicle and that leads to those hairsbeing prematurely put into the resting
phase.
And then once it's rested, a few monthslater, the hairs are shed.
(28:48):
So that's what a TE is.
It's
that has been put into the resting phaseand then it will shed, fall out later.
So before I get onto what you should do ifyou find yourself losing hair after an
illness, I just want to quickly touch onCOVID.
There's been quite a few studies done onCOVID -19 and hair loss.
(29:08):
And back when I was writing my book in2021 -22, I could see a clear correlation
between hair loss and COVID, but thereweren't many studies at that time.
And of course now there are.
So COVID is now quite widely known andaccepted as a cause of acute hair loss or
(29:29):
TE.
And there are actually a few reasons forthat.
Firstly, the presence of the diseaseitself, which causes stress on the body
and high temperatures in particular, andalso pulmonary and cardiovascular
symptoms.
So the effects on the lungs and the heartand medications.
So it can't be ruled out that some of theantivirals or the antibiotics that people
(29:52):
were taking or have been prescribed duringCOVID have contributed to TE.
And there are studies being done on thatright now.
I was reading in a recent study publishedin the Journal of Medicine and Life that
as many as 24 % of the people surveyed whohad moderate to severe COVID suffered
(30:12):
significant hair loss.
But interestingly,
none of those patients had a prior historyof TE or any hair loss actually.
But while the study suggested that morefollow -up is needed to discover the
pathogenesis or the mechanism that wascausing the hair loss, it is thought that
there's a connection between the immuneresponse and the effect that that response
(30:35):
has on the hair follicles.
But as I say, further research isdefinitely needed.
But it did conclude, the study didconclude that...
with reference to many other studies alsoon COVID and hair loss, that hair loss can
be one of the outcomes in the months aftera COVID infection.
So if you've been through a bout ofillness and you're now experiencing hair
(30:55):
loss, what do you do?
Well, firstly, knowing that the cause islikely to be the recent illness, and
particularly if you've had COVID in thepast few months, hopefully that can reduce
your stress because the fact that it is aknown post -COVID symptom,
and that it will resolve can help toreduce the stress and the worry.
(31:17):
A common cry I hear is women thinking thatthey'll go bald.
Many women report losing around half theirhair and of course that's scary.
And if you are in that position, pleaseknow you won't go totally bald if you have
TE.
It will eventually stop and hair will growback.
If you're someone who hasn't recoveredfrom TE following COVID or following a
(31:41):
severe illness, then there are a couple ofthings you can do.
First of all, look for some otherunderlying health issues.
Go and see a doctor.
That's really the first thing you shoulddo.
But also maybe look at working on yourstress.
Stress is a major factor in hair loss andit is a major factor in continuing hair
(32:02):
loss.
So meditation's a good idea.
breathing exercises, anything that canhelp you deal with your stress.
The other thing you can do is to trycovering your hair loss.
There's toppers, which is like a halfweek, a full week if you feel that you
need a full week, or hair fibers likeBoost and Blend that can just shake in and
(32:22):
cover up visible scalp.
These are things you can do that make youfeel better about yourself, that make you
feel that as you leave the house, you lookgreat and people won't notice.
But the final step,
is to wait.
It might take a while for the TE to stopand it might take a while for your body to
recover and for the hair follicles to rampback up to start to produce hair again.
(32:45):
And then that hair needs to grow so thatit's visible.
So all of that can take time up to a year.
So if you're stressed now and you're inthe middle of a TE, please just know that
firstly, you won't lose all your hair, youwon't go bald and secondly, it will come
back.
So there you have it.
(33:05):
Just remember that today's advice isgeneral in nature, so make sure you check
in with your doctor about your particularcircumstances.
I hope you've enjoyed today's episode.
We'll be back again next week where we'lltalk about hair dye.
Until then, kindness is beautiful, so wearit every day.
(33:27):
Thanks for joining me on the Hair Loss inWomen podcast.
And a big thank you to the women who sharetheir stories here and with others in
their community.
One of the hardest things about hair lossfor women is that we don't talk about it.
So if you do want to hear more, pleasesubscribe to the podcast.
And if you like what you heard, why notleave a review?
(33:49):
Positive reviews will help other women tofind this podcast too.
You can also find out more in my book.
care loss in women.
This podcast has been recorded in Sydney,Australia and is produced by Pod and Pen
Productions.
Hello ladies, are you struggling with hairloss?
I want you to know you're not alone.
Hi, I'm Bambi Staveley, former registerednurse, author, founder of Boost N Blend
and someone who probably just like you hashad first -hand experience with hair loss,
which is all covered in my latest book,Hair Loss in Women.
(00:23):
When I noticed my own hair thinning 15years ago,
I went looking for information and I wentlooking for products for women, just like
you and me.
But all I could find out there wasproducts made for men.
And most of the information I could findwas about male pattern baldness.
Well, that's not much help.
So I set out to change that.
(00:44):
I want to see women with hair loss talkingabout it and talking to each other,
sharing their stories from a place ofknowledge.
So join me.
as I meet some courageous women.
I'll share some information and we'lllearn together on the Hair Loss in Women
podcast.
(01:10):
Hi there.
It's nice to have you here for anotherepisode of the Hair Loss in Women podcast.
As you probably know by now, I'm BambiStaveley.
And today we're talking about hair lossafter an illness.
It can be a big problem and includingafter COVID -19 actually.
But the good news is that if you are goingthrough hair loss following an illness
(01:32):
right now, it will not always, but mostlyit will grow back.
And I'll explain a bit more about why thatis.
throughout this episode.
And of course, as in all of theseepisodes, the advice that I give is of a
general nature.
So please check in with your doctor forspecific health advice.
(01:52):
But speaking of hair loss and illness,today's interview is with a woman who
experienced just that.
Candice had no history of hair loss beforeshe became very unwell in 2022.
And not long after that,
bout of illness that she had, she startedto lose her hair at an alarming rate.
There is some good news in this storythough, so I hope you enjoy this
(02:15):
conversation I had with Candice.
Candice, hi and welcome to the podcast.
Thank you so much for taking the time totalk to me today.
It's really very generous of you to giveup your time to help other women really.
(02:38):
No worries.
Thanks for having me.
I'm happy to be here.
Yeah, thanks.
Okay.
Well, your story is actually quite adramatic one, I think.
So maybe we could start.
at the beginning and tell us how this allbegan, how your story actually started.
Yeah.
(02:58):
So it started off in September of 2022.
I ended up getting really sick for abouttwo and a half days.
I stayed at home with high fevers and justthought that I was sick with the flu or
gastro.
Didn't really think anything of it.
(03:19):
I even went to the doctor because
I was really, really sick and my headactually hurt to touch, like my scalp.
Even to lie down on my pillow, it wasreally sore and he didn't think much of it
really.
He gave me some painkillers and sent mehome.
And so I went home that night and justsuffered and I could just see my...
(03:46):
like a line going down my forehead, slowlymoving down and down.
And I called my dad in Canada.
I woke up, it was like four o 'clock inthe morning in Australia, and I FaceTimed
with my dad, and he got really worried andbegged me to go to emergency.
I had also looked at Google, Dr.
(04:08):
Google, and I thought maybe I had shinglesor something.
Um, and that if the infection went to myeyes that I would go blind.
So that scared me enough to drive myselfto emergency.
It took a while to get admitted, likehours and they just couldn't figure out
what was wrong with me.
They were thinking that I was having areaction to Botox, but I hadn't had Botox
(04:33):
in four months and had Botox many times.
So I, to me, that seemed ridiculous.
And then.
I ended up in the hospital for five days.
It was sepsis.
So what they think happened was that I gotcellulitis on my scalp.
I have psoriasis.
(04:53):
So I'm not sure if I had nicked my scalp,like scratched it and then caused like an
infection with bacteria turned cellulitisand then left untreated turned septic,
which I think is quite common.
So I ended up being in the hospital forlike,
five days.
(05:14):
Then when I got out, everything was fine,but then in December, my hair started
falling out.
Okay.
So that was September when this allhappened and you were in hospital.
And sepsis is actually a very serious andpotentially life -threatening illness
actually.
So your body was obviously going throughsomething pretty horrendous back then in
(05:37):
September.
You were very sick.
So, yeah.
So then September, then in December.
So what happened in December?
In December, I didn't even notice reallyuntil I went camping.
And because I was in a car for a daytraveling and then in a swag, like a
(05:59):
small, what you're sleeping in, I justnoticed that my hair was everywhere.
And then I started running my fingersthrough my hair and just, it was coming
out a lot and an alarming.
rate to me anyways, because I don't havethat much hair to begin with.
I've always had really fine hair.
So when I got back home, then I looked inthe mirror and could just see like how
(06:22):
much density I had lost, whether or not ithad like, I don't know how long it had
been happening for.
But it was, yeah, it was prettyconfronting.
Yeah, immediately I just started Googling,why am I losing my hair?
Like what's going on?
And I came across...
I think, telogen effluvium.
Which we call TE, so we don't have to saytelogen effluvium all the time.
(06:47):
But yeah, so that was TE for sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I was convinced that that's what itwas, but I wanted to know, like I needed,
I wanted to go to the doctor and see whatthey said.
So I went back to my doctor and explainedlike hysterical because I had lost so much
hair.
And it was right before Christmas.
(07:08):
It was.
just hysterical and was like, I think thisis what it is.
And he suggested that we run some bloodwork just to make sure that it wasn't
thyroid or iron deficiency or yeah.
So we ended up taking the blood and itcame back actually that my iron levels
(07:28):
were critically low.
So my ferritin was less than four or five.
Like it was crazy low.
And the next day I got an iron infusion.
Actually, that's really sort of quite aclassic case of you had something that
shocked your body.
(07:49):
And then lots of people have things thatshock their body, but they don't lose
their hair.
But of course, because you had anunderlying cause, you had something else
going on, which was the low iron.
And that's why for you being sick causedthe severe hair loss that you had.
Perhaps if your iron had been totallyfine, you wouldn't have had the hair loss
(08:09):
following the sepsis.
So, okay, so you had an iron infusion,which was obviously needed.
I mean, my ferritin's been eight, that'sthe lowest I've ever been and had hair
loss at the time.
So four is pretty, pretty severe.
So what happened from there?
I actually went out and bought a hairtopper to get me through.
(08:34):
because I couldn't, like, you neverrealize how vain you are until, you know,
for me anyways, until you don't have yourhair, you go something through like that.
And it's, I hate to say it, because I knowit's not the end of the world and so many
other women have it much worse.
But for me it was, yeah, it was reallyconfronting.
(08:55):
So I went in to a wig shop and this lovelylady fitted me for a hair topper.
And I wore that for basically like eight,nine months almost every day except for at
work when I felt comfortable around mycoworkers or that I just started to get
(09:21):
enough.
I got the shadowing stuff and the fiber,the boost and blend stuff actually to like
cover in and just make it look a littlebit fuller and everyone.
did their best to reassure me that theycouldn't even tell.
But when I look at photos, it's veryapparent.
Yeah.
So tell me just on the, on the topper, howdid you feel wearing a topper?
(09:44):
Did you, did it give you that confidencethat you needed or did you feel, or how
did you feel?
I loved my topper.
It did everything for my self -esteem.
In fact, it was better than my real hair.
Like I've never had a big, thick, lusciousponytail or like, you know, the
hair that you can flick around.
So it was good like that, but I'm a singlewoman and you know, dating and you know,
(10:09):
meeting new people and then having toexplain to them that you're wearing a
topper or a wig, that was a bitconfronting and it was really hard.
Like I feel like that it affected my self-esteem.
when it came down to that because youcan't swim with them, you can't sleep with
them.
It was really awkward for me to have totake off the topper and then be like, oh,
(10:33):
this is actually what my hair looks like.
Yeah.
So I think it was good, but also just hardbecause I wasn't being honest with myself
or I don't know how to explain it.
Well, I think we all have these
things about ourselves that other peopledon't really notice.
I mean, I know that people say that theythink everybody looks at their hair, but
(10:54):
actually I don't think people do really.
I mean, we're very self -conscious of it.
I am, you are, and I guess at times we'remore self -conscious than at other times,
but it is one of those things that we takeon board and we feel all the feelings are
ours.
There aren't people looking at us going,oh, I can see you're wearing a top.
(11:15):
I mean, you can't really, toppers arefantastic.
because they do give you that, you know,so much more hair, bulks it out a lot.
So was that easy to put on every morningor was that difficult?
I mean, you obviously - Yeah, no, it wasso easy.
I've always, because I've got fine hair,I'm like a clip -in extension girl, so I'd
always be putting those in to give my hairvolume anyways.
(11:37):
So - Great.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was really easy.
And nobody, like you couldn't tell at all.
I got a really good quality one.
Um, it cost me a lot of money.
Well, almost $2 ,000, which is crazy.
That is a lot more than my first car andsecond, but yeah, for what it did for my
(11:58):
self esteem and just because I work in acustomer service, I see people every day.
I did it for myself, for my own mentalhealth.
Yeah, no, I think it's great.
And so it was perfect color for you.
Yeah, they actually dyed it.
So she was able to she like dyed the rootsa little bit to match like my natural and
(12:21):
then matched it in with the highlights.
And I even went back just at the start ofthis summer because it had gone a little
bit lighter and brassy.
So I brought it back to them and they justredyed it for me.
They looked at the color of my hair nowand then just again color matched it and.
cut a bit of more fringe into it because Iwanted more bang.
(12:44):
And yeah, they're just so lovely.
I'll wear it forever still.
I still wear it when I go out, but it'snice to have hair and not like I'm hiding
something, you know?
Now it's like, oh, I just use it because Ilike the way that my hair looks in it.
It's not like hiding this secret that Ifelt like I was hiding.
And for those who don't, haven't ever worna topper,
(13:09):
Just tell us, how do you have to lookafter it?
What do you have to do to it?
You obviously wash it?
Yes, you wash it.
I washed it.
Not that often though, like maybe twice amonth.
It depends on how much you wear it.
And I didn't really have to put anystyling products or anything in it because
I mostly wore it in a ponytail.
(13:30):
And they gave me shampoo with it that Istill have.
So the shampoos lasted well over a yearand a half now.
And I bought like a styrofoam head to putit on.
And then you just secure it with sewingpins to make it stay onto the crown of the
(13:50):
mannequin head or whatever.
And then you can curl it.
Like I would curl it once after I wash itbecause it would go quite flat.
So I would curl it, put some hairspray init.
And then, yeah, it would be good until...
till I washed it again the next time.
The only time I found that it got grosswas when I went to Bali for eight days.
(14:12):
And I feel like the humidity and the like,I don't know, whatever's in the air there
just made it yuck.
Oh, interesting, interesting.
And while you had the topper, you wereusing hair fibers at the same time?
Yeah, when I wasn't wearing the topper,then I would put the hair fibers in to
just give it.
thickness and like volume at the roots andthen to fill in like, you know how you can
(14:37):
get, there's like a little squeezy kind ofapplicator, I guess that.
Oh, the little puffer applicator.
Yep.
Yeah.
So I would use the applicator to do likemy hairline.
Yeah.
And then I would just sprinkle because Ibought naturally curly hair.
So I would just sprinkle the, the fibersin the roots kind of to fill out the shape
(14:57):
and then it would give me more volume.
Yeah.
Yeah, well, that's what I still do everyday with.
Yeah, so do I when I have...
You do, yeah.
Yeah, because my hair is still quite thin.
So it looks like I never really paidattention to how, like I always knew my
hair was thin, but like I didn't thinkmuch of like when you go like that and you
(15:18):
see your scalp, like that was just, hasalways been my hair.
Yeah, when you pull it back, you can seeyour scalp.
Well, actually it's not too bad.
So tell us what happened then, your hairgrew back?
I started taking supplements and thentrying to eat more stuff with iron.
I wasn't super vigilant on taking the ironpills.
I went back every six weeks to get myblood tested and just watched my iron
(15:42):
fall.
I get really bad periods, like terrible.
And so I feel like they said that that'sprobably where the low iron is coming
from, that I'm because iron's the only.
vitamin that your body doesn't create, itingests it.
And so you can't, like if I'm losing itand not storing it, then you can't get it
(16:06):
back, I guess.
So, yeah.
So how long was your hair falling out forbefore it sort of stopped?
At six weeks, I started to see after theiron infusion, I started to see like that
I had growth coming in.
And that's the, so you weren't pullinghair out for much more than about.
(16:27):
a couple of weeks.
Yeah.
Yeah, I don't think, I think it was justlike one major, when I went camping and
then was in my friend's car and just waslike, Oh my God, my hair is everywhere.
And like in this little tiny camping swagin there and just having hair everywhere,
like getting in my mouth, get it.
Like it was just everywhere, everywhere.
(16:48):
Yes.
I remember that feeling as well when ithappened to me and there'd be other people
listening in now who would.
Absolutely.
No, exactly what you're talking about.
Many of us, not everybody with hair loss,but many of us have gone through that
super severe T E that's just quitedevastating and alarming, especially when
(17:10):
you weren't expecting it, which I wasn't,and you no doubt weren't either.
And so then it's stabilized and your hairstarted to grow back.
So how long did that take?
Did you, do you sort of have a moment whenyou went, ah,
Okay.
It's sort of back.
Do you remember having a moment like that?
I think that it was only probably inOctober, just this October past, that I
(17:37):
felt comfortable to not wear the topperreally anymore.
That I was like, okay, my hair looksnormal now, a bit of a mullet, because it
did fall out mostly around the top andlike crown, but then I had the like the
hair at the back.
that stayed and that was the other thingthat everybody at work when my hair was
falling out and I was freaking out, theywere like, just cut it all off, Candice,
(17:59):
just cut it all off.
And I almost took the scissors to mymullet.
And when I went to the lady at the wigshop, she just said, thank goodness you
didn't because if you did, you wouldn'thave been able to use the topper.
So just keep that mullet and work with it.
And so that's what I've done is just,yeah, I kept the mullet.
(18:20):
Well, actually, um, I can see obviouslybecause it's a podcast, nobody else can
see you, but I can see you've got lots ofgood growth around the front of your, the
front and the top of your head now.
So it happened in September.
You were sick in September 22 and thenOctober 23, you felt like you had sort of
(18:41):
recovered.
So that's a year.
Um, so for people who are going through TEat the moment.
That's really, for me, it was 18 months.
So for you, it was much quicker than forme.
I didn't actually ever have an ironinfusion.
I just took iron supplements.
So perhaps the infusion got your ironlevels up faster than mine.
(19:02):
It definitely, yeah.
For sure.
So for anyone who's going through TE atthe moment, it's important for them to
know that it does take a long time foryour hair to turn around, for it to stop
falling out.
And then you've got to...
super sleuth around and find yourunderlying cause, then you've got to fix
that.
(19:22):
And then your hair needs to start growingagain.
And all of those processes take time.
So, you know, I hear of women saying, Oh,well, you know, my hair fell out, you
know, a couple of months ago and it's, ithasn't grown back.
And I sort of think, well, yeah, it will,if, you know, if it's TE and if you can
find your underlying cause, not everybody.
(19:44):
has an underlying cause, but usuallythere's something else going on.
And of course, I should just make a quickmention of postpartum hair loss, which is
also a TE.
So not following an illness in that case,but following the normal and sudden drop
in estrogen that happens followingchildbirth.
So that kind of hair loss, postpartum hairloss, is also temporary and it will come
(20:08):
back, but it can take a year or more forthat to happen.
So it's really a very important messagethat we get out there that it does and can
take a long time.
So now that your hair has stabilized, haveyou been given any advice on watching out
for hair loss in the future?
(20:30):
Or has anyone said anything about youriron or ongoing treatment for your iron?
No, unfortunately, I did go to an ironclinic.
and they wanted me to go to get anultrasound of my insides to see what's
(20:50):
going on there.
But it's quite expensive and I'm a singlemom and I just haven't gone.
If it's endometriosis, I don't know.
I just go and get my iron checked everysix weeks and then just watch the levels
and try and really stay on top of that.
So...
I was really worried actually in April oflast year, my mom passed away and it was
(21:16):
really traumatic and I was quitehysterical for a while.
And I thought maybe that was going to beanother trigger.
It can be a death in the family, which isreally heartbreaking.
That actually can be a trigger, you'reright.
But it wasn't for you.
It wasn't for you, probably because youwere working on your iron at the time.
(21:36):
Yes.
I went.
home to Canada for her funeral orcelebration of life in June.
And my hair, I felt like it was reallystressful though.
I hadn't been home in five years and yeah,it was just a stressful, stressful time.
And then my hair started to fall outagain, probably just at a normal rate, but
(22:00):
I was really aware.
Like just, I'm always looking at how muchhair comes out in the shower.
Like I ball it up and watch for the...
I obsess about it probably too much.
Well, actually you do know that, and Imentioned this because I think it's really
important, the stress of hair loss canexacerbate hair loss.
There've been some studies.
(22:21):
So I think that this sort of problem thatwe have, this sort of vicious circle that
we feel like because we don't want to losehair again, we don't want to go back
there.
And so there's always this worry that itwill happen again.
And as easy as it is for me to say,
Don't worry about it.
Of course we do and you will.
(22:43):
But it probably won't happen again whileyou've got such a good handle on your
iron.
I mean, you know, nobody can predict thefuture, but you seem to be doing the best
thing by your body in having your ironchecked so regularly.
So you're not going to overdose on it,which of course is another problem.
And you're doing the right thing.
You know, you're having it checked, you'restaying on top of it.
(23:05):
Because when I got back from Canada, I gotmy iron checked again and it was below 30.
It was 29.
So just like in the critical, like whereit goes into the red.
And my doctor agreed again for me to beallowed to have the iron infusion.
So I had another one on July.
(23:26):
So like seven months apart and I've beenfeeling really tired again.
So I went and got my iron checked again.
but it's at 128.
So I was surprised that I thought that itwas going to be, cause it's been seven
months and the last time was seven monthsbetween, and then it was 30, but it's
yeah, it's high.
So I was so happy today.
It was just today actually that I got theresults.
(23:47):
Great.
And now I feel better now.
I'm like, I'm just shedding it'ssummertime.
Yeah.
It's, it's really funny.
You should say that.
I think a lot of people who are aware ofhair loss because of something like a T
also,
then become more aware of the seasonalshedding, which many of us have.
(24:08):
In fact, probably most people do, butbecause a lot of people have a lot of hair
and they don't really think about it andthey've never had a hair loss episode, so
they're not really focused on it.
But if you have had a hair loss episodeand then you realize that actually, and I
realize this with me, sort of about once ayear, I do actually lose more hair than at
any other time.
(24:28):
So.
Seasonal shedding is very much a part ofmy life and it sounds like it's also a
part of yours.
Yeah, I think so as well.
I think you have an amazing story and it'sbeen lovely to be able to give women,
other women out there who are goingthrough something similar or T or low iron
or even who are currently looking fortheir underlying cause.
(24:49):
It doesn't have to be iron, it could besomething else.
But so what would you like to say to...
other women out there who might be goingthrough something like this or who may
have only just recently discovered thatthey have some form of hair loss?
That you're not alone.
It's very, very common.
Hopefully it will get better.
(25:10):
Mine got better.
And if you can afford some kind of hairpiece that will make you feel better
looking in the mirror and going out inpublic, then I would.
highly recommend to do that and not justhide at home and cry.
Cause yeah.
Well, that's great advice actually.
(25:30):
I think getting out there and we'll eitherusing something like a willow wig or a
topper or, and, or hair fibers, you know,or there's so many things you can do to
hide hair loss.
You just need to research and find out, oryou need to try them all.
We need to at least start with fibersbecause.
At least with hair fibers, it's a, it's alow cost option and you can give it a go
(25:55):
to give you some more confidence.
They're so good.
Just for the shadowing of making your hairlook fuller and yeah, cost effective.
Cause I've seen on my TikTok now peopleare getting their scalps tattooed or
feathered.
You know how you do the eyebrows?
I guess you can get your scalp featherednow.
Yeah, you can.
And lots of people do that.
(26:16):
The only problem, well, it's not really aproblem, I guess, but it fades.
So then you've got to decide what to dodown the track.
And it's expensive.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But still it's an option.
Well, that's, that's really an amazingstory.
So thank you for sharing that with us.
So thank you.
No worries.
Thank you for having me.
(26:37):
It was lovely to talk to you.
What a reminder that serious illness canstrike at any moment and can have really
long lasting effects.
I want to tell you more about illness andhair loss.
So that's the topic of today's Did YouKnow?
(26:57):
Okay, so time to talk about how gettingsick can affect your hair growth.
In the very first episode of this podcast,we did speak about how stress and
stressful events in particular can triggerhair loss.
And you've just heard a prime example ofthat from Candice.
So let's talk a bit more about how and whyillness, including COVID -19, which I'll
(27:21):
talk a bit more about later, can cause...
Telogen effluvium or TE.
So just a reminder of what Telogeneffluvium or TE is, that's actually acute
and sudden hair loss.
We call it TE and it's associated withlots of illnesses.
It happens after many viral infections,including the flu, but also acute
(27:43):
illnesses or infections, a trauma,surgery, anything that puts enough stress
on your body that can cause a shock toyour body.
even a bad bout of gastro.
And as you've heard with Candice,bacterial infections, which can turn
septic, can have that same effect.
(28:03):
All of these things put our bodies understress.
So what's actually happening?
Well, as you might recall, the hair growthhappens in a cycle.
There's the growth phase, which is knownas the anagen phase, and there's the
resting phase.
So the hair stops growing, and that'scalled
the catechin phase and then there's theshedding phase.
(28:24):
So after the hair has rested for a while,it then sheds and that's the telogen
phase.
So that's where we get the term telogeneffluvium from.
So the stressful event shortens the growthphase, the anagen phase of the hair
follicle and that leads to those hairsbeing prematurely put into the resting
phase.
And then once it's rested, a few monthslater, the hairs are shed.
(28:48):
So that's what a TE is.
It's
that has been put into the resting phaseand then it will shed, fall out later.
So before I get onto what you should do ifyou find yourself losing hair after an
illness, I just want to quickly touch onCOVID.
There's been quite a few studies done onCOVID -19 and hair loss.
(29:08):
And back when I was writing my book in2021 -22, I could see a clear correlation
between hair loss and COVID, but thereweren't many studies at that time.
And of course now there are.
So COVID is now quite widely known andaccepted as a cause of acute hair loss or
(29:29):
TE.
And there are actually a few reasons forthat.
Firstly, the presence of the diseaseitself, which causes stress on the body
and high temperatures in particular, andalso pulmonary and cardiovascular
symptoms.
So the effects on the lungs and the heartand medications.
So it can't be ruled out that some of theantivirals or the antibiotics that people
(29:52):
were taking or have been prescribed duringCOVID have contributed to TE.
And there are studies being done on thatright now.
I was reading in a recent study publishedin the Journal of Medicine and Life that
as many as 24 % of the people surveyed whohad moderate to severe COVID suffered
(30:12):
significant hair loss.
But interestingly,
none of those patients had a prior historyof TE or any hair loss actually.
But while the study suggested that morefollow -up is needed to discover the
pathogenesis or the mechanism that wascausing the hair loss, it is thought that
there's a connection between the immuneresponse and the effect that that response
(30:35):
has on the hair follicles.
But as I say, further research isdefinitely needed.
But it did conclude, the study didconclude that...
with reference to many other studies alsoon COVID and hair loss, that hair loss can
be one of the outcomes in the months aftera COVID infection.
So if you've been through a bout ofillness and you're now experiencing hair
(30:55):
loss, what do you do?
Well, firstly, knowing that the cause islikely to be the recent illness, and
particularly if you've had COVID in thepast few months, hopefully that can reduce
your stress because the fact that it is aknown post -COVID symptom,
and that it will resolve can help toreduce the stress and the worry.
(31:17):
A common cry I hear is women thinking thatthey'll go bald.
Many women report losing around half theirhair and of course that's scary.
And if you are in that position, pleaseknow you won't go totally bald if you have
TE.
It will eventually stop and hair will growback.
If you're someone who hasn't recoveredfrom TE following COVID or following a
(31:41):
severe illness, then there are a couple ofthings you can do.
First of all, look for some otherunderlying health issues.
Go and see a doctor.
That's really the first thing you shoulddo.
But also maybe look at working on yourstress.
Stress is a major factor in hair loss andit is a major factor in continuing hair
(32:02):
loss.
So meditation's a good idea.
breathing exercises, anything that canhelp you deal with your stress.
The other thing you can do is to trycovering your hair loss.
There's toppers, which is like a halfweek, a full week if you feel that you
need a full week, or hair fibers likeBoost and Blend that can just shake in and
(32:22):
cover up visible scalp.
These are things you can do that make youfeel better about yourself, that make you
feel that as you leave the house, you lookgreat and people won't notice.
But the final step,
is to wait.
It might take a while for the TE to stopand it might take a while for your body to
recover and for the hair follicles to rampback up to start to produce hair again.
(32:45):
And then that hair needs to grow so thatit's visible.
So all of that can take time up to a year.
So if you're stressed now and you're inthe middle of a TE, please just know that
firstly, you won't lose all your hair, youwon't go bald and secondly, it will come
back.
So there you have it.
(33:05):
Just remember that today's advice isgeneral in nature, so make sure you check
in with your doctor about your particularcircumstances.
I hope you've enjoyed today's episode.
We'll be back again next week where we'lltalk about hair dye.
Until then, kindness is beautiful, so wearit every day.
(33:27):
Thanks for joining me on the Hair Loss inWomen podcast.
And a big thank you to the women who sharetheir stories here and with others in
their community.
One of the hardest things about hair lossfor women is that we don't talk about it.
So if you do want to hear more, pleasesubscribe to the podcast.
And if you like what you heard, why notleave a review?
(33:49):
Positive reviews will help other women tofind this podcast too.
You can also find out more in my book.
care loss in women.
This podcast has been recorded in Sydney,Australia and is produced by Pod and Pen
Productions.
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