Young Woman Says Catching Covid Eight Times Made Her Bald

A 23-year-old lady has come forward and claimed that contracting covid eight times left her entirely bald.

Lydia Morley says she enjoyed taking selfies until her long, thick brown hair started thinning and coming out in the shower in November 2023, but when her parents spotted a bald patch on the back of her head in January 2024, she scheduled an appointment with her doctor.

Lydia was diagnosed with alopecia areata, a disease in which the immune system destroys hair follicles, causing them to fall out; nevertheless, the 23-year-old claims she has had eight bouts of covid since 2020, and her doctor feels lengthy covid may be to blame.

Lydia stated that her alopecia made her feel lonely and alone in the first few weeks, and that she had lost 80% of her hair by five months.

Lydia remarked that after shaving her remaining hair for charity, her confidence grew, and she is now comfortable leaving the house without a wig.

Lydia, from Newport, said: “In November last year I thought my hair was looking a bit thin, I used to have really long thick hair.

“Whenever I’d brush my hair in the shower, I’d have proper clumps come out and it was getting to the point where it was a little bit strange.

“A couple weeks into January I came home from work one day, I was cooking dinner and my dad was standing behind me and noticed a little patch on my head.

“This was quite an intense experience as I knew I had had hair falling out but I didn’t think about alopecia at this point.

“That night was difficult and I was quite stressed about the situation but I think it was more not knowing what was wrong.

“When I first went to the doctors, they did believe the cause to be stress but I’m the least stressed person ever.”

Dismissing stress as the source, Lydia considers her alopecia to be a sign of extended covid first seeing her hair receding after recovering from another illness in November.

“Before having covid in November I had it in the summertime. I’ve had it eight times now but in November it was my sixth time.

“I think my alopecia was caused by the multiple times of getting covid as I think after having it so many times my immune system has just been dampened and dampened.

“The doctors did mention that it could be this but alopecia is one of those things where they don’t always know exactly why it happens.

“Personally I believe that and doctors did say that this could be a cause of the situation but they also said it could be a million other things too.”

Lydia reports that since shaving all of her hair off in May, she has begun to see hair growth on her head, but she still lacks eyelashes and brows. And, while she is pleased that her hair is gradually returning, she warns that it could all fall out at any time. Lydia now wears a variety of synthetic and’real hair’ wigs every day, but she also feels comfortable leaving the house without one.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli