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Hair hospital helps cope with little-known COVID consequence

by Briana Collier

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – We’ve talked a lot about all the ways COVID’s impacted our everyday lives.

But one effect we haven’t talked much about is hair loss. Many say they’re experiencing hair loss months after recovering. Now there’s a new center opening up to help with hair loss before it’s too late.

“It’s not about the money for me, it’s about helping that individual that has hair loss and thinks they don’t have any hope,” said Beurena Johnson.

When it comes to hair loss, certified trichologist, founder and CEO of Hair Scalp Treatment Centers Beurena Johnson says she’s seen firsthand how hair loss can affect people.

“I got into this industry because I saw my sister lose her hair. It devastated me and it pushed me to do something about it and make a difference,” she said.

Oftentimes she says it’s a problem that doesn’t just go away, in fact, Johnson says the problem will only manifest if not treated properly.

“Many times when you’re losing your hair, the first person that’s going to notice that is your stylist. What happens is it’s not that they don’t want to help you, many times they’re not educated on it so they will ignore it, they will cover it up and they will hope that it will go away,” she said.

She and business partner Amber McCray say they offer in-depth testing to really get to the root of the problem, which is why they’re opening the first-ever hair hospital in the CSRA.

“Usually when you have hair loss the problem is underneath that skin layer, but the only way we can target the skin layer is through supplementation, certain types of treatments to stimulate the this cell down here; which I will say the hair papilla,” said Amber McCray, hair-loss practitioner.

Now with COVID-19 mutating, that too is also causing concern even months after someone has contracted the virus.

“When COVID occurs there’s an imbalance in the body that’s occurring. You’ll experience something called telogen effluvium, which is a general thinning throughout the hair and when that happens that problem will persist until the problem is rectified,” she said.

Though Johnson and McCray say the majority of the people they see for hair loss are mostly African Americans, they still have this message for everyone.

“What I encourage people to do is that if you have hair loss, don’t ignore it,” she said.

The center will be holding a grand opening this Saturday on Executive Drive in Martinez. They will be appointment only. For more information visit their website Hair and Scalp Treatment Centers or their Facebook page.