It is almost a year into the COVID-19 pandemic and chances are you have had "hairy" side effects.

When lockdown orders went into effect in many cities, hair salons, and barber shops closed so people discovered DIY beauty. The stress of the pandemic and the disease itself triggered hair loss in others. The Henry Ford Health System found the even the stress of virus caused severe shedding in people, a medical condition called telogen effluvium.

"Emotional or physical trauma, pregnancy, hospitalization or infection can cause hair to switch from the growing phase to the shedding phase," explained dermatologist Helen D'Sa, at the Henry Ford Health System. "While shedding hair is a normal part of the hair cycle, excessive shedding is not."

According to reports, COVID-19 itself causes hair loss in 27% of patients recovering from the disease. Doctors blame the hair loss on telogen effluvium, or temporary hair loss, that usually happens after stress, illness, high fever, or extreme weight loss. People with this condition start to suffer hair loss three months after the illness or event that triggered it, noted Dr. Esther Freeman, director of the Dermatology COVID-19 registry that keeps track of COVID-19 cases that are dermatologically affected.

But according to the Houston Chronicle, many individuals experienced improvements to their crowning glory as the need for harsh products such as daily heat styling devices, chemicals to color their hair and to relax their curls went by the wayside. Working from home also meant you can let your hair do its thing naturally.

Stylist Emily Ribas, who closed her Houston-based salon during lockdown, said, while some of her clients have returned, they are visiting less frequently.

"For people who had been overdoing it on their hair, they have healthier hair because they're not doing anything to it," she told the Chronicle.

She said, while the pandemic was not great for barbershops and salons, "for people's hair and wallets it was awesome."

Angela Cox, the owner of a hair care salon and spa in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, told Miami's NBC6 many of her clients embraced going grey during the pandemic and are choosing to stay that way.

"Due to the coronavirus they see that they were solely codependent on their stylist, so rather than go out there and be messing around with chemicals at home and make their hair burn out or fall out or having a really bad color job, they're, like 'Let me just go all the way and embrace my natural self, my natural color,'" she said.