As eyes are a mirror of the soul, so nails are a reflection of our body's work.
Scientists claim that their condition can be used to diagnose many diseases, including a new coronavirus infection — even if you suffered it asymptomatically.The coronavirus pandemic has been going on for almost two years now, during which the medical world is studying both the disease itself and its consequences for health. The term «cobble nails» has been around for a long time. As a rule, doctors use it when & nbsp; describing additional symptoms of an acute infectious process in & nbsp; some patients. But over the & nbsp; time of research, and & nbsp; other material has been accumulated — about & nbsp; cases when changes in the & nbsp; state of the nails appear months after the transferred coronavirus, including its asymptomatic course.
The nail plate is completely renewed within six months, so that the changes caused by the infection may not appear immediately, but after a while.
Of course, nails can change color, exfoliate or crumble, and & nbsp; for other reasons — for example, with & nbsp; fungal infections, vitamin deficiencies or injury. But global statistics show that & nbsp; at least 20% of COVID-19 patients have a worsening condition of their skin and & nbsp; nails.
Based on real medical cases, the New York Post has compiled a list of five main signs that can serve a kind of test for coronavirus and say that you have recently suffered this disease.
White lines
According to scientists, after a while, horizontal lines appear on the nails in some people who have been ill. This symptom resembles the Mass stripes — whitish lines on the plate, which occur during arsenic poisoning, after a heart attack and some infectious diseases — for example, malaria. The photo shows the hand of a 47-year-old Spanish man who contracted the coronavirus in June last year. According to Spanish doctors, the symptom manifested itself 45 days after the first positive test for COVID-19.
Furrows
Bo Lines are deep grooved lines that run from one edge to the other of the nail. They may look like indentations or ridges in the nail plate. This symptom has recently been described by Canadian doctors. The photograph attached to the scientific work shows the hand of a 45-year-old patient, who has depressions on both thumbnails that rise 5 millimeters above the nail bed. The report also said that the man tested positive for coronavirus three months before the change in the structure of the nails.
Red Crescent
Normally, all people have a crescent moon of different shades of white at the base of the nail bed — in the medical world it is called «lunula». This is the visible part of the nail root, which can be used to diagnose some changes in the body. Examining the appearance of the nails of patients with COVID-19, scientists from the United States and Mexico drew attention to the appearance of a second red crescent above the moon. Thus, a case of a 37-year-old woman was described who consulted a doctor due to loss of smell, dry cough, and persistent fever. The smear confirmed the acute course of the coronavirus infection. Two days after the onset of the disease, the patient reported a new symptom — the appearance of a red crescent on the nails, which disappeared on its own after one week. Due to the mild course of the disease, the woman was treated on an outpatient basis and did not need oxygen. Doctors associated the change in nail color with covid-associated vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessels).
Yellowing of the nail plate
Another possible sign of coronavirus is the formation of yellow or orange spots at the end of the nail. It was described by Italian doctors observing an elderly woman who contracted COVID-19 in a nursing home. Her nail color began to change 16 weeks after diagnosis and persisted for a month. Her coronavirus infection was confirmed by a PCR test that revealed the presence of IgM antibodies. “Yellowing of the nails and telangiectasia (dilation of small vessels in the skin) at the base of the nail bed may be signs of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, while common seasonal infections cause plate deformities and melanonychia (deposition of melanin in the nails),” the report says.
Onychomadesis
In the scientific world, it is believed that coronavirus infection can provoke onychomadesis (detachment of the nail plate from the bed). It looks as if the nail has split into two parts, and one of them has risen above the surface of the finger. This phenomenon can be observed with various infections, including enteroviral infections, with autoimmune diseases, and taking certain medications. Now the same is observed in people who have had COVID-19.
The photo shows the nails of a 47-year-old woman who consulted a dermatologist due to the detachment of plates on her arms and legs. It turned out that three months before the onset of this problem, the patient had had a severe coronavirus and was even hospitalized. According to her attending physician, the body has decided to get rid of the nails, which are a kind of reservoir for storing the virus. How, when and under what conditions this happens is still unknown — cases of postcoid onychomadesis are rare and still poorly understood.