If your nails seem abnormal, it could be a sign that you have been infected with COVID-19 previously, a lead investigator on the ZOE COVID-19 symptom study in the UK suggested.
Beau's Lines
You may have observed that when you visit the doctor, physicians will observe your nails sometimes. They aren't just observing them for manicures, but for symptoms of illness that can be noticed there.
Beau's lines are horizontal ridges that go across your entire nails. While they can be brought about by picking at the nails or infections all over the fingertips, they can also be a sign of severe illness, particularly if they are found across multiple nails. There are many illnesses that can prevent the growth of your nail, from the failure of the kidney to pneumonia. Most are accompanied by other observable symptoms, which people will probably notice long before the effect is seen in their nails.
Tim Spector, a principal Investigator proposes that similar kind of lines can be noticed in some people after COVID-19 infection. The Beau's lines have not officially been included as a symptom of COVID-19, although there are case studies that gave support to the notion that they could indicate a past infection. In one released in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, an old man, 45, showed the horizontal grooves on his toenail and fingers to doctors.
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Polymerase Chain Reaction Test
According to the report, the grooves were most pronounced over his big toenails bilaterally, in the previous three and a half months, a diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had been given to the old man following a positive nasopharyngeal swab PCR test (polymerase chain reaction), because of shortness of breath, fever and diarrhea symptoms, which continued for 10 days and did not need admission to hospital.
The rate of nail growth indicates that the researchers could reduce the number of possibilities when the ridge occurred. "As the growth of the toenails takes place at a rate of approximately 1.62 mm per month, the Beau's lines distance from the proximal nailfold in our patient reflects the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection timing," they wrote.
Other Infections That Can Occur After These Ridges Appear
As Spector highlighted, possessing these ridges can be signs of some other infections or because of other causes, both hypertension, serious malnutrition, chemotherapy, eczema, and epilepsy so it can't be used alone to identify if you have had COVID-19. Moreover, there is a need for the subject to be studied a lot further before drawing conclusions.
The lines themselves aren't dangerous and resolve when what causes the appearance of the lines are resolved, though they may take some months to grow out entirely. If you develop Beau's lines, or they occur again, it may be worth having a discussion with a health care provider or physician, in case they're a symptom of hidden or unknown conditions.
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