The 5 ways your NAILS can reveal if you’ve had Covid
YOU could find out if you’ve previously had Covid by looking at your nails, experts suggest.
A handful of strange changes in the finger and toe nails have been documented over the course of the pandemic.
Experts say nails are similar to the skin in that they can give clues about a person’s health.
And skin issues are already known to affect up to 20 per cent of people with Covid.
But people rarely inspect their nails - sometimes covered in polish - and so may be unaware of the subtle differences caused by the virus.
Fingernails grow in roughly six-month cycles, therefore any change in appearance caused by the coronavirus may show with a delay.
Nail abnormalities can be the result of all sorts of problems, including vitamin deficiencies, skin conditions, diabetes or trauma - such as shutting your hand in a door.
"Currently, the available evidence suggests that there’s no association between the severity of Covid-19 infection and the type or extent of nail changes."
Read on to find out if you’ve had any of the problems:
1. Lines
Some experts have flagged that Covid survivors have horizontal lines across the nails following infection.
This was highlighted by Prof Tim Spector, the lead researcher on a major symptom study between King’s College London and the health company ZOE.
Known as Mees lines, it can also be seen as a result of heart failure, infectious diseases like malaria and lymphoma cancer.
He had a groove across all his fingernails and toenails, about 5mm from the nailbed.
“For instance, yellow nails and nail bed telangiectasia can be signs of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, while clubbing and melanonychia may be seen in viral infections.”
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Docs said her old nails had “detached” and new ones were growing from the base.
They wrote: “Nails were thought to be reservoir for the virus with a potential to play a role in transmission by some patients, although this remains unclear.”