Amy Siniscalchi, one of the more than 100 patients being treated as part of the COVID-19 Recovery Program at Westchester Medical Center in New York, told ABC 7 that her hands have started to shed after having the coronavirus 10 months earlier. “My hands would peel. I would wake up one day and my hands would feel like sandpaper, and they would peel in their entirety,” she said. Her fingernails will also turn purple every so often. Siniscalchi says her doctor refers to this as “COVID hands.” Doctors and scientists working with the COVID Symptom Study from Massachusetts General Hospital, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, King’s College London, and Stanford University School of Medicine say peeling hands could be the result of various skin rashes related to COVID. According to a blog post from the COVID Symptom Study experts, urticaria rashes (otherwise known as hives) can present early on during a COVID infection but also can arise later on when a patient is no longer contagious. Urticaria can “start with intense itching of the palms,” which may result in peeling. However, it could also be a COVID rash known as chilblains, which was “relatively rare before COVID” but is presenting as reddish and purple bumps on the fingers or toes of COVID patients. “When the [chilblains] rash recovers, the top layers of the skin may peel where the purplish bumps were,” they explained. A September study published in the International Journal of Dermatology, found that survivors of the coronavirus can experience skin reactions long after having first contracted the virus. Esther Freeman, MD, principal investigator of the COVID-19 Dermatology Registry, told WebMD that these skin changes are most likely signs of inflammation and may be an ongoing immune response to the virus. “Some patients are having long-lasting inflammation that’s being in some way triggered by the virus,” she said. “We don’t yet understand really exactly why or how this is happening, but the skin is particularly interesting and important, because it can be a window into what’s going on with the rest of the body. Since it’s very visual, you can actually, literally see the inflammation that’s happening.” Of course, this is not the only symptom long-haulers are reporting. A recent study from King’s College London, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, identified some specific symptoms that were more commonly reported in long-term coronavirus infections. Read on for a look at these long COVID symptoms, and for more coronavirus news, If This Part of Your Body Hurts, You Could Have COVID. Short-term COVID patients who experienced this: .5 percent Long-term COVID patients who experienced this: 6.1 percent And for more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. Short-term COVID patients who experienced this: .2 percent Long-term COVID patients who experienced this: 4.1 percent And for more on coronavirus complications, The CDC Just Confirmed This Disorder Could Put You at Risk of Severe COVID. Short-term COVID patients who experienced this: .2 percentae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb Long-term COVID patients who experienced this: 3.6 percent And for more symptoms you need to know, These Are The Most Common Early Signs You Have COVID, Study Finds. Short-term COVID patients who experienced this: .5 percent Long-term COVID patients who experienced this: 2 percent And for people worried about getting sick, If This Is Your Only Symptom, You Might Be Safe From COVID.
