Mees’ lines are thought to be caused by the abnormal production of proteins in the nail bed due to systemic disorders. These tend to resolve with nail growth and do not require treatment. They appeared 45 days after testing positive for COVID-19. These are known as Mees’ lines or transverse leukonychia. The underlying mechanism behind this is unknown.Īnd in a third case, a patient had horizontal white lines appear on their nails that don’t disappear with pressure. No treatment was given and the discoloration had still not resolved after a month. This patient didn’t receive treatment for these changes as new healthy nails could be seen growing underneath those that detached, indicating that the issue was beginning to resolve itself.Īnother patient, 112 days after testing positive, witnessed orange discoloration to their nail tips. This phenomenon is known as onychomadesis and is thought to happen for similar reasons to Beau’s lines appearing. One female patient’s nails loosened from the nail base and eventually fell out, three months after her infection. The above are the two more common COVID-related nail complaints, but researchers have recorded some other unusual occurrences as well. There’s no specific treatment for Beau’s lines, as they tend to eventually grow out if the underlying condition has resolved.Ĭurrently, the available evidence suggests that there’s no association between the severity of COVID-19 infection and the type or extent of nail changes. The timing of the stressful event can be therefore estimated by looking at how far the Beau’s lines are from the nail base. While it’s plausible that they’re caused by COVID-19, they’re definitely not an exclusive symptom of the disease.Īs nails grow between 2mm and 5mm a month on average, Beau’s lines tend to become noticeable four to five weeks after the physical stress happens – as the nail grows, the indentation is revealed.
These tend to appear four weeks or more after a COVID-19 infection.īeau’s lines occur when there is a temporary interruption in nail growth due to a physical stress on the body, such as an infection, malnutrition or side-effects of medications such as chemotherapy drugs. Signs of physical stressĪ few patients have also found new horizontal indentations in the bases of the nails of their fingers and toes, which are known as Beau’s lines. Importantly, these marks don’t appear to be anything to worry about, as patients are otherwise asymptomatic – although it is unclear how long they stay for, having lasted from between one week to over four weeks in the cases reported. Alternatively, it may be due to the immune response mounted against the virus causing mini blood clots and discolouration. A possible cause could be blood vessel damage associated with the virus itself.
The mechanism underlying this half-moon patterning remains unclear.
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