How to manage rashes, hives, itching and other disorders that involve the skin and can occur during the acute infection or later. Hair loss is also among the “side effects”
Cases of rashes and hives in those who fall ill with Covid-19 and even children are not exempt. In recent months, reports of inflammatory reactions to hyaluronic acid fillers: they mainly affect the face and, as also reported in recent studies, are generally not serious because they affect limited areas, have mostly a short duration and rarely require treatment.
Up to a quarter of those who contract the virus are affected
However, it is important to always talk to a dermatologist who, when indicated, can intervene promptly before the situation worsens or can suggest to the person how to behave to alleviate the most frequent ailments, starting from itch. “Covid-19 can also present with skin manifestations in a percentage that varies between 5 and 25% of patients – he says Paolo Gisondi, associate professor of dermatology and venereology at the University of Verona -. Considering the continued rise of infections, we expect a parallel rise of people with rash (rash similar to chickenpox and measles or with papules and vesicles), with lesions that resemble chilblains or hives“. Skin problems related to Sars-CoV-2 can arise during the acute phase of the disease, can persist over time or appear later, once the infection has ended.
Possible symptoms
It is also possible for them to occur reactions after the vaccine (generally mild and of short duration, with onset varying between the first hours and the following weeks) or as side effect of drugs prescribed to treat Covid. «The visit with a specialist can be decisive for a correct classification and for an optimal medical management, especially in that minority of people in which the problems persist for a long time and do not resolve themselves – underlines Gisondi -. The exanthematous rash it is the most frequent, mainly affecting the trunk (followed by the abdomen, upper limbs, hands or feet) and adults. Like acute urticaria, with or without fever, it can appear both at the onset of the disease or, more often, after the remission of respiratory symptoms, even a month later ». Luckily, most people see the situation resolved within ten days and the worst annoyance to deal with is itching.
The simil chilblains from cold
A similar argument also applies to that phenomenon that he remembers the chill from cold: hardening of the blue-purplish toes or hands, combined with pain, burning or itching. This symptom, now that data on thousands of people in the world have been collected, can be said to be typical (although not exclusive) of children, adolescents and young adults, mostly with asymptomatic Covid or with mild symptoms. It tends to last an average of two weeks and, like all other manifestations of Covid on the skin, requires an individual therapeutic approach.
Possible therapies
“There are no official guidelines – explains the expert -, but with experience we have learned which drugs (to be taken by mouth or to be applied directly on the lesions) are effective in relieving the ailments of the sick and to bring the skin back to normality “. Anyone with skin diseases (such as urticaria, dermatitis, psoriasis) do you risk a worsening of your condition if you contract Sars-CoV-2? «An aggravation has occurred in those suffering from some inflammatory dermatitis (such as psoriasis and eczema) – replies Gisondi -: however, these are sporadic cases, it is not the rule. Instead, it is imperative that dermatological patients do not suspend for any reason on their own initiative systemic pharmacological treatmentsfor example with biological drugs, because this exposes them to a risk of exacerbation of their pathology ».
«Side» effects: hair loss
If the good news is that, for most people, the consequences of Covid for the skin are not serious, the wait to return to “normal” can sometimes be long, as in the case of nail changes he was born in telogen effluviumthat is to say hair loss. That the hair is affected by stressful situations for the body (including both bacterial and viral infections) is not new and the numbers seem to confirm this also for Covid. Not only: hair loss is one of the five most common manifestations associated with Long Covid along with shortness of breath, asthenia (a state of general weakness), headaches and cognitive disturbances. International statistics report that hair loss is present in the 25% of patients and it is among the consequences that can both begin during the infection and continue for weeks or months, and occur time after the person has become negativized.
More common in women
Less frequently, in the studies on Covid, a more extensive hair loss has also been described, but limited to one or more areas: what is defined as alopecia areata. “This happens because an autoimmune response is established against the hair, ie the immune system, stimulated by the presence of the virus, begins to attack the hair causing it to fall out and, at the same time, preventing its regrowth – explains Gisondi -. Hair loss seems much more common in womenbut normally the disorder resolves on its own and can be relieved by medical therapy as needed. ‘
July 24, 2022 (change July 24, 2022 | 15:18)
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