Updated Tuesday, July 26, 2022 –
08:47
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How to treat rashes, hives, itching and other skin discomfort that may appear during Covid infection or after passing the virus. Among the side effects is also hair loss
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Cases are growing skin rashes and hives in patients with Covid, not even children are exempt. Up to a quarter of people who contract the virus experience these types of side effects, and experts recommend speaking to a dermatologist as soon as skin symptoms first appear, before the situation worsens. It is the best way to adequately treat the most common complaints, including itching.
“Covid can also present skin manifestations between 5% and 25% of patients,” explains Paolo Gisondi, associate professor of dermatology and venereology at the University of Verona. measles with papules and vesicles) or with lesions similar to chilblains or hives,” he adds. Skin problems related to Sars-CoV-2 can appear during the acute phase of the disease, can persist over time or appear later, once the infection is over.
Possible symptoms
It is also possible for reactions to occur after getting the Covid vaccine, although they are generally mild and short-term, with an onset that varies between the first hours and the following weeks, or as a secondary effect of medications prescribed to treat Covid. “The visit to the specialist can be decisive for a correct classification and optimal medical management, especially in that minority of people in whom the problems persist for a long time and do not resolve on their own”, emphasizes Gisondi.
According to him, “the exanthematic eruption is the most frequent, affecting mainly the trunk (and later the abdomen, upper limbs, hands or feet) and adults”. Just like with the acute hives, can appear with or without fever and both at the beginning and at the end of the disease, “after remission of respiratory symptoms or even a month later”. Fortunately, in most cases, the situation is resolved in about ten days and the worst discomfort to deal with is itching.
In other cases the symptoms resemble the chilblains that appear due to cold: hardening of the skin of the fingers or toes with a purple-blue color, combined with pain, burning or itching. This symptom, now that similar cases have been reported in thousands of people around the world, can be said to be typical (although not exclusive) of children, adolescents and young adults, mostly with asymptomatic Covid or with mild symptoms. It usually lasts an average of two weeks and, like other manifestations of the virus on the skin, requires individual treatment.
Possible treatments
According to Gisondi, although there is no official guideline, “through experience we have learned which drugs are effective in relieving discomfort and getting the skin back to normal.” But, are people with skin diseases (such as hives, dermatitis or psoriasis) more at risk of worsening their condition if they contract Covid?
This expert points out that I know there has been a worsening of these diseases in those who suffer from certain inflammatory dermatitis, such as psoriasis or eczema, “but these are sporadic cases, it is not a rule.” “On the other hand, it is essential that dermatological patients do not suspend systemic pharmacological treatment on their own initiative, for example with biological drugs, because they expose themselves to the risk that their disease flares up again,” he stresses.
Hair loss as a side effect
Although 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 be long, as in the case of nail changes and hair loss. That the hair is affected by situations of stress for the body (including bacterial and viral infections) is nothing new and the figures seem to confirm it also in the case of Covid. And not only that: hair loss is among the five most common manifestations associated with long Covid, along with shortness of breath, asthenia (state of general weakness), headaches and cognitive disorders.
International statistics report that hair loss is present in 25% of patients and it is one of the consequences that can start during the infection and continue for weeks or months, or occur some time after the person has tested negative.
More common in women
Less frequently, studies of Covid have also described more extensive hair loss, but restricted to one or more areas, which is known as hair loss. alopecia areata. “This happens because an autoimmune response is triggered against the hair, that is, 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 it from growing back,” he explains. Gisondi. “Hair loss appears to be much more common in women, but the condition usually resolves on its own and can be relieved with medication if necessary,” she concludes.
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