COVID toes are a phenomenon which started to be described in Italy and Spain at the beginning of winter months while in the initial wave of the novel coronavirus epidemic in 2020. The accounts were seeing a quite high frequency of chilblains in the toes in people that have COVID-19. The news media latched on to these accounts and lots of attention was given to them. Plenty of curiosity has been generated from the public and medical researchers in the whole phenomenon of these COVID toes.
There are various of pathological processes connected to COVID-19, for example problems with the blood vessels, the cytokine storm and inflamation related functions which could modify the circulation in the feet that predispose the foot or toes to developing chilblains. Chilblains really are a poor response of the small blood vessels to alterations in temperature. In case the tiny arteries tend not to respond appropriately, waste material accumulate in the skin resulting in an inflamation related process which is the chilblain. It's easy to ascertain exactly how COVID-19 could improve the chance of getting a chilblain. Some early histological reports from biopsies in the chilblains in individuals with COVID-19 did claim that there had been portions of the problem within the lesion. However, several other research has documented that there weren’t any, therefore it has begun to become very confusing as to what the link involving the 2 entities are.
The problem is that with the passing of time and further investigation we have an escalating number of reports that there's simply no relationship involving chilblains and COVID-19 and the high prevalence is just a coincidence. There is one article from the Nordic countries that there has been no increase in the amount of chilblains there. Several other current research by way of biopsies along with post-mortem autopsy are finding no COVID-19 features associated with the chilblains. There is speculation how the supposed rise in the incidence in a few nations was a problem with the lifestyle changes because of the lockdown through the pandemic and they aren't in reality part of the pathology response of the COVID-19. These changes in lifestyle through the lockdown can consist of becoming more inactive, perhaps the much less wearing of shoes, getting more subjected to air-conditioning and the continuous warmness in the house. These types of changes in lifestyle during lockdown may have been more in nations like Italy and Spain and the changes could not have been so much in the Nordic nations. In Nordic nations they could simply be more effective with managing the issues around temperature changes that are considered a risk factor in chilblains. This can certainly easily be the cause of the different prevalence in the above locations.