Covid Toes?

What are 'COVID toes'? Dermatologists, podiatrists share strange findings.

This skin condition could be the "new anosmia," experts say, because it often appears in coronavirus patients without any other symptoms.

By Maura Hohman

The longer the novel coronavirus circulates, the more unexpected symptoms pop up.

To name a few, ophthalmologists have said pink eye may be a rare sign of COVID-19, and anosmia, or a loss of smell, can occur in patients with no other symptoms. Coughing blood and tingling all over the body have also been reported.

Now, another condition possibly linked to the coronavirus has captured researchers' attention. Dubbed "COVID toes" by the dermatology community, it can look like "purple lesions" on feet or hands, Dr. Esther Freeman, a dermatologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, told TODAY.

The research is ongoing and rooted in "observation," Dr. Tracey Vlahovic, associate professor of podiatry at Temple University in Philadelphia, told TODAY. "There's no one-to-one correlation."

But because COVID toes may appear before or without other coronavirus symptoms, Freeman believes it should be a criterion for testing. Dr. Lindy Fox, professor of dermatology at University of California, San Francisco, agreed.

The condition usually starts with red or purple discoloration, and the skin may become raised or develop ulcerations, according to Freeman. It can be on hands, too.

Fox told TODAY it has appeared as "purple, red bumps" on the tips of digits and pads, or on the tops of toes or sides of feet.

People with COVID toes may feel the skin is hot, burning or itchy.

One patient, David, 39, who didn't want to share his last name, experienced possible COVID toes. He wasn't tested for the virus, but told TODAY via email: "The affected toes were initially painful to touch and a bit sore while walking ... The pain and soreness lasted just over one week and gradually went away."

While other skin symptoms have appeared in COVID-19-positive patients, this one seems "COVID-specific," Fox clarified. According to a case report from the European Journal of Pediatric Dermatology, the condition has "never been observed in the past."