With King Charles’ Coronation being broadcast all over the world today, he’s now in the public eye more than ever before.
Since he succeeded his mother, Queen Elizabeth II last year, images of King Charles’ red and swollen ‘sausage’ fingers (he even called them that himself on a 2012 visit to Australia) have done the rounds online pretty regularly, and many have been asking if they’re a cause for concern.
Images of King Charles and Queen Camilla, released in the run up to the coronation even sparked speculation that the monarch was hiding his fingers ahead of the event.
One doctor on TikTok has shared his reasoning for why the new ruler’s hands look like that.
According to Dr David Reiner on TikTok, there’s probably a biological reason for the swelling in the royal’s fingers.
He explains: “Throughout your body you’ve got blood vessels that deliver oxygen to your cells.
“These blood vessels are full of red blood cells and fluids – now there are pressures within the blood vessels that cause fluid to exit them.”
Dr Reiner goes on to share that ‘oncotic forces’ pull this fluid back into the blood vessels - in most people, if there’s fluid build-up outside the vessel at all, this is usually returned to the heart via the lymphatic system.
So, because King Charles has massive swollen fingers, Dr Reiner says that the new monarch’s lymphatic system might not be working correctly and that fluid is getting stuck outside the blood vessels causing the extreme swelling in his fingers.
Although there may be many other reasons for the King’s swollen digits, according to this doctor, fluid retention may be the answer.