The color and texture of your fingernail can speak volumes about your health. Closely inspect them for a few minutes. A host of small details will appear before your eyes. A small white space, a tinge of rose, small ripples; the list may be endless. These small details may not be important for you.
Is Fingernails Clue to Your Health?
But they are more significant than you have ever thought. For your doctor, your fingernail is a goldmine of valuable information about your health.
Given below are a few insights they can give your doctor on your overall health:
- Pale
If your nails appear pail, your doctor may seek for the symptoms of:
- Malnutrition
- Anemia
- Congestive heart failure
- Liver problems
- White color
White nails with dark rims indicate liver diseases like hepatitis,
- Lines that stretch from side to side
Your fingernails and hair share are closely related. When you fall ill and remain sick for long, you start experiencing loss of hair. The same thing applies to your fingernails. They may not fall out. But they too display the signs and symptoms of your illness. If you are stressed out, your nails will have lines that stretch from side to side.
- Tiny cists near the cuticles
The tiny cists that appear near or on your cuticle inform your doctor that you have arthritis. These cists are not cancers. A hand surgeon will take care of them.
- Dimpled nails
If your nails appear dimpled, as if someone took a pen and made an imprint, it indicates psoriasis. The disease can also cause your nails to separate from the nail bed.
- Beau’s lines
Do your nails seem as though someone decorated them with horizontal lines? If yes, your doctor will inquire that if you had an accident. They indicated that your system received a shock that your nails stopped growing. These may also indicate a serious ailment like unregulated diabetes. These lines also appear upon receiving treatment for cancer.
- White bands
If white bands appear on your nails, you are having kidney failure.
- Yellow color on nails
The yellow color you may see on your nails indicates a fungal infection. If ignored, your nails may separate from the nails beds and crumble. Yellow nails may even indicate the advanced stages of thyroid disease.
- White or blue lines that stretch to the cuticles
If you are suffering from Darier disease, a genetic condition, your nails will announce it to your doctor. White or bluish lines will begin from your cuticles and will end at the end.
- Spoon-shaped nails
Nail gains the shape of a spoon when it becomes thin. It loses its natural convex shape. Sometimes, it may become large enough to hold a drop of water. Such nails indicate the following health conditions:
- Haemochromatosis (excess of iron)
- Anemia
- Raynaud’s syndrome
- Plummer-Vinson syndrome
Do the following to keep your fingernails healthy all the time:
- Keep them dry and clean.
See to it that your nails always remain neat and free from moisture. If possible, wear a cotton glove when washing dishes or doing anything that requires direct contact with water. Doing this eliminates the possibility of bacteria growing inside them.
- Don’t bite your nails.
Refrain from biting or your nails or doing anything to your cuticles. Such wounds become fertile environments for the bacteria to grow. Even smaller cuts give them enough space to thrive.
- Have biotin.
Biotin is a vitamin B supplement meant for those with weak nails. You may not need it if you are someone who follows a balanced meal plan. But try it if you notice any abnormality in your nails.
- Use nail polish.
Nail polish, as you know, adds a luster to your nails. They are not harmful to them. See to it that you are giving them a break at regular intervals. You may use gentle nail polish removers for this purpose.
- Drink lots of water
Water is a must for every single activity happening in your body. The same holds true even for your nails. Staying hydrated keeps your nails moisturized. And they won’t die an untimely death.
Keenly observe your nails at regular intervals. Be alert to the health indications they present and act accordingly.
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