![]() ![]() Healthy nails hold firm, only breaking under extreme stress. Furthermore, vertical ridges in nails may be related to anemia, and horizontal ridges (also known as Beau’s lines) may also occur in the presence of kidney disease, mumps, thyroid disease, diabetes, or syphilis. When your nails lose their smooth feel and become pitted, bumpy, rippled, or ridged, you may be facing early signs of arthritis or psoriasis. Muehrcke’s lines refer to parallel, horizontal white lines and suggest a protein deficiency. For instance, dark vertical lines underneath your nails may indicate melanoma (skin cancer). However, if no injury has occurred, you may have a bigger problem. You may encounter various lines in your fingernails, especially due to injury. And yellow nails are often the result of nail fungus, though in some instances yellow nails might indicate psoriasis, lung or thyroid disease, or diabetes. Blue and purple nails are often related to poor circulation and low oxygen levels, possibly from a heart or lung illness. For instance, pale nails may suggest poor nutrition, anemia, heart failure, and even liver disease. Different colors can indicate different health problems. Discolored Nailsįingernail discoloration comes in many forms, such as yellow, blue, and purple. Below are a handful of common nail problems that may point to a more serious health concern. That said, issues in the heart, lungs, liver, and more can reveal themselves through your nails. Of course, even those with healthy nails will experience some minor irregularities in these factors now and again, and injury can lead to nail deformities, too.Ĭertain nail problems are limited to the nails themselves, unrelated to a deeper illness. Healthy nails are firm, smooth, consistent in color throughout, and grow evenly at a rate of approximately one millimeter each day. If you don’t know what healthy nails should look like, you might not notice if something is wrong. Common Nail Problems and What They May Indicate Let’s discuss what different nail abnormalities might say about your health. ![]() ![]() This might come as a surprise to many, but doctors regularly inspect the state of a patient’s fingernails to discover deeper insights. Not only do our nails protect the ends of our toes and fingers when going about our business, but they can also tell us about our overall health, such as the presence of a disease. Sure, we can use our nails to scratch an itch or peel open a piece of fruit, but we have tools for those things, too.Īs it turns out, however, our nails do more for us than we might think. Today, it might seem like our nails are only good for decorating. Nails are evolutionary holdovers from a time when we needed stronger grips and sharper claws to survive. Have you ever looked at your fingernails or toenails and wondered, “What are these things for, anyway?” It’s a fair question. ![]()
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