Nails protect and support the sensitive tips of the fingers and toes. Nail issues affect people of all ages. Diet is usually not responsible for abnormal changes of the nails unless the person is suffering from serious malnutrition. Some nail conditions require professional treatment from either a dermatologist or doctor while others respond to minor lifestyle changes and simple self-help treatments.
9 Things Your Nails Say about Your Health
Take a good look at your nails and you may notice some variations in the color of texture – a rosy tinge here, a touch of white there, maybe some bumps or rippling in the surface. All of these imperfections may not look like much to you, but to the expert eye, they could provide some valuable clues about your overall health.
- Pale Nails
Pale nails, also known as Terry’s nail, are white nails with an edge of darker color at the end of the nail and usually a sign of a serious liver disease known as cirrhosis.
- White Nails
Although completely white nails present since birth can be an inherited condition with no any implications as to overall health, if it appears later in life, it might be a sign of some systemic diseases, including chronic renal failure, hepatic cirrhosis, chronic hypoalbuminemia, congestive heart failure, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and diabetes mellitus.
- Yellow Nails
The so-called “yellow nail syndrome” appears in people with lymphedema (inflammation of the extremities) and serious pulmonary disease. In these people, most if not all of their nails are generally yellowish.
- Bluish Nails
In this condition, the nails are actually normal in color, however, the nail bed (the tissue which lies beneath your nail) is blue. This is known as nail bed cyanosis and is a symptom of poorly oxygenated blood or more precisely unoxygenated hemoglobin, which is the oxygen-carrying protein in the red blood cells.
- Rippled Nails
Nail pitting is a typical sign of psoriasis in the nail. This occurs as very tiny holes in the surface of the nail. People who have dermatitis of the fingertips usually have rippled nail surface. This could be a result of irritant dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis, or atopic dermatitis.
- Split or Cracked Nails
Brittle nails, onychorrhexis, and onychochilid, are usually a condition of the aging.
- Puffy Nail Fold
The skin around the edge of your nail can be damaged by various things. It’s anatomically rare in that aside from the retina the morphology of the capillary could be evaluated with magnification. Broken capillaries caused by autoimmune collagen vascular disease may give the cuticle and skin a “moth-eaten” look.
- Dark Lines Beneath the Nail
There are numerous reasons for the look of a black streak or linear brown extending from the cuticle to the tip of your nail. Since it isn’t possible to imagine the source of the color since it resides in the matrix below the nail fold, it’s often a cause for anxiety. A biopsy may be needed in order to be sure it’s not a type of skin cancer (find more about skin cancer symptoms and natural treatment: LINK).
- Gnawed Nails
It’s a really unpleasant habit that many people have. It might be pretty unusual, but according to experts, this is a signal of underlying psychopathology.
Do You Bite Your Nails?
Nail biters are prone to paronychia, a skin infection that appears around the nails. As you chew them, yeast, bacteria, and other microorganisms may enter through very tiny tears or abrasions, leading to pus, redness, and swelling around the nail.
Nail biting has a tendency to begin in childhood, peak in teenage years, and then slowly decline with age.
Whether you are an adult who cannot seem to kick this unpleasant habit or a parent of an infant or adolescent who bites his/her nails, here are some options that are usually effective for quitting:
- Keep a journal in order to identify the nail-biting triggers, as watching TV or boredom, then avoid the triggers as much as you can;
- Keep them manicured or trimmed short;
- Consider behavioral therapy, as habit reversal training;
- Wrap the fingertips with electrical tape or Band-Aids;
- Keep the hands busy with some other activities, as knitting, and/or
- Put an unpleasant tasting ingredient on the fingertips (hot sauce, vinegar, or some commercially available bitter-tasting options).
Conclusion:
Changes in the nails occasionally can signal a major systemic disease. However, nail signs are usually self-limited and have a tendency to resolve on their own. Patience is one of the most significant things in dealing with nails since their turnover is slow. It may take several months for a damaged nail to replace itself totally. Consult with your doctor in case you have some of the above-mentioned nail sings. If you have abnormal appearance of your toenails, you might have toenail fungus (here you can find more about toenails problems: LINK)