Your nails can be more than just a fashion statement. They can also serve as a valuable window into your overall health. Changes in the color, texture, and appearance of your nails can be indicative of underlying medical conditions, nutritional deficiencies, or other health issues. In this article, we will explore what various nail conditions and colors may be trying to tell you about your well-being.
Yellow Nails
Your nails may color yellow due to the use of nail polish or acrylic nails but it can also be result of smoking. If your nails are crumbly, thick and yellow a fungal infection might be the cause. They are also related to diabetes, respiratory disease like chronic bronchitis and thyroid disease.
Dry, Cracked or Brittle Nails
This might be as a result of using nail polish remover frequently, if your hands are in water a lot of the time, washing dishes or swimming or you live in an area with low humidity. It can also be as a result of low value of vitamin A and C or the B vitamin biotin or a fungal infection.
Clubbing
This is when your fingertips become bigger and the nails bends downwards. This can be as a result of low oxygen in your blood that can be associated with lung disease, liver or kidney disease AIDS, Bowel or inflammatory disease.
White Spots
This occurs as a result of what is called a nail trauma and its quite natural, they are not a source of concern except if they are present for a longer period than normal, then one can look at a fungal infection. They tend to grow out on their own or fade away.
Horizontal Ridges
According to John Anthony, M.D., a dermatologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, explained them this way to TIME: “This is typically the result of direct trauma to the nail or a more serious illness, in which case you’ll see it on more than one nail at a time … Your body is literally saying, ‘I’ve got better things to do than make nails’ and pauses their growth.” They might also be caused by uncontrolled diabetes, circulatory disease, and severe zinc deficiency. They may also be as a result of trauma, serious illness, and high fever like pneumonia. Also another kind of horizontal ridges that is called Mees’ lines is as a result of Hodgkin’s disease, malaria, leprosy arsenic poisoning or carbon monoxide poisoning.
Vertical Ridges
These are as a result of aging and are of no concern. They happen due to nutrient deficiencies like the decrease of vitamin B12 and magnesium.
Spoon Nails
They are curved upwards like a spoon. They show the signs of iron deficiency, anemia, heart disease or hypothyroidism or excess iron absorption-hemochromatosis.
Pitting
These are when your nails have dents in them. They are a sign of psoriasis, a tissue disorder or an autoimmune disease (alopecia areata) that cause hair loss can affect the nails too.
Dark Discolorations
When you see black discoloration, it may be due to melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. It’s best to see your Doctor.
White Nails with a Strip of Pink
Also known as terry’s nails. When you see this, it is a sign to check for diabetes, kidney failure, congestive heart failure or liver disease. Sometimes it may be due to aging.
