What Your Nails Say About Your Health…

Our nails can reveal a lot about our general state of health, so it’s important to recognize the signs of healthy nails, as well as abnormalities that could indicate a medical problem.

Here are some clues to help you determine what healthy nails look like, and when there could be a problem.

Signs of Normal Nails

• Uniform in color
• Smooth with no grooves or pits
• Attached to the skin
• White lunula (“little moon”) just above the cuticle

 Signs of Abnormal Nails

• Discoloration
• Spots
• Separation of nail from skin
• Thinning or thickening
• Oddly shaped

Nail Color Changes Tied to Health Conditions

A change in nail color might not mean anything, but certain changes may be linked to the following conditions:

Leukonychia

Also known as “white nail syndrome,” leukonychia can develop when there’s a defect in how the nail grows, explains Dr. Qaisar Ahmed MD, DHMS. The nail will have white patches or lines, which often don’t reach the edge of the nail, or the entire nail will go white. These changes can be due to microtrauma of the nail, especially after a manicure or with artificial nails, or indicate leprosy, cirrhosis, or typhoid fever.

Terry’s Nails

The nail will look mostly white and grainy with a pink or red strip at the top. This change is found in about 80 percent of people with cirrhosis. It can also develop in people with congestive heart failure, kidney failure, and diabetes.

Muehrcke’s Nails

Muehrcke lines usually appear as narrow pairs of whitish, horizontal bands on the fingernails (it is uncommon for them to appear on the thumbnails). The condition has been linked to low levels of albumin, which is found in the blood, this condition has also been linked to liver disease and malnutrition.

Half-and-Half Nails, or Lindsay’s Nails

Half-and-half nails feature red, pink, or brown bands occupying 20 to 60 percent of the nail bed. The condition is associated with chronic kidney disease.

Mees’ Lines

Mees’ lines are single or multiple narrow, whitish lines running along the width of the nail, and

may involve multiple nails. They are caused by arsenic intoxication, intoxication by some allopathic drugs and conditions such as Hodgkin lymphoma, leprosy, tuberculosis, malaria, shingles, chemotherapeutic drugs, carbon monoxide (CO) and antimony poisoning, renal and cardiac failure, pneumonia, and childbirth.

Splinter Hemorrhages

These thin, dark red or brown vertical lines in the nail bed look like splinters beneath the nail but are actually blood under the nail plate appearing in a splinter pattern. Possible causes include trauma, collagen vascular diseases, infectious endocarditis, and heart disease. It’s also sometimes seen in people with clotting problems and thyroid diseases.

Yellow Nail Syndrome

This condition — where slow-growing yellow nails become thickened and curved — is associated with pulmonary disease and lymphedema. Some cases of yellow nail syndrome are spontaneous, although the condition does occasionally run in families. Yellow nails usually occur alongside respiratory issues and limb swelling.

Vertical Brown Streaks

This is a common nail problem among people with dark skin. Dark or brown streaks on the nail can indicate a serious illness like melanoma, benign nevus (an overgrowth of cells) or chemical staining (nail polishes), thyroid diseases, anemia, bone merrow diseases etc.

Nail Shape Changes Linked to Health Conditions

A wide range of health issues can also cause changes in the shape of your nails. Conditions possibly associated with these changes include:

Spoon Nails (Koilonychia)

The nails are soft and look scooped out, like they can hold a drop of liquid. This can have a variety of causes, including iron deficiency anemia, hemochromatosis (when your body absorbs too much iron), hypothyroidism, and heart disease.

Clubbed Nails or Clubbing

The tips of the fingers get larger, and the nails curve around the fingertips, nail clubbing is most often associated with cardiovascular or pulmonary disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and congestive heart failure etc,  less common causes include inflammatory bowel disease and cirrhosis.

Nail Texture Changes Linked to Health Conditions

Apart from the odd bump or small lines, nails are normally fairly smooth. But a texture change can occur when there’s a problem elsewhere in the body. The following conditions can cause nail texture changes:

Beau’s Lines

Beau’s lines are indentations in the nails that run across the nail. Conditions associated with Beau’s lines include diabetes and peripheral vascular disease, as well as scarlet fever, measles, mumps, and pneumonia. Beau’s lines can also be a sign of zinc deficiency.

Pitting

Small, pinpoint depressions can appear in the nails when there’s a problem in nail plate layering. These depressions can be shallow or deep and are more common on fingernails than toenails. Pitting is seen in approximately 68 percent of people with psoriasis and nail changes. Pitting can also appear with alopecia areata, eczema, and the autoimmune disease lichen planus.

Health Conditions Associated with Nail Separation

The following conditions can cause nail separation:

Onycholysis

In this condition, the nail starts to lift up so that it’s no longer completely attached, and you’re likely to see white discoloration. Common causes include trauma, infection, fungal infection and psoriasis.

Onychomadesis

This is a temporary, acute cessation of nail growth that causes the nail to separate from the bed. It can appear in one nail due to trauma, but is also seen in children following hand, foot, and mouth disease, as well as with immune diseases, psoriasis, and lichen planus.

Any changes to the nail that don’t resolve in a few weeks and don’t have an inciting cause should be evaluated by a physician especially Homeopath physician.

P. S: This article is only for doctors having good knowledge about Homeopathy and allopathy, for learning purpose(s).

For proper consultation and treatment, please visit our clinic.

None of above-mentioned medicine(s) is/are the full/complete treatment, but just hints for treatment; every patient has his/her own constitutional medicine.

To order medicine by courier, please send your details at WhatsApp– +923119884588

Dr. Sayyad Qaisar Ahmed (MD {Ukraine}, DHMS), Abdominal Surgeries, Oncological surgeries, Gastroenterologist, Specialist Homeopathic Medicines.

  Senior research officer at Dnepropetrovsk state medical academy Ukraine.

Location:  Al-Haytham clinic, Umer Farooq Chowk Risalpur Sadder (0923631023, 03119884588), K.P.K, Pakistan.

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