Ever wondered why do we have nails on all our fingertips? Well, they are not just there to scratch. We deal with them once a week to trim them down, or more if you’re a girl and likes to polish and color them. They are basically there to protect our fingertips, distal phalanx, and the proximal delicate tissues around the area.
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Apart from the basic functions, nails can be a great way to learn about body’s medical and health condition. Most of the times we are unaware of our internal health conditions until some severe symptoms appear. Nails, on the other hand, can give us a clue about what’s going on inside us. When we have a problem inside our body, it is somehow expressed externally, such as through our nails. The appearance of our nails can change with our health.
You might have noticed the color, shape, and texture of your nails changing. By noting the condition of our nails we can tell a lot about what might be wrong in our body. For example, we can tell about the conditions of our cardiovascular conditions, liver and conditions and other health conditions like diabetes and anemia by checking the texture, size, shape, and color of our nails.
Here are the most common nail conditions which indicate different things about our health :
- Whitened nails
We all are familiar with the natural color of our nails. For some people, the nails can turn white with shady borders. Such a condition of the nails indicates that we might have a liver problem, a disease or bad liver health. It can be an indication of liver diseases like jaundice and hepatitis. - Blue
This is when your nails are blue without any nail color. It can be an indication that our blood is not being oxygenated completely. The oxygenated blood (or fresh blood) is a brighter red, while the deoxygenated blood is darker and maroon. More oxygenated blood is a good sign while deoxygenate blood is a bad sign. This might be due to a heart problem, due to which the oxygen is not getting mixed in the blood properly, such as in Atrium Septum Disorder. It could also be due to a problem with lungs, as the core function of lungs is to deliver the oxygen in our body. Lung disease such as emphysema can also be related to such a problem. - Splits and Cracks
If the texture of our nails is splitting and cracking along with a pale yellow appearance, it could mean that you might have a fungal infection or a problem or disease related to the thyroid gland. The nails can appear to be very dry, due to which they start cracking. They would also appear brittle and look lifeless. - Colored lines
If there seem to be dark colored lines under the nail, it can be an indication of cancer. This condition occurs when a person is suffering from a dangerous kind of skin cancer, such as melanoma. - Pale
If your nails appear to be completely pale, it could be an indication of many different conditions. In general, the pale nail is an indication of the deficiency of blood in the body. Lack of blood can be due to several reasons, it could be due to improper diet, or due to lack of iron in our diet. It could also be related to some medical conditions in which the body doesn’t produce enough blood cells, such as anemia. Nails can also turn pale if the heart is unable to pump and deliver enough blood throughout the body, for instance, due to a heart failure. If someone is suffering from a liver disease, his nails can also turn pale. - Yellowish
If the nails are turning yellow and brittle, it could probably be due to a serious fungal infection which should be treated. If the condition is not given due care, the nail bed can also dissociate and the nails could fall off. It usually seems like the nails are turning lifeless. This condition, however, can be experienced due to other reasons as well, such as a heart problem, diabetic condition, skin diseases like psoriasis, lungs problem or thyroid gland issues. It’s best to see a doctor or your dermatologist if this condition occurs. - Ridged Lines
If you see ridges and vertical lines appearing on your nails, it’s usually nothing to worry about as it doesn’t cause any harm and could be a consequence of age. However, if it starts occurring at a younger age, you can improve your diet and see if it helps to remove those lines. If the lines are horizontal instead of vertical, it could be a symptom of conditions like arsenic or heavy metal poisoning, an injury or some internal health conditions. - Ripple
If the texture of your nails has ripple-like patterns on it, it could be an indication of an autoimmune disease, such as arthritis. It could also cause discoloration of your nails, and you can see the underlying red skin under your nails due to transparency. - White Spots
The white spots on your nails are called leukonychia. If you see these white spots on your nails, it means that you have a calcium deficiency and you should increase the intake of calcium-rich foods and normalize your diet which contains vitamins, especially vitamin D, as it is essential for the absorption of calcium in our body. This condition is common and you don’t need to take it very seriously. Simple changes in diet can make it go away.
Conclusion
Depending on the severity of the symptoms, it’s recommended to see your doctor or dermatologist about your condition and they will be able to help you with this. Dermatologists generally do a checkup of our nails as a normal procedure, since it could reveal so much about our health. In the end, the key is to keep yourself healthy, and that could be effectively achieved by monitoring our body and the changes that occur in it. By monitoring these symptoms, you can eliminate a disease from your body right before it starts to show any severe symptoms in your body.
Disclaimer
Please note that individual results will vary from person to person. All and any information and statements contained in this article are not intended to replace your doctor’s advice or treatment. We do not provide medical advice, prescription, or diagnose illness. Therefore, our views and nutritional statements are not intended to replace your doctor’s medical advice. If you have a health concern or condition, see your doctor before starting anything on your own.
I know I need to be more protein if when I clip my nails, they feel brittle. When I went through a vegan phase in college, I notice my nails were so weak and when I clip them, it seemed like white powder was coming off of them. As long as I eat a healthy diet full of B vitamins and nutrients, my nails are healthy!
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m not sure all of that is true but its good information to know :)very useful, I first read the reviews that are very useful to our health. Thank you for sharing
my nails grow too fast and get dirt under so quickly.
Like wtf how does dirt get there when i don't even go out that much
Excelente y didáctico Post @steemhealthcare. No tenia conocimiento de todo cuanto nos has enseñado que pueden revelarnos las condiciones de nuestras uñas. Yo diría que son prácticamente como la pantalla de un monitor, donde se pueden visualizar el comportamiento de nuestro organismo y una persona con conocimiento, pueda realizar un diagnostico rápido de lo que pudiera estar afectándonos. Gracias por tan valioso aporte a la comunidad. Saludos.
long nail?
I have a permanent brown coloured nail, I'm proud of it because it is attractive