What your #nails can tell you about your health...

You spend so much time trimming, shaping, buffing, and painting your nails (or having someone else do all of that for you), but you probably don’t spend much time looking at them bare. And that means you may be missing spots, stripes, and odd colors that could indicate that something’s up—in a bad way—with your body.

Pale Nails

If your fingernail beds are looking a little ghostly, you may have anemia, a blood disorder characterized by a low red blood cell count. Anemia resulting from low levels of iron can lead to inadequate oxygen in the blood, which causes the skin and tissues to become pale, particularly the tissues under the nails. Be sure you’re consuming good sources of iron, including green leafy vegetables, beans, and red meat, to boost your levels.

More seriously, pale nails could also be a sign of early diabetes or liver disease, both of which can lead to impaired blood flow. Diabetes can often be controlled with dietary changes, avoiding processed foods with refined sugars and carbs, and eating more fiber, vegetables, and whole grains. When suspecting of anemia, diabetes and especially for liver disease, a trip to the doc for testing is a must-do for accurate diagnosis.

Yellowing or Thickening

Thickened nails, with or without a yellow-ish tone, are characteristic of fungal infections that generally traverse the entire nail bed. Topical medication is often no help since the infection is in the nail bed and underlying nail plate. Your doctor can prescribe an oral med, which will reach the entire breadth of the infected nail.

Dark Lines

Even if you diligently check your skin for questionable moles monthly, you likely overlook your nails, a place where dangerous melanoma often goes unnoticed. Dark brown or black vertical lines on the nail bed should never be ignored because these can be a hallmark sign of melanoma, which requires early detection and treatment.

Pitting and Grooving

Depressions and small cracks in your nails are known as “pitting” of the nail bed and are often associated with psoriasis, an inflammatory disease that leads to scaly or red patches all over the body. A physical exam is often all you need for a diagnosis, after which your doctor may recommend topical, oral, or injected medications or light therapy.

Brittle, Thin, or Lifted Nails

Breaking a nail can be a bummer, but if your tips seem to crack at the slightest touch, it could mean your thyroid is amiss. This gland in your neck regulates metabolism, energy, and growth, and too little thyroid hormone often leads to hair loss, brittle and thin nails, and nails that grow slowly.

Thyroid disorder also manifests itself by causing your nail plate to separate from the nail bed in a noticeable way. On suspecting of thyroid disease, visit your physician for a simple blood test that can check for thyroid disorder, which can be treated with medications.

White Lines

Stripes on your nails are only a good thing if they are painted on. Horizontal white lines that span the entire nail, are paired, and appear on more than one nail are called Muehrcke’s lines. These could be an indication of kidney disease, liver abnormalities, or a lack of protein and other nutrients. They are thought to be caused by a disruption in blood supply to the nail bed because of underlying disease.

Shorter horizontal white marks or streaks, however, are likely just the result of trauma to the base of your nail. These may last from weeks to months and usually will disappear on their own.

Blue Nails

A blue face is a clear indication that someone’s lacking airflow, and blue nails mean the same thing—you’re not getting enough oxygen to your fingertips. This could be caused by respiratory disease or a vascular problem called Raynaud’s Disease. Some people just have slower blood circulation, especially when exposed to cold temperatures but we recommend a physician check your blood and oxygenation levels if your nails are persistently blue.