Some parts of our body are cared rather mostly beautification. People hardly know that nails and health are closely related. We generally don’t relate them as indicators of a healthy body. Hair, skin and nails all can speak quantum about a person’s health. Oh! Yes, for that we must know what healthy nail sign are? what healthy nails look like? and how nails predict our health? Some major ailments in liver, lungs as well as heart can be identifies thru nails.

For that let’s do some nail reading and find out about nails and health relationship:

Beau’s Line

We generally see light lines from bottom of nails i.e. cuticle to tip which are natural, they might change along with age and are harmless, but if you can see horizontal lines on your nails then it’s an alarm, these horizontal lines are called Beau’s lines. These lines might hint towards an old injury, a health condition or in some rare case it even means arsenic poisoning. Few other reasons can be skin diseases, trauma, hypocalcaemia or even coronary occlusion.

These Beau’s lines can appear on finger as well as toe nails. Color of toenails and health also has same relation as finger nails.

Pale nails

Very pale nails can sometimes be a sign of serious illness, Nail color and health are very closely related. Pale nail indicates problems such as:

• Anemia
• Congestive heart failure
• Liver disease
• Malnutrition

White Nails

Nail color and health are so much related, white color nails with dark rim indicates liver problem like hepatitis. White color under the nails can even be observed in patients with jaundice, which is also related to liver.

Sometimes you just observe pesky white spots on nails, they are not calcium deficiency or in fact they are not any deficiency but result of some trauma that you are going thru.

Yellow Nails

Make sure, you have removed your last nail paint properly or had a good manicure before considering yourself into this category, because what these nails indicate can make you terrified. These yellow nails sometimes highlight about the problem in the respiratory system which might be bronchitis or something severe like Thyroid, diabetes or lungs problem. The most common reason is fungal infection, if it’s not taken proper care of the nail bed may retract and crumble.

Bluish Nails:

These clearly speak about lack of oxygen supply in body that means some problem in functioning of lungs like asthama, anemia exposure to cold and rare chances of heart problem. This condition is known as cyanosis.

Pitted Nails

Pitted in the sense that tiny pores can be seen on the surface of the nail. This indicates a long lying eczema- a skin condition or psoriasis. This is if your nails are cracking, getting discolored or separating from the nail bed. People who use too much of water or chemicals like chefs, bar tenders, medical care givers also has these symptoms because of access use of water apart from them if anyone has these symptoms h must visit doctor.

Splitting or Cracking of Nails

With age nails become brittle, and they start to break in uneven form. The condition is known as onychoschizia and onychorrhexis. It is an occupational hazard. Occupations where frequent wetting of hand is involved, people face such problem. People should keep themselves hydrated, us nail cream or any moisturizer or petroleum jelly and lessen wetting hands can help.

Puffy Nail Fold

The nail folds look swollen, red tender or like moth eaten you need to see a doctor. The condition is called as Paronychia. It is a type of skin infection. Generally caused by fungal or bacterial infection which might come from gnawing your cuticles when you are nervous or over washing your hands or because of some autoimmune collagen vascular disease.

Clubbed Nails:

This is indication of most sever health ailments. It is a sigh of a long ignored cardiovascular disease, lung disease of poor oxygenation in the body.

There are certain diseases that can cause small arteries in the finger tips to dilate which enlarges the normal nail beds and club the fingernails which can be as serious as cystic fibrosis, chronic bowel diseases or a major heart problem

Spoon Nails

Spoon nails are nails which are more concave than the clubbed nails. They are directly pointing towards iron deficiency which can cause anemia. This condition is known as koilonychias. It’s always better to go for a regular health checkup and keep checking all the vital parameters.

Black Stripped Nails

There are numerous reasons for why there is a brown or black strip appears from cuticle to tip of the nail. One reason which can be worrisome is cancer. it causes such colour of nails. Guidance from medical experts and by undergoing biopsy can rule it out any doubt about skin cancer. The cancer which can occur on, in or around nail id melanoma and squamous cell cancer. Sunscreen for nails can be one of the file savers in this case.

Half Pink and Half White Nails

Some people have two toned nails as God’s gift, if that’s the case then be happy however if that’s the recent development in your nail color then pay attention it can be a kidney problem.

When the kidneys functions are not as pepped up as they should be, obviously waste products and fluid buildup, which causes swelling throughout body even in the normal nail beds. This causes the small half-moon portion of the nail just above the cuticle, to rise and extend halfway up the nail, creating the half and half pattern.

Now we know what exactly the nails are trying us to say, what we can do to to prevent further damage or undo what’s been done. To prevent this avoid biting nails, get regular manicures, if you can’t avoid us of harsh chemicals at least use rubber gloves.

Harsh chemicals can start right from the nail paint remover, please check that you are not using a pure acetone as its dries and eventually makes nails brittle and increase breaking.

Try to see “acetone-free” label on the nail paint remover. See the tools used in cleaning and shaping nails are clean and not very sharp, as that can lead either to injury or infection.

And last but not the least maintaining healthy eating habits, eating nutritious food is very much important. Nails are not very fast in growing as well as showing, so keep patience, don’t jump to conclusions always take help from an expert.

Always remember Prevention is better than cure!!!

To know more about health and fitness, do check out this post.

Minerals and Vitamins that keeps you going, specially post your 30’s