Take a good look at your fingernails and you may notice subtle variations in the color, shape or texture of your nails. These imperfections may not look like much at a glance, but it’s more important to your health than you might think. That’s because to the trained eye, nails can provide valuable indications about your overall health. Take a look:
Nail Thickness
If you have a thickening of the nails and they can have several causes including:
•Thick/separated nails can indicate thyroid disease or psoriasis
•Thick/rough-surfaced nails can be a sign of fungal infection
•Unusually thick nails could be a symptom of a circulation problem
•Thick nails alone could even signal lung disease
Thickening is fairly easy to notice when it first appears but please note that allergic reactions to some medications manifest themselves as thick nails!
Ridges
Healthy nails should have no obvious ridge lines and should be virtually smooth to the naked eye. Ridges can indicate several health issues including:
•Inflammatory arthritis
•Iron deficiency
•Lupus (with red lines at the base of your nails)
Don’t ignore these ridges by using a nail buffer to smooth the surface – these are warnings to be noticed!
What Your Nails Say About Your Health was originally published on blackdoctor.org
