Fingernails: What Are Yours Telling You?

Whilst some Doctors will say that bumps and discoloration of the nails, and the diagnosis of disease in a patient are inexplicable coincidence, others will tell you that the appearance of your nails can be used as a sign that other disease is either manifesting or already present.

Having poured over many documents on this subject, I tend to believe that it is possible that nails can be used as an early diagnosis for some conditions. Having said that, there are surely other illnesses which would present nail abnormalities after the onset of the disease and not as an indicator. If one has emphysema, then it would be safe to assume that a nasty cough and chest infection would present before nail irregularities.

Disease such as cardiac illness, melanoma, liver disease, lupus and many others will all cause nails to change in various ways. Nail fungus is rather common though, so having a greenish blue tinge under or around one's nail may not represent anything other than just that, nail fungus. Joshua Fox, MD of the American Academy of Dermatology is one Doctor who says he checks patients he sees for nail abnormalities, and he has found that some variances in their appearance can be a sign of existing ailments.

It is very important to maintain healthy fingernails and toenails, but one should not be concerned that a slight change in nail color or dryness and splitting is a sign that there is a health problem elsewhere in the body. Depending on a person's profession, these changes are likely to occur anyway, but care should be taken not to allow the nails to progress to infection. Manicures are a great treat occasionally, but it is also a good idea to take along your own kit if at all possible to reduce the risk of contracting fungal infections from a previous client.

Just to name a few, it is said that nails will display some of the following when certain diseases are known to exist:
White nails - liver disease, red nail beds-heart disease, dark lines underneath the nails-melanoma.
Having nails which have changed so dramatically in one way or another when disease has been diagnosed by conventional means, it is then quite feasible that Dr Fox's research is indeed a study which has merit and should be expanded upon.

Tips For Keeping Healthy Nails:

Having healthy nails is more than just an issue of presentation. Nails must be kept so as not to invite unwanted infection. Here are a few tips to keep yours trimmed, tidy and healthy.

Moisturize often. After a shower, bath or washing up after gardening, always apply a gentle moisturizer to your hands and particularly around the cuticle area. When dried, these can result in split skin with hangnails.

Never pull off a hangnail, use a sharp scissor or clippers to remove the skin so it doesn't get caught and pull off causing injury.

Where possible, wear gloves when gardening, painting or working with rough and greasy materials. Toxic substances can enter a crack in the skin allowing it to become infected.

File your nails square, with a slight roundness at the top. Nails should be filed in one direction and not filed to a point.