September 18, 2017
How often do you look at your hands in a day? All of us typically do so mindlessly as we use them for so many of our daily tasks. Did you know that we should actually be examining our hands, in particular our fingernails, on a regular basis?
How Our Nails Can Help Us
Our nails on both our hands and toes are windows into our overall health. If there is something going on inside such as vitamin or mineral deficiencies or acute or chronic illness, our nails will often show us.
Below are some examples of what our nails may be trying to tell us:
Yellowing, thickening and crumbling
Fingernails that are yellow or whitish, and crumbling or splitting could be afflicted with a fungal infection. They often, but not always, follow a case of athletes foot.
Changes in colour
A black or purplish bruise or line under the nail might look dramatic – if you see dark discolouration and you don’t remember doing any damaging to your finger, then you should see a doctor to rule out skin cancer (Melanoma). If you often wear nail polish, be sure to remove it once in a while so you can inspect what lies beneath.
Brittle nails
Dry, brittle nails aren’t normally signs of a serious health problem. They could be telling you they’re overexposed to strong detergents or chemicals. Frequent manicures and nail polish use also contribute.
Clubbing
Clubbing is a condition in which your fingertips gradually get larger and your fingernails curve over them. It’s most often linked to low blood oxygen from heart or lung diseases such as emphysema, lung cancer or cystic fibrosis. It sounds serious, but only very rarely would you have nail clubbing without other symptoms.
Little white spots
Little white spots on your nails are called leukonychia. They’re common and typically caused by a minor bash to your fingers. They’re nothing to worry about unless they don’t start to go away after a few weeks or keep reoccurring – this may mean you are deficient in certain vitamins or minerals such as Iron.
Best practice is to inspect your nails on a regular basis – I recently had a brown line appear on my thumb nail that wasn’t going away. After a few months of no change, I popped into my dermatologist for inspection. With family history of Melanoma, she sent me for a biopsy of the nailbed tissue. Results came back fine and she said that I likely have a small mole under the nailbed that gives the brown, streaky appearance. That being said, just like with moles anywhere else, I will have to monitor for any changes going forward. I recommend that you do the same!
*Finger and Toe Nails as indicators of Health*
