You may think of pampering your hands from a spa salon and having a great manicure. But you may want to reconsider as recent health advisory stated that your nail color and texture can reflect a wide range of your own medical conditions. And if you want to have a hint about your health, you better give your fingernails a break from fancy nail polish.
According to a WebMD report, strange changes or variations in your nail's texture or color, let's say a touch of white here, a rosy tinge there, or perhaps some rippling or bumps in the surface, may refer to certain imperfections that can give clues about your optimum health.
"Just like the eyes are the window to the soul, so are the nails," says Tamara Lior, MD, a dermatologist with Cleveland Clinic Florida. Lior likewise said that when she once convinced a patient to have his lungs checked after noticing a bluish tint to his nails, a sign that he wasn't getting enough oxygen showed off. The diagnosis was he had fluid in his lungs.
Consequently, warning signs for many other conditions, ranging from hepatitis to cardiovascular diseases, may also appear in the nails, according to Joshua Fox, MD, director of Advanced Dermatology and a spokesman for the American Academy of Dermatology. "Changes in the nails can be a sign of a local disease like a fungus infection or a sign of a systemic disease like lupus or anemia," Fox shared.
He also explained that when a person wants to initially test if he has anemia, he can take a quick look to his nails. Study showed that pale and whitish nail beds may indicate a low red blood cell count consistent with anemia. "An iron deficiency can cause the nail bed to be thin and concave and have raised ridges," he added.
More so, heart disease can turn the nail beds red. Obsessive-compulsive disorder can show up in the nails through persistent nail-biting or picking, Fox attested.
Thus, other health signs that "brittle nails can be related to advancing age, or a sign that they've been overprocessed due to harsh manicures, acrylic nails, or gel wraps. You may also be deficient in vitamin A (which helps your body process protein and is a key ingredient in your nails), vitamin C, or biotin, which is a B vitamin that can help strengthen nails and speed their growth," stated on a news release.
Now, it is important that you don't take your fingernails for granted; instead, look at them closely and notice subtle variations in the texture or color. Remember how such imperfections can provide valuable clues about your overall health.
