What Diseases Can Your Nails Warn You About?
The condition of finger and toe nails can be a symptom of life-threatening illness.
You may have heard that head hair is an indicator of health and that is true but so are nails (fingers and toes) because like hair they continuously grow with components from the skin and body. Hair analysis can hold elements from the body for up to three months.
Finger nails can take 3-6 months to grow back as the ‘new’ nail pushes out the ‘old’ nail as a replacement. Healthcare providers (nurses to EMTs) use nail bed color as an indicator of health and blood flow.
Nail growth history has been used as a health indicator for a serious disease symptom for centuries. Don’t ingore the condition of your nails. Take a good look at your nails before you cover them up.
Refer to the list and photos that follow for some indicators of health issues.
Discolored Nails
A healthy fingernail should be pink with a touch of pinkish white (moons) near the base. If your nails are a dull color or streaked with other colors, you may have a serious hidden health problem.
-Green nails are a sign of bacterial infection
-Red streaks in your nail bed are a warning of a heart valve infection
-Blueish nails signal low oxygen levels in your blood
-Dull nails mean a vitamin deficiency
-White nails may signal liver disease, such as hepatitis
-Dark stripes at the top are associated with aging and congestive heart failure…
Thick Nails
Can indicate: lung disease, a fungal infection, thyroid disease or psoriasis, or circulation problems.
Split Nails
They seem to flake away in layers. Slit nails indicate deficiencies in folic acid, Vitamin C, and protein. They can also signal psoriasis, or chronic malnutrition.
Concave (Spoon) Nails
Spoon fingernails are soft and curve up, forming a dip. Spoon nails indicate iron deficiency (usually from anemia), Hemachromatosis, (a liver disorder where your body absorbs too much iron), heart disease, or Hypothyroidism.
Go to the next page for more nail symptoms and images.
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About The Author
Kerry
We love being resourceful and self sufficient. It is more reassuring to know we can care for ourselves naturally in a world full of toxins.
