For a lot of folks, the state of their nails is a matter of how presentable they appear and how they are perceived by others. A lot of people spend a lot of time and resources maintaining their nails especially the female folk. Do you know that asides appearance, your nails say a lot about your health? Nails tells a lot about your overall health.
Listed below are nail conditions that should not be overlooked.
- Pale nails: when the fingernails beds look pale and ghostly, it may be a sign of anemia, which is often characterized by low red blood cell count. It can also be an early sign of diabetes, liver disease which may have affected the blood flow.
- Spoon Nail: Spoon nails refer to nails that are abnormally thin and are usually concave in shape; that is they look as though they have been scooped out. It tells of iron deficiency and low blood oxygen level. This may not necessarily be because you do not consume enough iron, it may be due to other reasons such as hemochromatosis; a liver disease where the body absorbs too much of the iron consumed. Sometimes, spoon nail may be a sign of anemia.
- Yellow nails: It sometimes comes naturally with age, other times it is due to over use or misuse of acrylic nails, and other times it may be caused by fungal infection. It may also be a sign of a more serious issue such as lung disease, and diabetes. It may also be hued by stains from smoking.
- Lined nails: These are nails lined with dark lines usually vertically across the nail. It may be natural, but in the case when there is only one dark thin strip of contrasting color along the nail from the cuticle up to the tip or if it is changing frequently, this may indicate a graver condition: A potentially deadly form of skin cancer known as melanoma of the nail.
