Thursday, February 16, 2006

Nails : A mirror into your health

Do you know that your nails can tell you a lot about your internal health? Nails are said to be a mirror that reflects our internal health. A healthy blood supply will create a peachy-pink nail bed. If there is a deficiency or physical problem within our bodies, the fingernails can show it. My curiosity on the subject arose from vertical ridges that appear mostly on our toenails. The net has thrown above me many interesting facts hitherto unknown to me. Toenails are very susceptible to fungus attack and so they do not have a peachy-pink nail bed like our finger nails. Reproduced below are two most common sights we observe in our nails ----

Ridges on Nails : Vertical ridges that appear on the nail can indicate disorders as simple as iron deficiency, poor absorption of vitamins and nutrients, overall poor health or they could indicate something as serious as kidney trouble. These vertical ridges, as well as bumpy nails, can also suggest that one is prone to developing arthritis. Ridges running horizontally across the nail can indicate physical or mental stress.

White Spots on Nails : Probably the most common sight on the nails is the "white spot". Although it has been noted that white lines can be symptoms of a serious disorder, their presence is more than likely a result of iron or zinc deficiency.

Before worrying about any severe disease, your first step should be to see your doctor, preferably a dermatologist. If you want to know more, these are very useful links ---

Fingernails and Nutrition

Your nails and your overall health

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

thanks for the info Rups