Nails: What They Say About the Body and What to Do

I feel like a little kid, but I know that on a couple of these I had questions, Cutee. 

I know I've always read to cut the nail straight across but what works best for me is to follow the shape of the finger or toe.  What's the reasoning for the straight across?

Why keep filing in the same direction and not back and forth?

Another reason not to bite your nails is it's hard on your teeth.  And yes, I know this from the dentist who looked at the chip on my tooth and then looked at my fingers.  I don't bite my nails but I do hangnails, unless there are clippers right there when one is bugging me. I didn't used to have hangnails that were problematic, but when I mentioned it to my chiropractor a while back, he told me I needed more fish oil.  That helped.  The only place in a book I can recall having seen hangnails included as part of the 'picture' related to fibromyalgia, which many followers of Lumigrate have or are developing symptoms of, is 'the Green Book' as we all call it.  (Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain: A Survival Manual, by Devin Starlanyl and Mary ellen Copeland).

And since fibromyalgia is a bad case of what a LOT of other people have symptoms of or have things essentially adding up on them that will eventually spill over into chronic illness from chronic wellness, I really suggest people look at any of these symptoms as wonderful early warning signs that allow them to correct what is going on underneath the outward manifestation so potentially people don't have to go into medical issues.  The old adage of "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is so true; had a small amount of money been spent long ago on knowledgeable providers, a huge amount of expense would have been prevented in my health, but now that I know better I do better AND I bring the knowhow to YOU at Lumigrate!  

I decided last year that chemicals for coloring my hair and what goes into polishing nails were just not a good thing for the environment, the people working around them, making them, the wastewater, etc.  And the world has still spun! 

My favorite trick is to keep nitrile gloves (medical exam gloves) at the sink and then throw some good cooking oil like coconut or olive (not that you cook with olive, but I mean oil that is in the kitchen that is good for you) in my hands and into the gloves.  So I'm glad to see your tip on that.  Those are smell-free gloves, and if you get the right size they aren't bulky.  I like the purple kind, that are also now more blush/purple; you can get a house brand at Walgreens that cuts the cost; some are too loose, such as the house brand from WalMart/Sams for my type of hand but it would be perfect for another type of hand.  The purple type work for me because they fit my long, thin fingers the best.  

I'm hoping that a doctor will come into this section and write about what they look for in nails, and things along those lines.  (No pun intended). 

Thanks Ilene, you're a Cutee-cle Lady alright!  

Mardy

Hi Mardy...Thanks for your questions.

The reason for clipping straight across the nail is so that there are no jagged edges to catch on clothing to rip your nail off...and it also helps to avoid hangnails.

Filing your nails from corner to middle, one way, also helps to eliminate jagged edges and hangnails.

You CAN clip your fingernails following the shape of your finger...BUT, you SHOULD clip your toenails straight across...and DON'T dig into the corners.  Let a professional do that...preferably your Podiatrist...You can cause a major problem if you clip to close to the cuticle...you might clip the skin and then a bacteria or a fungus can get in there and you might get an infection or possibly lose the nail.  And toenails take 9-12 months to grow back out.  They are slow growing.

I have a doctor's appointment in a couple of days...I will try to remember to ask him about what he looks for when he looks at my nails.  (Maybe I can get him to answer your question...keep your fingers crossed.)

All the best...'Cutee'

I want to say thank you for posting some of the deficiencies that cause the nails to deform, such as iron.  I have been looking for this information for months and couldn't find it on the internet.  Are there other vitamin deficiencies that cause nail deformities, such as the B-Vitamins?  I know that the B's affect nails and hair...

Thank you again,

RamyB

That's wonderful that you joined us, RamyB, because of this information!  Thanks for stopping by to write and give feedback.  We have access to several doctors who we can cue to come look and get their input.

RamyB...Welcome!  I am glad that Mardy read your post before I did so that she could say that she will contact a doc to get your answers...since I am not a doc, I do not know.

Nails are made out of Keratin...and Biotin and some of the B vitamins DO help...I just don't know, or rather, cannot remember (thanks FibroFog) exactly how.

Sometime this week I will be posting about different ways different illness can affect the nails.  Most of the pictures show the fingernails...but toenails can be involved too. 

Our poor little piggy's...they get forgotten so quickly when we talk about nails...and because they are covered up a lot, mostly in winter...outta sight, outta mind.  But in this case...absense does NOT make the heart grow fonder...if our toenails get negelected...it can cause some serious problems...

Till later this week...remember...Knowledge is POWER!

Dear Ladies,

Thanks so much for your work in this area.  

One of the most common problems I see with fingernails is the longitudinal ridges present there.  They start very shallow and over time become deeper and deeper.  This sign is indicative of low thyroid or growth hormones.  It should improve slowly with appropriate therapies.  Usually you will also notice with low thyroid that the hands (and feet) are cold.  This sign is not "normal for them", it is low thyroid hormone and their metabolism is too slow, therefore, not enough warmth -- a classic sign.  

The other problem with fingernails in people with low thyroid is that their nails barely grow at all.  All of this changes with appropriate thyroid treatment.

It is more common with toenails, but also seen in fingernails,......the fungal infection problems.  These are very resistant to treatment, and may take a long time to treat.  There are many treatments including prescription drugs, tea tree oil, colloidal silver preparations, etc.  The real trick is to be consistent with treatment for several months of therapy.  If you quit too soon, the infection can grow right back.

Wm. Marcus Spurlock, MD

Hi Everyone!

Fingernails are an interesting way to analyze a person's health and can indicate deficiencies, weaknesses and toxins all within the body.  Traditional Chinese medicine uses fingernail analysis as well as physiognomy, which is the study of the facial features, as a way to diagnose inner health and pathology.

Here are a few specifics I have observed with fingernails as they relate to the health and nutritional status of an individual.  

* Hangnails often indicates a lack of protein and vitamin C.  Since Vitamin C builds collagen and connective tissue within the body, this seems to be connected and make sense somehow.

* Verticle ridges can mean possible iron deficiencies while horizontal ridges can mean calcium, vitamin A or B-complex deficiencies.

* White dots usually indicates a possible zinc deficiency. Supplementation will help with this.

* Deep split in the nail usually is a lack of hydrochloric acid (found in the stomach).  Hydrochloric acid is necessary for digesting proteins and as we age we produce less and less of it.  Impaired digestion of proteins will easily lead to split nails.  Supplementing with some hydrochloric acid during meals containing protein will definitely help with this.

* A whitish coloring between the moon and tip of the nail indicates a possible yeast or fungal issue.  Supplementing the diet with probiotics usually helps with this.

* Thick nails means possible poor circulation; brittle nails possible lack of vitamin A or calcium, waxy or weak nails is a possible lack of silicon.

The shape of your nails also provide some telltale signs to your health, for example, a rounded nail can be an indication of a possible lack of vitamin B-12 deficiency while spoon shaped nails may indicate possible anemia or insufficient oxygen.  Exercise can help with this and perhaps a supplemental iron tablet (but its always best to check your ferritin and iron levels with a blood test to determine if this is the case as supplements can be dangerous if not needed).

For healthy strong nails the best is to eat sufficient amounts of protein throughout the day which can be in the form of vegetable or animal proteins.  Juicing is a wonderful way to take in more calcium: try juicing some spinach, kale, and mix in the blender with some almond nut milk (which are high in calcium iron, and plant protein).  Juicing is particularly beneficial for weak digestive systems and people who are having challenges with absorption and assimilation.

Deirdre

Cool info!  I learned something new today!

Pretty neat cycle I just witnessed, Irene!  You wrote it, they embelished, you learned and the whole way I learned as well as the other 99 reads, as there just now were 100 reads (on 2/2/2010 about noon your time).  Pretty neat!  ~~ Mardy

So in all that was just written, above, is there a term I'm maybe not so familiar with that you guys are using that I don't interpret as what my nails do?  They are very thin and come apart in layers if they bend, like mica, if you know what mica is.  (Do you have that in your part of the country?  We have a lot of it here and I think it formed in areas near where something valuable was mined.  Learned that on the hike I went on where my toenails got destroyed that made me start realizing how much YOU know, 'Ilene', about nails and gave me the idea to ask if you'd write for Lumigrate. BUT I forget what I learned.... will have to go again next year and take geologists again.  They were fun geologists too!)  Lots of them around here due to the uranium, gas and now the cleanup of the uranium and now MORE NEW uranium development about to start up again.  ~~ Mardy

Ok Mardy...Look at the next post...I will be posting pictures of different nail problems along with descriptions of what it could all possibly mean.

It is going to go up in a few minutes.

'Ilene'

Mardy's Note: Well, the best laid plans, as the saying goes .... if you're reading and looking for what was to come next, you can stop looking, it never came through. But I wanted to leave this as it was because the reality is that people who have complex, chronic conditions have 'a lot of stuff going on', you might say, and I think it's valuable to show that balls can drop and the sun still comes up in the east and sets in the west, we can even go around the sun a few times and then the ball can get picked up again, as I did in March 2014 when you read on.... Many hands, light work, we're all in this together ...... Peace! Mardy

Note on 10/25/10.  Lumigrate.com has grown so much in the # of forums here, that I was needing to consolidate and remove things that weren't getting much attention.  This wonderful exchange I copied over to this forum area today ---  

I just talked to a woman with FMS last night for the first time who has many friends who do not have FMS and it was so 'grate' to say 'oh, have them look at the Aesthetics Forum at Lumigrate, there'll be something there for EVERYONE who has skin, hair and nails'. 

SO.... Again, everyone -- THANK YOU to all who have contributed, above, to this conversation and education thread... GRATE job!.  I appreciate your participating in something innovative which can show how people who used to work in a profession until chronic illness pulled them away can continue to contribute and be part of things, as well as, naturally, those outside the box medical experts as we also encourage to be part of things at Lumigrate dot com. 

~~ Mardy

.. and here's the link.... http://www.lumigrate.com/forums/integrative-medicine-parts-m... [22]

2,211 people had read this by 3/29/14 when I came in here to add the VERY IMPORTANT LINK in the next comment, below. Those spots, per info that came into an obscure video in 2011 that was of a 2009 talk by an German American MD, and orthomolecular medicine nutrition guru/author of Primal Body, Primal Mind (and others) seems to perhaps be a 'missing link'. So please go -- allegedly it affects 11% of the US population and is in a high % of people with certain chronic conditions. You'll see I set up the link as well in the box in the following comment. 

www.lumigrate.com/forum/pyroluria-kryptopyrroluria-kpu-or-hemopyrrollactamuria-hmu-many-names-causes-connections [23]

 In March 2014 I had a request from a legal professional who had known of my background with the crossover of mind and body when it came to addictions, and asked specifically about treatment in the Front Range of Colorado. I had been very impressed in recent years with a cutting edge treatment facility where I had lived from age 18 to 36, whose clinical director is actually someone I crossed paths with when I worked at the health education department at Colorado State University's student health center (from 1992 to 1994, when I got into the OT program where I graduated in 1996). (OT = occupational therapy -- anything occupying time is an occupation, so the easiest way to explain OT to those who don't know what it is: Find out what engages the mind, as what engages the mind, the body will follow and 'do'. Physical therapy is the allopathic provider of therapy that focuses on what the body's doing and needs and doesn't take into account the mind so much; occupational looks at things from the mind and not the physical so much -- when you have both working collaboratively with a patient you have the best of both worlds. Allopathy divides these up but realistically it's ideal if PTs and OTs could do both the mind and body 'stuff' equally BUT -- we all have different things we're 'good at'. ) 

When I went to tell the inquiring legal professional about the website for the treatment facility, I realized that they had a 30 minute video that was really good -- but anyone who be in the legal world will be a fast reader and they would likely prefer to read over what's said in the video. I created a new topic on Lumigrate in order to set them up with both the video link and what is covered in the video and in so doing, was forced to figure out what one word was that I'd not been able to make out in what the clinical director had said in his VERY informative overview of all the physical symptoms and biochemical issues that can lead a person to become a habitual user of alcohol. So I'll refer you at this point to the topic I've created about 'pyrolurea':

  www.lumigrate.com/forum/pyroluria-kryptopyrroluria-kpu-or-hemopyrrollactamuria-hmu-many-names-causes-connections [25]

But again, there was a word I couldn't make out when again, typing out the overview that was said at another video, this time from an MD in the Seattle area (who also treats patients in Germany, where he's from originally), so I turned to Searching and thought I'd provide our YOUsers here with what I found. 

Basically, if searching on Google with only 'white spots on nails' -- the things that came up were basically 'inside the box' sources -- the conventional sources, the allopathic sources. We're not into that around here, the abbreviation for conventional medicine should tell you all there is to know about that: ConMed! We're into Functional Medicine (FunMed), right? (I really try to get away from 'alternative', it's so second class sounding, I prefer traditional or wholistic, but ultimately we've always supported functional and integrative medicine, and integrative pulls in the best of conventional, traditional, etc. and weaves it together. Look at our logo -- that's weaving with the bright light coming from the center of it to light the path to health and well-being! 

Searching on 'zinc deficiency, white spots on nails'  brings up a whole different set of choices of websites to go to, so I wanted to not 'just' set up the information that I personally would select to follow myself, but show YOUsers reading this how different the information can be based on two Searches using slightly different words. 

I'm going to start with the zinc deficiency, white spots on nails highlighted resource and work backwards from there to show you the information that came up with only 'white spots on nails'. 

This is an interesting website -- it's a nonprofit and they give a discount to members of the military, tea party, and NRA. DrLWilson dot com.  Please go to this link to see the entirity of the article and if you scroll to the bottom there are links to get you to the Home page and other pages in the website. This is just the section about Skin in the subcategory of zinc deficiency at their topic about zinc.  

Lots More Information

Related HowStuffWorks Articles

• Top 5 Things Your Nails Say About Your Health [28]
• How Manicures Work [29]
• How Pedicures Work [30]
• Top 5 Ways to Prevent Nail Biting [31]
• Top 5 Treatments for Brittle Nails [32]

Sources

• American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). "Nail Fungus & Nail Health."

• (Accessed 10/11/09)http://www.aad.org/public/publications/pamphlets/common_nail.html
• Bryant, Rebecca. "Cures for some nail disorders more troublesome than others." Dermatology Times. August 2001. Accessed online via MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost (Accessed 11/10/09).
• MedlinePlus. "Nail Abnormalities." (Accessed 10/19/09) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003247.htm [33]
• Rauh, Sherry. "Healthy Fingernails: Clues about your health." WebMD.(Accessed 10/11/09)http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/features/healthy-fingernails-clues-about-health
• Sound Medicine. "Medical Myth: White Spots on Fingernails." Indiana University.(Accessed 10/11/09)http://soundmedicine.iu.edu/segment/204/redirect?seg=204
• Tuzun, Yalcin and Ozge Karakus. "Leukonychia." Journal of the Turkish Academy of Dermatology. (Accessed 10/11/09)http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:Q1HYU0eXd-kJ:www.jtad.org/2009/1/jtad93101r.pdf+Leukonychia&cd=12&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
• Weil, Andrew. "Worried about White Spots on Fingernails: Q & A." DrWeil.com(Accessed 10/11/09)http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA350576/white-spots-on-fingernails.html
• WebMD "Nail Problems and Injuries." (Accessed 10/11/09)http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/nail-problems-and-injuries-topic-overview

 

#3 on the Google search with "white spots on nails", as I said above was Dr Weil's topic. I'd like to point out that they use the word "Worried about" -- just tuck that away as a 'detail'. It drew my attention because anxiety and a feeling of things not being right is a symptom at the top of the list of pyroluria.... 

Here is the link to the topic on white spots on fingernails at Dr Weil dot com:

www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA350576/white-spots-on-fingernails.html [35]

I sometimes get white spots on my fingernails. I've been told that they're a sign of a calcium deficiency, but I get plenty of calcium from my diet, and I do take a supplement every day. What causes the spots?

A: The spots you notice are not caused by a calcium deficiency. They're called "leukonychia" and are very common. Most of the time the white spots simply are a sign of some past injury to the matrix (base) of your nails. By the time the white spot shows up (about six weeks after the injury) you've probably forgotten all about banging or knocking your fingers. Sometimes, the injury can stem from a manicure that put excessive pressure on the base of the nails. The spots also can be a sign of an allergic reaction to nail polish or nail hardeners and, sometimes, are a symptom of a mild infection.

Whatever the cause, the spots are temporary and will grow out as your nails grow. However, it can take more than eight months for nails to grow out completely so the spots may be around for a while.

Sometimes, a change in the appearance of your nails does indicate an underlying disease, but these changes would be more dramatic than just the occasional white spot. Nails that turn completely white, for example, can indicate liver disease, but by the time this happens, you probably would have other symptoms.

Incidentally, in addition to the myth that white spots on the nails are a sign of calcium deficiency, you may also have heard that they indicate a zinc deficiency. That isn't true either. Neither is the well known but bizarre notion that the spots are due to eating too much Hellmann's mayonnaise (I'm not making this up).

Andrew Weil, M.D.

 So this is why YOUsers of bodies -- yes, YOU are using your body just as you're using our website for a resource -- have to put in their time and learn both sides of an issue -- there are different strokes for different folks, and many different experts within many different schools of thought. Which school of though fits for you? Within that school, what experts resonate? Do you necessarily agree with EVERYTHING they say, or do you pick what fits and leave the rest? These are important lessons for medical consumers to learn and I hope by looking at something we think of as 'simple', like fingernails, can teach us many lessons. 

The think I REALLY am appreciating about this topic is that I've been able to take this newfound (to me) information about pyroluria to the current Lumigrate, or those that were last actively providing their input for our YOUsers' benefit, and so far, all have been appreciative of learning about something that's also NEWS to them. I saw one of them even share it on their Facebook for the benefit of their FB friends following them for their medical expertise.  That's how it goes for 'onward and upwards' because we're all in this together!  Live and Learn -- Learn and Live Better is my motto! ~~ Mardy