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Is the cinematic dr. House was right to threaten the judge with heart disease and to only diagnose him by the appearance of his fingers and nails? Can the horny plaque growing at a rate of 0,1 mm per day on the tips of the fingers reveal what is going on inside the body? Scientists, doctors and cosmetologists are confidently answering these questions – YES. Diagnosticians classify nail changes depending on whether they concern the morphology (shape) or color of the nail plate. It only takes a bit of knowledge and practice to read such signals. And it is worth knowing it in order to see a doctor at the right time and start treatment, which will prevent even more problems.
Yellow nail syndrome
A dozen or so years ago, the yellowness on the sides of the nails used to be downplayed as nothing dangerous – just smoker’s nails, colored with nicotine. But when such a person does not smoke, yellowness should be disturbing. First of all, these may be symptoms of mycosis, especially when the color at the edges is darker, gray or brown or even greenish.
Quite evenly yellowed nails may indicate more severe diseases, e.g. of the respiratory tract – such as chronic bronchitis, or lymphoedema of the subcutaneous tissues of the hands. Far-reaching changes cause the nail to detach from the finger.
White spots on the outer nail plate
They look like white dents with a diameter of less than a millimeter – these are called invasive nails. They are usually found in people suffering from psoriasis, which is a skin disease during which plaques fall off the skin. They also occur in people with sarcoidosis, pemphigus, alopecia areata and the so-called dye incontinence. Such point changes of the nail plate may also occur with its mechanical damage.
White spots on the nails are the result of microdamages to the nail plate, and not, as many believe, vitamin C deficiency.
Rod-shaped nails
Nails with the appearance of a watch glass – almost like a semicircular sphere. They usually arise when the fingertips are thicker than the rest of the fingers, and the nail plate adjusts to their shape. They appear in people with chronic hypoxia of blood and tissues. This, in turn, is a symptom of some heart or lung disease.
Chronic inflammation of the intestine and liver failure can also be the cause of watch glass-shaped nails. Rod-shaped nails can appear as a congenital lesion, but also accompany cancer, infectious, endocrine and multi-system diseases.
The shape of a teaspoon
Concave nails in their central part are deformations caused by the softening of the nail plate. The central dent is usually so large that it can hold a drop of liquid. Spoon nails are usually a symptom of long-term iron deficiency in the body, i.e. anemia. Coronary artery disease and hypothyroidism are other common causes of spoon nail formation (koilonychii). In infants, this type of nail usually changes to its normal shape over time and is not a sign of disease.
However, if such deformation exists only on the fingernails, it can be a sign of neurosis, manifested by the intrusive movements of other fingers on the surface of the thumb. During frequent movements of this type, the nail plate is mechanically damaged.
Zobacz: Nail structure – elements, functions. What does a nail consist of?
Terry’s nails
This is the state where the nails are opaque (like matte white glass) with a dark stripe on the tip where the plate separates from the skin.
Sometimes this picture develops in older people and is not a sign of illness, but we must not forget that Terry’s nails can also be a sign of one of several serious diseases. These include heart failure, liver disease (including cirrhosis), diabetes mellitus, severe nutritional disturbances in severe diseases of the small intestine, and certain psychiatric eating disorders. Such changes have been observed in hemodialysis patients and in kidney transplant recipients.
Linie Beau
The lines named after the physician who first diagnosed them are deep transverse furrows that cut across the entire nail. These types of changes occur when the growth of the nail plate is stopped due to mechanical trauma or severe disease.
The most common diseases that cause the Beau lineage are: diabetes mellitus, circulatory disorders, diseases with high fever such as pneumonia, measles, temporary malnutrition. Beau’s lines usually appear 2-3 weeks after the disease. You can see when the body was gathering all its strength to fight and disconnecting the unnecessary systems to save lives.
Vertical changes
Unlike horizontal changes, vertical lines (minimal swellings) on the nail are usually a natural consequence of aging and do not indicate any disease. On the other hand, dimples and vertical furrows are symptoms of excessive carbohydrate intake, iron and vitamin B12 deficiency, or bowel disease.
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Muehrcke lines
These are white, parallel strands appearing in pairs on the nail plate. They form equally spaced semicircles. They do not change their position despite the nail growth. They are a symptom of hypoalbuminaemia (too little albumin in the plasma). The condition of the nails may improve as the serum albumin levels return to normal. Muehrcke lines also appear in people undergoing chemotherapy and suffering from: nephrotic syndrome, glomerulonephritis, liver disease, and malnutrition.
Half and half is Lindsay’s nails
The initial part of the nail is white due to the swelling of the tissues of the placenta and the capillary network. End part (where it protrudes from the skin) pink or reddish-brown. Such changes occur in people with kidney diseases associated with an increased amount of nitrogen in the blood: in hemodialysis patients, kidney transplant recipients.
Read: Coming off nail – what to do?
Onycholysis
The large detachment of the end of the nail plate from the skin and the accumulation of air underneath it is called onycholysis. The tile is otherwise smooth and hard. Here, the diagnosis is not easy, because such a change, apart from mechanical, can also accompany many diseases, including hyperthyroidism. But it can also appear when a person suffers from some autoimmune or respiratory disease.
The condition of the nails is positively influenced by the herb horsetail, but if the appearance of the nails indicates pathological changes, an appropriate diagnosis and treatment are necessary.