What your Nails say about you

The way we maintain our nails speaks a lot about our character. People are often judged by their nails, for instance the hygienic quality of a person is judged on the basis of how clean his or her nails are. Hence it is imperative that we take care of our nails. It is for this reason that a lot of cosmetics have been launched for pampering our nails.

The nails also do tell a lot about a person’s health. Many experienced doctors can take 1 look at a person’s nail and diagnose the disease. Some common conditions of the human nails, which help diagnose diseases, are as follows:

1.  Spoon nails are generally soft nails that look like they have been scooped out. This usually occurs due the lack of iron in a person’s diet. Spoon nails are generally indicators of depression.

2.  Clubbing occurs with the widening of the fingertips and the nails slowly curve around them. This usually occurs due to the lack of oxygen in the blood. It can also imply certain lung disorders. A medical survey shows that more than half of the people who have clubbed nails suffer from lung diseases.

3.  Onycholysis is said to occur when the nail bed gets separated from the nail. It usually occurs due to some fungal infections, psoriasis, medication side effects and contagious dermatitis. But the most common reason is some physical injuries. It also happens due to thyroid abnormalities or STDs.

4. Terry nails is where the nail looks normal (white and opaque), however the tip of the nail turns brown or pinkish. It may be the sign of the following diseases: cancer, cirrhosis, initial diabetes and / or aging.

5. Beau’ lines cause an indentation to run across the nail. Heart attack, pneumonia or measles are the cause of this type of nail growth.