Nail Health Self-Assessment

As long as your nails meet the four characteristics of "the overall color is uniform light pink, the surface is smooth without obvious bulges/depressions, the crescent moon is stable within 1/5 of the nail surface, and the fingertips return to ruddy color within 1 second after pressing", it basically means that the metabolic state of the nails and even the whole body is in a healthy range. Most minor abnormalities that occasionally appear are not signs of serious illness, so there is no need to be overly anxious.

At this point, someone must be asking, what are the rows of vertical lines on my nails? In the past two years, I stayed up for ten days in a row to catch up on quarterly projects. One day while eating takeout, I suddenly discovered that all ten of my fingernails had obvious vertical edges. After searching, I broke out in a cold sweat. I said something about "premonitions of liver failure" and "renal poisoning", and rushed to call a dermatologist the next day. The old doctor looked at it with a magnifying glass for two seconds and then told me to go back to sleep. He said that these were temporary "fatigue lines" on the nail matrix. They were the same as acne on your face and dark circles under your eyes after staying up too late. They were just a signal that the body was tired and had nothing to do with internal diseases. I went home and slept for a week, and I saw that the vertical lines had really faded away.

There is also the Crescent Moon issue that has been quarreling for many years. Now both schools of thought actually have merit. Traditional Chinese medicine generally believes that the crescent moon is an intuitive manifestation of the rise and fall of qi and blood. If your crescent moon has been stable before, and suddenly all of it pops up or shrinks back within a month, there is a high probability that there is a metabolic problem. You should be alert to the possibility of thyroid abnormalities and blood sugar fluctuations. ； However, the mainstream view of Western medicine is that lunulae are nails that are not completely keratinized. Some people are born with nail matrix that grows far back, and only two thumbs can see lunulae throughout their lives. As long as it is stable for a long time, there is no problem at all. There is no need to compare with others who has more lunulae. My college roommate was born with crescents on only two of her thumbs. She ranked first in the 800-meter run in every physical test. Last year, she suddenly discovered that all ten of her fingers had crescents. Her hands were always shaking. She went for a blood test and it turned out that she was in the early stages of hyperthyroidism. After two months of intervention, she recovered and the crescents returned to their original state.

There are also many people who were told by their elders when they were young that white dots on their nails were due to calcium deficiency. Last year, my niece’s hands were covered with white dots. My sister bought her three or four cans of calcium powder and it didn’t heal after two months. I went to the hospital for a check and found out that 90% of it was caused by nails. It's caused by minor trauma - either picking at nails, squeezing when closing the door, or even knocking on building blocks, which may leave white spots. It has nothing to do with calcium deficiency. It will disappear when the nails slowly grow out. No matter how much calcium is added, it will be useless.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that all nail abnormalities don’t need to be taken care of. There are a few situations that you really need to keep in mind. For example, if the entire nail suddenly becomes pale and cannot return to light pink after a long time, it is most likely anemia or hypoalbuminemia. It is best to take a blood test to check. If your nails slowly turn gray, yellow, thicken, and peel off, don’t think about liver problems first. 90% of nails are onychomycosis. Go to a dermatology department and do a fungal microscopy for dozens of dollars to confirm the diagnosis. Most of them can be cured by applying topical medicines and oral medicines. Don’t blindly buy home remedies. There are also those kinds of obvious black lines on the nails, which are more than 3 mm wide and are getting wider and the boundaries are blurred. You should quickly check to rule out the possibility of malignant onychomycosis. However, the probability is very low. You will not encounter one in 100,000 people. Don’t look for the black lines on your nails. Instead, it will cause anxiety to yourself. Oh, yes, another thing that is easily overlooked is that small pits appear on the surface of the nails, like hand-made thimbles. If it is also accompanied by joint pain and rash on the scalp, you must check for psoriatic arthritis. When I was a volunteer in the dermatology department, I met an aunt. At first, I thought it was nail malnutrition. It took half a year to diagnose. Early intervention will have a much better prognosis.

I have developed a little habit now. Every time I apply hand cream, I will glance at my nails. I don’t have to go under the lamp to take a closer look. It’s just a casual thing. In fact, to put it bluntly, nails are a mini barometer of the body, not a precise disease detector. Occasionally, if something goes wrong, you can first recall whether you stayed up late at night, whether you had a manicure done that irritated the nail surface, or whether you bumped the nail surface. If it persists after half a month, go to the hospital to see a doctor. It is much more reliable than Baidu to diagnose yourself.