In the U.S., there were nearly 54,000 nail salons in 2014, 5,000 more salons than in 2013. Total revenues reached a whopping $8.54 billion in 2014. And revenues are expected to keep growing. With such an economic importance placed on manicures and pedicures, someone has to be admiring those daintily customized nails. But should women and men be paying more attention to their unadorned nail health? Nails often reveal undetected health problems before other symptoms appear.
How are nails constructed?
Nails are made of keratin, a hard protein also found in skin and hair. The whole nail structure is broken down into parts: nail plate – the visible part of the nail; nail bed – the skin under the nail plate; cuticle – the skin tissue that rims the base of the nail; nail folds – skin that frames the nail on three sides; lunula – the whitish half-moon at the nail base, and the matrix – new cells are created here.
As new cells are formed, older cells get pushed out and compacted to make the familiar shape of the nail. This is nail growth, which by the way, averages about a centimeter every 100 days. Other fun facts to amaze your friends: nails grow faster in younger people, males and in the summer. Also, it has been found that right-handed people have nails that grow discernibly faster than the left hand. And vice-versa. Did you know the purpose of nails is to protect our fingertips?
Natural Nail Color and its Possible Meaning to You
Observant physicians have long noticed a correlation between nail health and other health issues. Nails can change color, texture or both when affected by a disease. Any such color change to previously healthy fingernails is cause for concern -- such changes can indicate skin cancer. "Warts around the nails have a tendency to develop into squamous cell cancer," said Tamara Lior, M.D., a dermatologist with Cleveland Clinic Florida. "If patients see a dark discoloration involving the cuticle, then we worry about melanoma," the deadliest form of skin cancer.
Nails that are the following colors may indicate illnesses. Contact your physician if any of these symptoms become obvious to you. Green or black may indicate trauma, chronic infection or a reaction to topical preparations. Brown-gray nails may indicate cardiovascular disease, diabetes, vitamin B12 deficiency, breast cancer, melanoma, lichen planus or syphilis. Pink or red coloring may be indicative of polycythemia, carbon monoxide poisoning (cherry red) or malnutrition. White nails may be indicating anemia, renal failure, diabetes, chemotherapy or cirrhosis. A blue lunula may indicate diabetes, and red discoloration of the lunula could mean cardiovascular disease or other serious diseases. Again, see your doctor if you notice any of these signs.
Other Conditions Affecting Nail Growth
Other nail conditions that can signal health problems are plentiful if you pay attention. Here are just a few examples.
- Onycholysis. This occurs when fingernails loosen and may separate from the nail bed. It is sometimes associated with injury or infection. The separated nail becomes opaque with a white, yellow or green tinge. Other causes may be a reaction to certain drugs or consumer products, thyroid disease, poor circulation, Raynard’s phenomenon, which affects the blood supply to parts of the body, and psoriasis.
- Weak, brittle or splitting nails. This could be the result of harsh manicures. It also may be indicative of vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A helps the body process protein, a key ingredient in nails. This condition can mean a vitamin C or biotin, a B vitamin, deficiency, both of which strengthen nails and encourage growth.
- Yellow nail syndrome. Most often caused by excessive nail polish use, which stains the nail. But when nails thicken and new growth slows, some may find the cuticle missing with potential detachment of parts of the nail from the nail bed. This is often a sign of respiratory disease, such as chronic bronchitis or can be related to swelling of the hands, nail fungus, jaundice or psoriasis.
- Spoon nails, aka koilonychia. This is a condition in which the nails are soft and “scooped out.” If your nails form a small bowl and can hold a drop of water, you may have this disease. It can be a sign of heart disease, hypothyroidism, iron deficiency anemia, exposure to pollutants, and a liver condition, hemochromatosis, in which the body carries too much iron absorbed from food.
- Pitting of the fingernail. This looks like small pits or depressions on the nail. It is common in people with psoriasis, eczema, lichen planus and arthritis. This pitting may also be the result of connective tissue disorders like alopecia areata, and autoimmune disease that causes hair loss in round, smooth bald patches.
- Nail clubbing. This process may take years, but the result is that the tips of the fingers enlarge, and the nail follows this growth by curling around the fingertip. Causes could be low blood oxygen, various lung diseases, inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular and liver disease, and HIV/AIDS.
- Beau’s lines. This condition results in an indentation across the nail. It can be caused by infection, cuticle injury or severe illness. Other possible causes are zinc deficiency, high fever diseases, such as mumps or pneumonia, peripheral vascular disease and uncontrolled diabetes.
These are just a few examples of how the condition of your nails can hint at potential or real health problems. The reader is encouraged to do further research -- many more illnesses affect the fingernails, the windows into the body’s soul. Take care of your nails and visit a health care provider if your fingernails change color, shape or texture. This could be a sign of a serious disease.