The appearance and colour of nails not only reflects the status of our health but can give valuable information about the underlying disease condition and as a homeopath, it can also help us in selecting the most appropriate homeopathic remedy. The following analysis by Dr. Gabrielle Traub gives us an insight into the various states of our nails, their underlying pathology and also the most appropriate homeopathic remedies.
Lines and indentations:
Ridges can signify a possible infection such as the flu.
Beau’s lines
Transverse depressions. Occurs when growth at the nail root (matrix) is interrupted by any severe acute illness e.g. heart attack, measles, pneumonia, or fever. These lines emerge from under the nail folds weeks later, and allow us to estimate when the patient was sick.
NAILS; corrugated; transversely: ars., med.
Mee’s lines
Transverse white lines that run across the nail, following the shape of the nail moon. Uncommon. Causality: after acute/severe illness, Arsenic poisoning.
Thus homeopathic remedy= Ars alb
Vertical ridges
(Lengthwise grooves or ridges) – may indicate a kidney disorder (kidney failure); associated with ageing; iron deficiency (Anemia). May indicate a tendency to develop arthritis
NAILS; roughness fingernails; ridges, longitudinal: fl-ac.
NAILS; roughness fingernails; ribbed: thuj.
NAILS; corrugated: ars., calc., calc-f., fl-ac., med., ph-ac., sabad., sel., Sil., thuj.
Nail shape
Clubbing of the fingers
fingertips widen and become round. Nails curve around your fingertips, more convex. Proximal nail fold feels spongy. Caused by enlargement in connective tissue as compensation for a chronic lack of oxygen. e.g. severe emphysema Lung disease is present in 80 percent of people who have clubbed fingers. It may also appear in chronic infections especially abscesses, lung cancer, chronic lung (chronic bronchitis, emphysema) and heart disease, longstanding TB, congenital heart disease, cyanotic, primary biliary cirrhosis.
med., nit-ac., tub.
curved fingernails; consumption, in: med., tub.
Pitting
Small pits or depressions. Most common nail problem seen in 25 percent to 50 percent of people with psoriasis.
Extremities; NAILS; holes in: ars.
Psoriasis – pitting, onycholysis, thickening, circumscribed yellowish tan discoloration “oil spot” lesion.
Spoon nails
Soft nails that look scooped out. Depression is usually large enough to hold a drop of liquid. Often indicates iron deficiency anemia.
Extremities; NAILS; complaints of; depressed: med.
Onycholysis
Lifting of the nail from the nail bed. Causes: trauma, psoriasis, drug reactions, bacterial/fungal infection, contact dermatitis from using nail hardeners, thyroid disease, iron deficiency anemia or syphilis.
Looseness fingernails: apis., med., pyrog., ust.
Nail growth
Nail hypertrophy
Thickening of the nail. Either congenital (e.g. Mal de Meleda) or acquired – The nail becomes deformed with claw like appearance. Causes: Not cutting the nails, trauma, Leprosy, peripheral vascular disorders.
NAILS; hypertrophy: calc-f., fl-ac., graph., laur.
NAILS; thick: alum., anan., ant-c., ars., but-ac., calc., calc-f., calo., caust., falco-p., ferr., fl-ac., Graph., merc., pitu-a., pop-c., sabad., sec., sep., Sil., sulph., ust., x-ray
Nail atrophy:
The nail becomes thin, rudimentary and smaller size congenital or acquired. Causes: Lichen planus, Epidermolysis bullosa, Darrier’s disease, vascular disturbances, Leprosy.
NAILS; atrophic: sil.
NAILS; grow, do not: ant-c., pitu-a., rad-br., sil.
Nail Patella Syndrome
a rare genetic disorder, occurs in 2.2 out of every 100,000 people and causes abnormalities in the bones and nails. autosomal dominant. Carried by the ABO blood group.
Nails present as small and concave, longitudinally grooved, abnormally split, pitted, softened, discolored, or brittle.
Remedies: Thuja, Graphites, Calc-flour, Syph.
H; Hands; NAILS, fingers, general; grow, nails, do not: ant-c., calc., sil.
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Gabrielle Traub
I have been using a nail hardener given to me by a friend. I did not have instrucions how to use it. since I started to use it the nail growth has been very good and the nails have hardened like bone. but each nail appears brusied from the point of when I used the nail hardener. Do you have any idea why this has happened
It comes onycholysis. A reaction to nail hardeners or acrylic nails.
The tip of my finger nails is light brownish in color. 4 months ago I was detected as having hepatitis B, and since then I have been following medical treatment, and later I realized that the brownish light color on my finger tips has vanished but now it has return back. Please is the light brownish color at the tip of my finger nails a sign of Hepatitis B?
Don’t know whether my query pertains to this site. But still since it has to do with nails I thought I can ask. Can you tell me what causes excessive nail biting. Does it indicate any deficiency in diet other than anxiety or stress. Please advise.
You have a problem with self esteem, you have no confidence in yourself. Try to gain self esteem, have belief in your self worth and it will stop.
Nail biting does not always have to do with self esteem. My immediate thought is that some people bite their nails when they are nervous. Further, http://www.brainphysics.com/nail-biting.php says it is an impulse control disorder or OCD. There is a lot of good information there and also suggestions on normal treatment for it. I’m just saying you should look into things further before jumping to a “diagnosis” and I use that term very lightly.
I have found that nail biting can be triggered by sugar intake. I use to bite my nails all the time especially when I got nervous. i also consumed white sugar, white flour, and white rice products. When I got off of those products I found that I never would bite my nails. This is a very simple solution to nail biting.
Silent Storm
Hi, My dad is has in-stage Kidney Diseases he has about 8/9% renal function in the pass 4 month we have seen some of his finger nail beds go dark/brownish color and get very ruff, some nail have even lifted from the nail bed. But then some are just fine and growing normal. His nurse does think this is renal related more of maybe a fungus. What do you think? Thanks Rhonda
My son is 5 years old and his nails are not growing since a year. does any one have any information. i really appreciate your help in this regard. angela
thanks for this valuable information…this will definately help us in diagnosis and prognosis of acase.
Superb and complete information with illustrations about nails and nail deformity related to disease. Thank you so much Gabrielle
Thanks for the very informative segment!
I get multiple tiny brown lines at the tips which appear somewhat similar to splinter haemorrhages but on a much smaller scale (no more than 2mm). Randomly placed though predominantly appearing on my thumbs and index fingers – usually 2 or 3 on each nail at the very tip where one would expect an actuals splinter to have been wedged but there’s no actual trauma. Occassionally it appears further up the nail.
As it doesn’t hurt and cause any discomfort I’m wondering if its a indication of something I’ve overlooked?
very nice illustration with repertorial rubrics.I liked it though small part of body that is usually not taken in to diagnostic approach except for few conditions like anaemia,jaundice but how much these nails are important for the prognosis,it should b taken in to consideration during head to toe examination of patient.thank u so much for such a excellent article DR GABRIELLE
Wow, great info, very thorough article and pictures! The pictures are very helpful! I’ve suspected leaky gut and that my amalgams are off gassing more, which would also lead to more digestive issues, as well as I do not have a gallbladder. I’m also currently nursing my 18 m old. And I’ve always had vertical ridges in my nails off and on through the years, but recently they’ve gotten very thick on my thumbnails. And I think this definitely clarified it for me.
Longitudinal lines: indicate inability of the digestive system to absorb food properly.
What a wonderful article it is with valuable information and knowledge on this important subject of nails. Thanks to Author of this article.
With best regards
Sincerely yours
Dr. Sayeed Ahmad
really new approach regarding nails,it can be added to repertory too,
Thank you for the valuable work in collating this information on nails. Nails provide an excellent tool in diagnostics, but It’s difficult to find the information in one place.
I’ve found the same splinter-like symptoms as Catherine and am wondering if they may be a symptom of something as well? The ones I have are on my ring finger and my thumbs.
When I am pregnant the white tips of my nails seem to extend further back down my nail, so half of the nail ends up white. ie the white tips start from half way down the nail. It starts with my little finger and ring finger and I wonder if this is normal and/or if it indicates any difficiency. It starts just after ovulation so I actually see it as an early pregnancy indicator! I have had 2 miscarriages in the last year so would appreacite any advice. They go back to normal within a couple of weeks after I miscarry.
I lived abroad for a few years where the doctors routinely look at your nails when they examine you, but no-one here seems to care when I mention this. Hope you can help.
Sophie,do you smoke/drink spirits?
For starters…please get a 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 test.VERY IMPORTANT!
Have your B12 levels checked and folic acid,B6 and in fact all the B vits are important.Chromium.Take quality VitC product.
Average GP may do the basic checks but are light years behind the times as far as nutritional information/knowledge is concerned.Their incentive is money from pushing Big Pharma`s products…you are not going to have the 8 laws of health listed for you,let alone explained.
With nutritionists/epidemiologist in the family,the first port of call for the sick individual is a hair analysis,we all have regular ones too….to monitor heavy metals.Blood tests are good for some things as are urine tests but a sample of the last six months of hair growth(approx 1″ nearest scalp)will reveal an awful lot.
If you have heavy metals stored in the body,these interfere with metabolic processes and need removing using a safe procedure.They can be stored in the body for many years causing problems if not removed.
Few examples from the thousands done in the last 30 years.Plumber(&his wife!)-high Lead,Mechanic-Cadmium&Lead),Ceramics student-high cobalt,many individuals with high Mercury or Aluminium or Arsenic.Even a nobbled racehorse mystery solved as well as many other fascinating revelations.
Smokers very often show high Cadmium levels among others.Smoking itself triggers Liver into phase 1 detox mode but it`s phase 2 which is the one needing a helping hand in the average unhealthy individual.
What does a sudden black thick line on the index finger mean? The line goes from the cuticle to the end of the nail longitudenally? The other symptom is fatigue.
Worried
Hi
My 4 year old’s nails grow a bit strangely. It’s as though the “underneath” grows first and another grows on top but at a slower rate and the 2 layers never quite join as the tops of them are alot weaker and you can actually pull them off with your fingers because it’s really soft. He does by the way suck his thumbs. His diet is well-balanced & loves vegetables (miracle!)
I’d very much appreciate if you could throw any light on this.
Thanks a mill
Edel
Fantastic informative article on Nails – what they reveal…
Really helped me with a case today.
Thanks so much
I have been getting holes at the bottom of my nails, and the holes are in the first few layers of the nail. I bite my nails a lot, and I was wondering if this could be the problem?
This is an excellent article. As I read this article and compared the information to my own nails, I found that the information certain aspects of my own nails and health were consistent.
Thank you for doing this article. It was very informant and easy to understand. I look forward to reading more of your articles.
Dear Dr. Traub,
Thank you for the most interesting information about nail conditions and what they might signify. I have one nail (left hand, number three, whichever side you start counting from) which has either the spoon nail defect or Beau’s line, I’m not quite sure which. The transverse depression does go right across the nail, but it doesn’t have a crusty ridge (which your photo shows for Beau’s line). The corresponding finger on the right hand has a recurrent longitudinal split at the tip which I keep opening up. The only solution seems to be to keep it filed ultra short so that it won’t catch in anything. I also notice a fine, even, londitudinal line structure (but no splits) on whole length of the ring fingers of both hands. The little fingers of both hands hseem to have no discernable half-moons (yet all the other fingers do have them). I wonder if there is any significance as to which finger of a hand is abnormal, or to which hand the abnormality is manifest on? And is it usual to have the three symptoms I describe all at the same time?
I’m sure you have plenty to do with your time, but I’d be grateful for a brief response if you are able.
Thank you
Philip Johnson
The best site on the Web covering fingernails and what causes their abnormalities! Great work!
I am having the same signs on my nails of both the hands. Although i get these lines on all the fingers and thumbs. They appear randomly. Start with slight pain at the site and the red line appears later which turns black within 3-4 days.Is it some deficiency disorder?
Worthy Doctor, My elder brother has been sufferinng from nail disease.His nail is wrinkled with bleeding and pain. I suggest for SILICA i.e (SiO2) am I right? Please suggest me.THANKYOU. Your obedient SANKHU.
hiii
have dotted nails
what it indicates?
Hw to cure?
plz tll me in detail……..
Great article and very helpful with the pictures. There are 2 things I have though that weren’t present in the article. One is one slightly raised line under my thumbnail from matrix to end that caused a split at the end. Going on 5 plus years. Then 2 weeks ago I notice 2 finger nails and 4 toe nails have a softer spot in the shape of a V starting at the end (not the matrix). Looks funny and I want to get rid of all of this. Help?
I usually have nicely shaped nails that grow to a reasonable length and are all straight and uniform, but recently the nails on my middle fingers seem to dip down towards my finger on one side. This is more pronounced the longer they get. They look normal if I cut them right back.
Any ideas what might be causing it please?
I am curious why my 10 month old boy’s nails are growing on the sides of the nail, but not in the middle part of the nail. I am talking about the white section of the nail that you trim. I will need to trim the left and right sides of the white part, but the center area does not grow out from the nail bed. His nails used to grow nicely and quickly as my other children. He gets almost 100% of his nutrition from nursing. I have not seen this before. Thanks for any help.
HI,
Could you please help me, I have a 11 yr old son that 4 yrs ago his fingernails turned white. I had the docs check his kidneys, liver enzymes, they just checked his iron a few months ago and it was somewhat low. He also has dark circles under his eyes. I am worried about him.
Also, me, I have a small red streak on my right pointing finger, and the tips of some of my nails curve down to one side, also on my right thumb nail I have a wide vertical band, I have no lunas except my thumbs and they are not white, they are pinkish white with a red band above the luna. the nail beds are also redish pink and white in the middle of some of them. This all started 3 years ago for me.
Thank you,
I hope you can help me.
Shelly
What makes your nails grow in broken? Both my mother and I have thumb nails that grow in cracked on the side in the pink part. In my case my right index finger also grows in cracked, always on the same side in the same place. This same nail twists when it gets long (if it doesn’t grow in broken). (ie: looking at the nail the right side dips and curls under and the left side “bubbles” up)
My grandfather is 80 years old. When he was a boy he got yellow toenail foot fungus that for years he has incorrectly called athletes foot as a slang term for his problem. He has suffered severely from Heart Disease for 30 years, surviving two major open heart surgery procedures, the first of which was a triple bypass in 1981. Recently he has been in failing health, white blood cell count high, pig valves from 2001 surgery are starting to deteriorate, and the yellow toenail foot fungus is as bad as ever. Is he too old/too frail of health to try things like tea tree oil or other topical solutions to cure the fungus??
Dear Aaron,
Suppressing an external symptom always risks creating a more serious problem. He’s lived with it all these years, so I would leave well enough alone.
For a practitioner, this article is invaluable. It has clearly
narrated how a disease can be diagnosed through observing nails. Also,
improvement of nail-deformity can be used as a pointer to the improvement
of internal disease. Thanks to the author with gratitude.
my nails get white bands all the way acrose them parrallel with the cudical. the discoloation grows out with the nail. it starts out as an opaque white and then grows out and becomes more solid. it has been ongoing for over a year, but i have not experienced any other symptoms. some times it compleatly goes away when thenails grow all the way out, and then reapears after a couple weeks. one thing that i have noticed is that it does not occur on the thumb or pinkie nails. any help would be exelent thanks.
Thank you so much for this article. It was a God-send. I have for years gotten acrylic nails because I can’t seem to grow my own. But I have recently stopped because I thought that it was what was causing my nail damage. They are brittle, dry, and chipped and crack all of the time. My toe nails are the worst. the have a very dark hue to them and they get really thick especially the big toe. I used to get B-12 shots and I stopped but I have noticed that the darkening went away during that time. I have recently had my gallbladder removed and I am not the best at taking vitamin supplements and earting right. I have such discomfort from eating until I go someday without eating anything until at night before bed. Wow some things are really going to have to change. Thanks again for the eye opener.
Amazing compilation…very helpful! Thanks a tonne!
Very useful compilation. Thanks a tonne!