How to Understand What Your Fingernails May Be Telling You

What do your fingernails say about your health? Hand and finger diagnosis is an age old technique to detect imbalance, or disease, sometimes long before the official test results get back from the lab. Read on to find out more.

Instructions

• 1

  THINK ABOUT YOUR MENTAL HEALTH:

  We'll start here because it's probably the most generalized, and easiest, "self-diagnosis" to make.

  Are your nails soft, or chewed down? Nervousness, fearfulness, insecurity may be the answer here.

• 2

  CONSIDER NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES:

  Are your fingernails cracked, tear easily, brittle? This can indicate a lack of certain nutrients including calcium, zinc, or vitamin B.

• 3

  PAY ATTENTION TO THE POSSIBILITY OF A DISEASE IN PROGRESS:

  Hourglass shaped fingernails-- heart defects or lung disease

  Spoon shaped-- anemia, circulatory disorders, and vitamin or mineral deficiency.

  Yellow and thick-- Indicates a smoker, possible fungus, or potential pulmonary disease.

  Horizontal ridges in the nail-- Potential gastrointestinal illness or infection.