What's the matter with the dented fingernails

The shape of fingernails varies from person to person. Some people's nails look full and shiny, and they can enhance their image through certain modifications. However, some people's nails look incomplete, with sunken nails like a broken tile. Such people often suffer from other diseases. So, what is the reason for sunken fingernails?

1. Flat, concave, spoon-shaped, brittle and dull nails are signs of insufficient liver water or iron deficiency anemia, hypochromic anemia and light-colored microcytic anemia.

2. The nails are in the shape of a parrot's beak and the fingertips are like drumsticks. This is often seen in congenital heart disease with cyanosis, rheumatic heart disease, chronic heart failure, lung abscess, emphysema, silicosis, chronic fibrous cavitary tuberculosis, chronic ulcerative colitis, etc.

3. Horizontal lines on the nails are a precursor to kidney disease or myocardial infarction; vertical lines on the nails indicate a lack of vitamin A and are a precursor to liver disease; sunken pits on the nails indicate poor respiratory function.

From the color of nails:

1. Nails turn white. Acute conditions include blood loss and shock. Chronic conditions include anemia, hookworm disease, gastrointestinal bleeding, late-stage tuberculosis, cor pulmonale, etc. If the nails become as white as frosted glass, it is a characteristic of liver cirrhosis.

2. Nails become white, thin and soft, which is often seen in chronic wasting diseases.

3. Yellow nails are caused by a lack of vitamin E. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that it is mostly caused by damp heat fumigation, and is seen in hypothyroidism, carotenemia, nephrotic syndrome, etc.

4. When the nails turn gray, it is a sign of onychomycosis. In the early stage, there will be itching around the nails, and then the nails will become deformed, lose their luster and become grayish white.

5. Purple nails with small red thorns are caused by lack of oxygen and indicate heart and lung disease.

6. If the nails are half red and half white (commonly known as yin-yang nails), it means poor kidney function.

7. White spots or floc-like white spots on the nails may indicate zinc deficiency, gastrointestinal disease, or anemia; the appearance of black spots or blue spots is a sign of poisoning.