Health - Wellness
What Does It Mean When You Have Ridges On Your Fingernails?
By RUTH CLARK
Fingernails may seem fairly unimportant, but like any body part, paying attention to them can tell you about your overall health. Issues with nail health can indicate poor nutrition or poor digestion, or even more severe conditions like kidney disease; here's what ridges on your nails mean and whether they're serious or not.
Vertical ridges on the nails are very common; in fact, 20% of adults will develop these ridges due to aging. Hair, skin, and nails contain the protein keratin, and just as the hair and skin get drier as we age, so do our nails, leading to brittle ridges; however, if your ridges are horizontal, the culprit is more serious than aging.
Horizontal nail ridges, also known as Beau’s lines, can result from an injury to the nail bed that stops the nail from growing; however, Beau's lines on all 20 fingernails and toenails, could be a symptom of parathyroid disease, mumps, diabetes, syphilis, and others. Visit a dermatologist if you're ever concerned about horizontal ridges.