Healthy finger and toe nails hint at good personal hygiene. Maintaining a healthy diet is the easiest way to keep your nails healthy; it also helps if you avoid using your nails to pick or pry at things. But odd colors and shapes, dents, horizontal ridges and other abnormalities may be signs of health issues within your body.
Color
A healthy nail should maintain a consistent pinkish color from the cuticle to the edge of the nail bed, the point where the nail separates from the skin. Some people experience whitish spots on their nails; these whitish spots are from injuries and will grow out with the nail. But if you see yellow colorations or constant whiteness in the nail bed, it may be time to talk to the doctor; yellow colorations may signal respiratory conditions or lymphedema--a swelling of your hands--while white discoloration may be a sign of psoriasis.
Moisture
Healthy nails are hard, yet retain just a bit of moisture. Doctors encourage regularly moisturizing your nails as well as your hands to help keep them healthy. Lack of proper moisture in your hands results in dry, brittle nails that crack easily. But you should also be careful if your nails get too soft. Nails that are too soft may start curving out and away from your fingers; this condition is called koilonychias and can be a symptom of iron deficiency anemia.
Texture
Healthy nails generally remain smooth throughout. You might see some vertical lines on your nails that run from the cuticle to the edge of the nails; if you do, that's normal, and it gets more pronounced as you get older. But if you start seeing horizontal lines and indentations across your nail, you have Beau's lines, which occur when the cuticle experiences an injury. Beau's lines can also occur as a result of malnutrition, uncontrolled diabetes or circulatory diseases.
Size
The side edges of your nails should stop while still on top of your finger. If you notice your nails curving around the sides of your fingers--beyond that of a regular hangnail--you are experiencing nail clubbing. Nail clubbing is a sign of low oxygen in your blood; it may also be an early sign of lung disease, cardiovascular disease and liver disease.
Nail Bed
Healthy nails are firmly attached to your nail bed, the area underneath the nail. If your nails start detaching from the nail bed, you are experiencing a condition called onycholysis. Onycholysis may stem from averse reactions to drugs, nail hardeners or acrylic nails, or it may be the result of injury, infection, psoriasis or thyroid disease. Visit your doctor right away if you have onycholysis; when the nail separates from the nail bed, germs can get under the nail and cause an infection.
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