Long before your body succumbs to illness, it sends warning signs. While some symptoms are well known, others appear in unusual places and go unnoticed. Being aware of these subtle signals is crucial to protecting
yourself from various health risks. Did you know that even your hands and nails can reveal early warnings of potential diseases?
According to Dr Kunal Sood, an anaesthesiologist and interventional pain medicine physician, the condition of your nails and hands can indicate several serious health issues that require immediate attention. Interacting with his followers in an Instagram video on December 9, the physician highlighted five key changes in the nails and hands that act as a subtle sign of a potential illness and underlying health conditions.
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These signs may support timely diagnosis and treatment if caught nice and early.
Clubbing
It’s a sign where fingertips start to appear rounded with curved nails as the soft tissue enlarges. According to Sood, this physical change can sometimes signal underlying lung or heart disease. “It occurs when megakaryocytes bypass the lungs and release growth factors like VEGF and PDGF at the fingertips,” he explained. “It is linked to chronic lung disease (lung cancer, bronchiectasis, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis) and heart conditions with long-term low oxygen, such as cyanotic congenital heart disease or endocarditis.”
Spoon-Shaped Nails
Also called Koilonychia, such nails act as an early warning sign of a body operating on iron deficiency anaemia. “Koilonychia creates thin, concave nails due to impaired keratin formation when iron-dependent enzymes weaken,” Sood said. “It often reflects iron deficiency from blood loss, heavy periods, low intake, malabsorption, or increased need in pregnancy. These nail changes can precede other symptoms for months.”
Red Nail Streaks
Your body could be undergoing blood vessel inflammation if your nails start carrying red streaks. Sood explained, “Splinter haemorrhages look like red-brown lines under the nails from ruptured capillaries. While trauma is common, multiple streaks or those near the nail base raise concern for systemic conditions such as vasculitis, lupus, connective-tissue disease, or infective endocarditis.”
Swollen Finger Joints
“Swelling may reflect osteoarthritis from cartilage loss or inflammatory arthritis like rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis involving synovial inflammation. Because trauma, gout or metabolic issues can mimic this finding, clinical exam and imaging help distinguish causes,” said the physician.
Pitting In Nails
It could be an early sign of psoriasis, which is a condition where our skin cells start going through an accelerated lifespan. It usually leads to the development of thick and scaly patches on the body. “About one-third of psoriasis patients show pits, and prevalence increases with disease duration. It may accompany discolouration, thickening or onycholysis and is common in psoriatic arthritis, making it a useful early clue,” Dr Sood said.
