Grooves in the fingernails
Changes to the nails are common and can indicate diseases of other organs, infections and allergies and be harbingers or symptoms of skin diseases. Read here what is behind grooves in your fingernails and what you can do about it.
Grooves: running across or lengthways?
When assessing grooves in the fingernails, it depends on whether the grooves run transversely or longitudinally, from all fingers are affected or only some of them, whether there is a wide groove or many fine ones next to each other lie.
- If your fingernail has longitudinal grooves, it indicates that this change must have been in place for a long time.
- There could be some medical condition behind your nail problem, such as: B. Rheumatism or circulatory disorders. The focus is of course on the treatment of these diseases.
- If you are of senior age and there are many fine, shallow grooves lying parallel to each other, then that can be perfectly normal and is not a cause for concern. In this case, an improvement by massaging the nail wall and rubbing the nail with olive oil can help. The nail wall is called the skinthat surrounds the nail.
- If your nails have a number of narrow longitudinal grooves lying next to each other that are split open, this is known as onychorrhexis. It can appear just like that and be successfully treated with injections of triamcinolone acetonide 0.5%, a cortisone preparation, into the nail wall.
- Individual longitudinal furrows that are relatively wide can also be triggered by small, mostly harmless tumors in the nail wall, e.g. B. a small cyst or through Warts. Have the changes surgically removed, then the furrow slowly grows out and eventually disappears.
- Longitudinal grooves in the fingernail can also occur if you - for whatever reason - keep pushing the nail wall back, which can occasionally be observed on the thumb. Try to get used to this "tick".
- If your grooves run across from one side wall of nails to the other and all fingers of one hand are affected, then these grooves are known as "Beau-Reil transverse furrows" that indicate a severe febrile illness, an injury to the arm concerned or a carpal tunnel syndrome are due. The cause is a temporary slowdown in nail growth. The change slowly grows out, which on the thumbnail can take up to six months.
- Their lateral grooves can also have been triggered by banal viral diseases such as measles, zinc deficiency and certain Medication (Cytostatics = anti-cancer drugs), but also occur in connection with psoriasis (this also includes a dimple in the nail). Most of the time, all fingernails are affected. After fixing the underlying trigger, the grooves will slowly grow out.
- Cross furrows in dense rows indicate that you made mistakes with the manicure. Here you should check your technique so that the grooves created in this way also slowly grow out.
Pathological changes in the fingernails can be found in around 20% of the population ...
Grooves in the fingernails can be cosmetically disruptive and give clues to various diseases, but also to Injuries and manicure mistakes. If the triggering causes are eliminated, the nails usually recover and the grooves slowly grow out.
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