Finger nail ridges? page

[ez2cy]

I started getting ridges on my thumbnails awhile ago. Not cross ways but rather length ways. I thought it's a lack of calcium but I take a cal/mag supplement. Since going Primal, I've noticed the ridges starting on all my finger nails.

Any idea? Or is it just me and old age?

[RichMahogany]

Does it look like this? Mine do. Not a concern.

[pikerk8tie]

I read somewhere~~WebMD maybe, that rippled, ridged fingernails may be a sign of inflammatory arthritis???

[Graycat]

I've read somewhere that the vertical ridges are not a cause for concern, while the horizontal ones are a sign of some disease, condition or something.

[sbhikes]

I've read the same thing. The vertical ones aren't a problem. Mine are quite pronounced.

What I have wondered about are little bits of nail on the edges that come off. I always thought that's what a hangnail was, but a hangnail is skin (and I get that too sometimes.) These are slivers of fingernail on the sides. It really hurts to try to pull it off. I usually file it off.

[YogaBare]

I never had them til I went vegan so I thought it was a deficiency thing. But now I eat a tonne of yogurt and meat and they still haven't gone away. I actually think it might be a symptom of Candida in some people.

[Primal123]

I was told by someone that they were caused by a b vitamin deficiency. Which makes sense for me, I don't seem to absorb b vitamins well at all.

[ChaserBD04]

I have had horizontal ridges before... but only when I broke bones in that particular digit. Has that happened to anyone? For instance, I broke my toe a couple years ago and had a horizontal ridge, then this year broke my middle finger and now have the same thing.

[2ndChance]

I used to pick at my thumbnail as a child, pull the cuticle down... it was a nervous habit, and the horizontal ridges have been there ever since. But since my diet overhaul, I have vertical ridges that are just slightly noticeable on all my other nails. My nails are SO much stronger now, though. Much thicker, they don't break, it would be impossible to bite them even if I hadn't kicked that dirty habit ages ago.... I think it's gotta be a good thing.

[Puddleglumish]

I read that it was to do with a lack of lubricant between the nail and the nail bed where the nail was being formed and that as we age the problem gets progressively worse. The explanation was that the nails take on the ridges of the nail bed. Whether this is true or not, I don't know. Since upping the fat intake though the ridges on my thumbnails have noticeably improved. I tried using nail creams for a while but this had little effect.