Ridged Nails: What Are They Telling You?

10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

Dr. Yaseen Arsalan, a Doctor of Pharmacy, has advice on the “nutraceutical” side of things:

Onychorrhexis

Sounds like the name of a dinosaur, but it’s actually the condition that creates the vertical ridges that sometimes appear on nails. It’s especially likely in the case of thinner nails, and/or certain nutritional deficiencies. Overuse of certain chemicals (including nail polish remover, hair products that get on your hands a lot, and cleaning fluids) can also cause it. It can also be worsened by various conditions, including eczema, psoriasis, hypothyroidism, anemia, and amyloidosis, but it won’t usually be outright caused by those alone.

There are two main kinds of ridges on nails:

  • Vertical ridges: associated with hypothyroidism, anemia, and aging. Often an indicator of low iron.
  • Horizontal ridges (Beau’s lines): caused by interrupted nail growth, brute force trauma, chemotherapy, acrylic nails, and gel nail polishes. Can also be an indicator of low zinc.

There are an assortment of medical treatments available, which Dr. Arsalan discusses in the video, but for home remedy treatment, he recommends:

  • Nail-strengthening creams (look for coconut oil, shea butter, beeswax, vitamin E)
  • Hydration (this is about overall hydration e.g. water intake)
  • Careful nail trimming (fingernails with a curved shape and toenails straight across)
  • Nail ridge filler (he recommends the brand Barrielle, for not containing formaldehyde or formalin)
  • Moisturization (with cuticle oil or hand creams, because that hydration we talked about earlier is important, and we want it to stay inside the nail)

For more on those things, plus the medical treatments plus other “how to avoid this” measures, enjoy:

Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

Want to learn more?

You might also like to read:

Take care!

Don’t Forget…

Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

Recommended

  • Sleeping on Your Back after 50; Yay or Nay?
  • When Bad Joints Stop You From Exercising (5 Things To Change)
    Bad joints don’t have to halt your fitness goals—embrace low-impact exercises like swimming, strengthen with supported movements, stop before it hurts, prioritize recovery, and seek professional help.

Learn to Age Gracefully

Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • Avoid Knee Surgery With This Proven Strategy (Over-50s Specialist Physio)

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    A diagnosis of knee arthritis can be very worrying, but it doesn’t necessarily mean a knee replacement surgery is inevitable. Here’s how to keep your knee better, for longer (and potentially, for life):

    Flexing your good health

    You know we wouldn’t let that “proven” go by unchallenged if it weren’t, so what’s the evidence for it? Research (papers linked in the video description) showed 70% of patients (so, not 100%, but 70% is good odds and a lot better than the alternative) with mild to moderate knee arthritis avoided surgery after following a specific protocol—the one we’re about to describe.

    The key strategy is to focus on strengthening the quadriceps muscles for joint protection, as strong quads correlate with reduced pain. However, a full range of motion in the knee is essential for optimal quad function, so that needs attention too, and in fact is foundational (can’t strengthen a quadriceps that doesn’t have a range of motion available to it):

    Steps to follow:

    1. Improve knee extension:
      • Passive knee extension exercise: gently press your knee down while lying flat, to increase straightening.
      • Weighted heel props: use light weights to encourage gradual knee straightening.
    2. Enhance knee flexion:
      • Use a towel to gently pull the knee towards the body to improve bending range.

    Regular practice (multiple times daily) leads to improved knee function and pain relief. Exercises should be performed gently and without pain, aiming for consistent, gradual progress.And of course, if you do experience pain, it is recommend to consult with a local physiotherapist for more personalized guidance.

    For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:

    Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

    Want to learn more?

    You might also like to read:

    Treat Your Own Knee – by Robin McKenzie

    Take care!

    Share This Post

  • Brave – by Dr. Margie Warrell

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Whether it’s the courage to jump out of a plane or the courage to have a difficult conversation, bravery is an important quality that we often don’t go far out of our way to grow. At least, not as adults.

    Rather than viewing bravery as a static attribute—you either have it or you don’t—psychologist Dr. Margie Warrell makes the case for its potential for lifelong development.

    The book is divided into five sections:

    1. Live purposefully
    2. Speak bravely
    3. Work passionately
    4. Dig deep
    5. Dare boldly

    …and each has approximately 10 chapters, each a few pages long, the kind that can easily make this a “chapter-a-day” daily reader.

    As a quick clarification: that “speak bravely” section isn’t about public speaking, but is rather about speaking up when it counts. Life is too short for regrets, and our interactions with others tend to be what matters most in the long-run. It makes a huge difference to our life!

    Dr. Warrell gives us tools to reframe our challenges and tackle them. Rather than just saying “Feel the fear and do it anyway”, she also delivers the how, in all aspects. This is one of the main values the book brings, as well as a sometimes-needed reminder of how and why being brave is something to which we should always aspire… and hold.

    Bottom line: if you’d like to be more brave—in any context—this book can help. We only get one life; might as well live it.

    Click here to check out Brave and give your life a boost!

    Share This Post

  • Smarter Tomorrow – by Elizabeth Ricker

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Based heavily in hard science, with more than 450 citations in over 300 pages, the exhortation is not just “trust me, lol”.

    Instead, she encourages the reader to experiment. Not like “try this and see if it works”, but “here’s how to try this, using scientific method with good controls and good record-keeping”.

    The book is divided into sections, each with a projection of time required at the start and a summary at the end. The reading style is easy-reading throughout, without sacrificing substance.

    It proposes seven key interventions. If just one works for you, it’ll be worth having bought and read the book. More likely most if not all will… Because that’s how science works.

    Get your copy of “Smarter Tomorrow” on Amazon today!

    Share This Post

Related Posts

  • Sleeping on Your Back after 50; Yay or Nay?
  • Mammography AI Can Cost Patients Extra. Is It Worth It?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    As I checked in at a Manhattan radiology clinic for my annual mammogram in November, the front desk staffer reviewing my paperwork asked an unexpected question: Would I like to spend $40 for an artificial intelligence analysis of my mammogram? It’s not covered by insurance, she added.

    I had no idea how to evaluate that offer. Feeling upsold, I said no. But it got me thinking: Is this something I should add to my regular screening routine? Is my regular mammogram not accurate enough? If this AI analysis is so great, why doesn’t insurance cover it?

    I’m not the only person posing such questions. The mother of a colleague had a similar experience when she went for a mammogram recently at a suburban Baltimore clinic. She was given a pink pamphlet that said: “You Deserve More. More Accuracy. More Confidence. More power with artificial intelligence behind your mammogram.” The price tag was the same: $40. She also declined.

    In recent years, AI software that helps radiologists detect problems or diagnose cancer using mammography has been moving into clinical use. The software can store and evaluate large datasets of images and identify patterns and abnormalities that human radiologists might miss. It typically highlights potential problem areas in an image and assesses any likely malignancies. This extra review has enormous potential to improve the detection of suspicious breast masses and lead to earlier diagnoses of breast cancer.

    While studies showing better detection rates are extremely encouraging, some radiologists say, more research and evaluation are needed before drawing conclusions about the value of the routine use of these tools in regular clinical practice.

    “I see the promise and I hope it will help us,” said Etta Pisano, a radiologist who is chief research officer at the American College of Radiology, a professional group for radiologists. However, “it really is ambiguous at this point whether it will benefit an individual woman,” she said. “We do need more information.”

    The radiology clinics that my colleague’s mother and I visited are both part of RadNet, a company with a network of more than 350 imaging centers around the country. RadNet introduced its AI product for mammography in New York and New Jersey last February and has since rolled it out in several other states, according to Gregory Sorensen, the company’s chief science officer.

    Sorensen pointed to research the company conducted with 18 radiologists, some of whom were specialists in breast mammography and some of whom were generalists who spent less than 75% of their time reading mammograms. The doctors were asked to find the cancers in 240 images, with and without AI. Every doctor’s performance improved using AI, Sorensen said.

    Among all radiologists, “not every doctor is equally good,” Sorensen said. With RadNet’s AI tool, “it’s as if all patients get the benefit of our very top performer.”

    But is the tech analysis worth the extra cost to patients? There’s no easy answer.

    “Some people are always going to be more anxious about their mammograms, and using AI may give them more reassurance,” said Laura Heacock, a breast imaging specialist at NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center in New York. The health system has developed AI models and is testing the technology with mammograms but doesn’t yet offer it to patients, she said.

    Still, Heacock said, women shouldn’t worry that they need to get an additional AI analysis if it’s offered.

    “At the end of the day, you still have an expert breast imager interpreting your mammogram, and that is the standard of care,” she said.

    About 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime, and regular screening mammograms are recommended to help identify cancerous tumors early. But mammograms are hardly foolproof: They miss about 20% of breast cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute.

    The FDA has authorized roughly two dozen AI products to help detect and diagnose cancer from mammograms. However, there are currently no billing codes radiologists can use to charge health plans for the use of AI to interpret mammograms. Typically, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would introduce new billing codes and private health plans would follow their lead for payment. But that hasn’t happened in this field yet and it’s unclear when or if it will.

    CMS didn’t respond to requests for comment.

    Thirty-five percent of women who visit a RadNet facility for mammograms pay for the additional AI review, Sorensen said.

    Radiology practices don’t handle payment for AI mammography all in the same way.

    The practices affiliated with Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital don’t charge patients for the AI analysis, said Constance Lehman, a professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School who is co-director of the Breast Imaging Research Center at Mass General.

    Asking patients to pay “isn’t a model that will support equity,” Lehman said, since only patients who can afford the extra charge will get the enhanced analysis. She said she believes many radiologists would never agree to post a sign listing a charge for AI analysis because it would be off-putting to low-income patients.

    Sorensen said RadNet’s goal is to stop charging patients once health plans realize the value of the screening and start paying for it.

    Some large trials are underway in the United States, though much of the published research on AI and mammography to date has been done in Europe. There, the standard practice is for two radiologists to read a mammogram, whereas in the States only one radiologist typically evaluates a screening test.

    Interim results from the highly regarded MASAI randomized controlled trial of 80,000 women in Sweden found that cancer detection rates were 20% higher in women whose mammograms were read by a radiologist using AI compared with women whose mammograms were read by two radiologists without any AI intervention, which is the standard of care there.

    “The MASAI trial was great, but will that generalize to the U.S.? We can’t say,” Lehman said.

    In addition, there is a need for “more diverse training and testing sets for AI algorithm development and refinement” across different races and ethnicities, said Christoph Lee, director of the Northwest Screening and Cancer Outcomes Research Enterprise at the University of Washington School of Medicine. 

    The long shadow of an earlier and largely unsuccessful type of computer-assisted mammography hangs over the adoption of newer AI tools. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, “computer-assisted detection” software promised to improve breast cancer detection. Then the studies started coming in, and the results were often far from encouraging. Using CAD at best provided no benefit, and at worst reduced the accuracy of radiologists’ interpretations, resulting in higher rates of recalls and biopsies.

    “CAD was not that sophisticated,” said Robert Smith, senior vice president of early cancer detection science at the American Cancer Society. Artificial intelligence tools today are a whole different ballgame, he said. “You can train the algorithm to pick up things, or it learns on its own.”

    Smith said he found it “troubling” that radiologists would charge for the AI analysis.

    “There are too many women who can’t afford any out-of-pocket cost” for a mammogram, Smith said. “If we’re not going to increase the number of radiologists we use for mammograms, then these new AI tools are going to be very useful, and I don’t think we can defend charging women extra for them.”

    KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

    Subscribe to KFF Health News’ free Morning Briefing.

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • The Conquest of Happiness – by Bertrand Russell

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    When we have all our physical needs taken care of, why are we often still not happy, and what can we do about that?

    Mathematician, philosopher, and Nobel prizewinner Bertrand Russell has answers. And, unlike many of “the great philosophers”, his writing style is very clear and accessible.

    His ideas are simple and practical, yet practised by few. Rather than taking a “be happy with whatever you have” approach, he does argue that we should strive to find more happiness in some areas and ways—and lays out guidelines for doing so.

    Areas to expand, areas to pull back on, areas to walk a “virtuous mean”. Things to be optimistic about; things to not get our hopes up about.

    Applying Russell’s model, there’s no more “should I…?” moments of wondering which way to jump.

    Bottom line: if you’ve heard enough about “how to be happy” from wishy-washier sources, you might find the work of this famous logician refreshing.

    Click here to check out The Conquest of Happiness, and see how much happier you might become!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • Treat Your Own Hip – by Robin McKenzie

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    We previously reviewed another book by this author in this series, “Treat Your Own Knee”, and today it’s the same deal, but for the hip.

    A quick note about the author first: a physiotherapist and not a doctor, but with over 40 years of practice to his name and 33 letters after his name (CNZM OBE FCSP (Hon) FNZSP (Hon) Dip MDT Dip MT), he seems to know his stuff.

    He takes the reader through first diagnosing the nature of the pain (and how to rule out, for example, a back problem manifesting as hip pain, rather than a hip problem per se—and points to his own “Treat Your Own Back” manual if it turns out that that’s your problem instead), and then treating it. A bold claim, the kind that many people’s lawyers don’t let them make, but once again, this guy is pretty much the expert when it comes to this. Ask any other physiotherapist, and they probably have several of his books on their shelf.

    The treatments recommend are tailored to the results of various diagnostic flowcharts; essentially troubleshooting your hip. However, they mainly consist of exercises (perhaps the greatest value of the book), and lifestyle adjustments (these ones, 10almonds readers probably know already, but a reminder never hurts).

    The explanations are thorough while still being comprehensible, and there is zero sensationalization or fluff. It is straight to the point, and clearly illustrated too with diagrams and photographs.

    Bottom line: if you’re looking for a “one-stop shop” for diagnosing and treating your bad hip, then this is it.

    Click here to check out Treat Your Own Hip, and indeed Treat Your Own Hip!

    PS: if you have musculoskeletal problems elsewhere in your body, you might want to check out the rest of his body parts series (neck, back, shoulder, wrist, knee, ankle) for the one that’s tailored to your specific problem.

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails: