What is the healthy color of nails?

The color of healthy nails currently recognized clinically by dermatologists is a uniform and soft light pink. The nail surface is semi-transparent and has a natural warm and moist luster. After pressing the nail surface with your fingers and releasing it, the light pink color will quickly rebound and recover within 1 second. This is a typical manifestation of sufficient microcirculation under the nail.

However, this standard is not a rigid color code template. I really have to hold my fingernails and compare it frame by frame with the comparison pictures on the Internet, which is purely for my own irritation. A while ago, I accompanied a friend for a routine physical examination at the dermatology department. She was born with darker wheat-colored skin, and her nails were a little more light brown than ordinary people. The doctor took a quick look and said it was completely normal. The pigment of the nail bed itself is different in different races and skin colors. As long as the whole thing is uniform and there are no sudden variegations or spots, there is no need to worry.

There are also older people whose nails will naturally become slightly yellowish and slightly turbid, just like the light pink beeswax that has been left for several years slowly oxidizes and becomes darker. As long as there are no thickening, scaling, or uneven pits, these are normal changes caused by aging. My grandma is 78 years old, and her nails are several degrees yellower than mine. All the indicators in the annual physical examination are normal, and there is no problem at all.

By the way, many people talk about the color of the crescent moon, saying that the whiter and bigger the crescent moon is, the healthier it is. In fact, there is no unified conclusion in the academic circles. More clinical studies believe that the status of the crescent moon is related to the position of the innate methyl group. In some people, the methyl nails grow farther back and the crescent moon is hidden in the flesh of the nail root. As long as the overall background color of the nail is uniform and the nail rebounds quickly, it is not unhealthy at all.

I don’t have to stare at my nails every day. I stayed up all night for a week working on a project, and my nails turned gray, dull, and had a few white spots. I thought I was lacking some trace elements. But after I adjusted my schedule for half a month, I turned back to a moist light pink. Those white spots were all traces of trauma left by the nail root when I typed on the keyboard. They were long enough to disappear after I cut off my fingertips. They were not calcium deficiency or worms in the stomach as reported on the Internet at all.

Of course, if your nails suddenly appear obvious grayish-yellow thickening, black lines with blurred borders, or are overall pale and bloodless, accompanied by discomfort such as dizziness and nail groove pain, don't just go to the dermatology department to check the problem.