Traditional medicine believes that nails are the external prosperity of the human body, the external sign of the prosperity and decline of internal organs, qi and blood, and the "window" of health. Through observation of nails, we can not only determine the human health status, but also diagnose the disease, determine the priorities, development and changes and prognosis of the disease. Traditional Chinese Medicine Holographic Theory uses the nail as a holographic element, and the physiological activities, health status and pathological changes of the entire human body can be observed from the local nail. According to the meridian connection relationship and the correspondence between nails and internal organs, traditional Chinese medicine believes that the thumb controls the head and body, the finger controls the heart and lungs, the middle finger controls the gastrointestinal tract, the ring finger controls the liver and spleen, and the little finger controls the kidneys.
01. Nail diagnosis and diagnosis
Normal and healthy nails are slightly raised in arc shape, with a slightly elastic texture, moderate thickness, neat edges of the nail, moist and even color, translucent light pink, which can clearly see the qi and blood state of the nail bed, and there may be ultra-fine parallel longitudinal patterns on it. The nails have no other colors, spots, or dots, no defects, no adhesions on the nails, and the skin around the nails are complete and soft, without keratosis, tearing, barbs, etc. The structure of the nail is shown in the figure below:
Below, the corresponding symptoms of common clinical diseases of nails will be introduced from the five aspects of nail color, nail shape, nail surface, nail quality, and half moon marks:
1. The main disease of nails
The color and luster of nails are the external glory of the internal organs and qi and blood. Abnormal color can reflect the pathological changes in the internal organs, limbs and bones. "If there is inside, the form must be outside." The symptoms reflected by different colors are also different.
Wang Hong's "Ode to the Samadhi Zun Jing Jing·Outline of the Claw and Armor" states: "There are many evil people with blue claws, red claws, and more heat, yellow claws, and jaundice, and white claws, and cold claws, and black claws, or painful due to blood stasis, or death due to blood clotting..." Therefore,
①Red: mostly heat syndrome. Red and red are dark, often because heat is strong inside and disturbing the blood; rosy and lustrous, and often mild diseases; red and dark are mostly because heat enters the blood of Ying, damages the blood of the meridians, and has a serious disease; red and purple, dry and has no weed, and the disease is often critical and dangerous, and has a poor prognosis.
②Yellow: Mostly the main jaundice , and the yellow nail color is mostly caused by liver and gallbladder diseases and internal anomalies of damp heat. Those who are yellow and bright are mild, while those who are yellow and dark are severe.
③White: Most of them are blood deficiency syndrome or cold syndrome. If the spleen and stomach deficiency and cold , the source of qi and blood biochemical intake is insufficient, the color of the auricular color is pale; paleness is common in chronic diseases such as liver blood deficiency or both qi and blood deficiency or pale lips and tongue. If white and moist, it is the cause of mild illness; if white and dry, it is the cause of severe illness.
④Cyan: Mostly a sign of critical condition. Cyan is mainly severe, and is commonly caused by cardiovascular diseases such as blood stasis; or severe fever, which damages the blood circulation of the brain, and damages blood stasis; or severe cold, which causes blood deficiency and cold clotting; or blue lips and nails, which cause yang energy to fall off; or chest pain and other cardiovascular diseases.
⑤Black: Mostly a sign of a dangerous disease, mostly caused by internal blood stasis, severe cold evil, or severe pain. Commonly found in organs, organs, tissues and other organic lesions, such as cirrhosis , liver cancer , kidney failure, etc. Those who are black and moist are seriously ill; those who are black and thin and dark have great liver and kidney failure, their vital energy is disintegrating, and their prognosis is poor. In severe cases of poisoning, the nails will also turn black.
Modern diagnosis and treatment of anaerobics found that white anaerobics can be seen in digestive and circulatory diseases, such as digestive tract bleeding, ascariasis, anemia , heart pulmonary disease, etc.; yellow anaerobics is more common in jaundice, cholecystitis, cholelithiasis , etc.; cyanopsis erobics often have blood stasis or cold symptoms, which can indicate insufficient blood oxygen content and pay attention to heart and lung lesions.
2. Main diseases of aura
The average length of normal nails is 10-15mm, the width is 10-12mm, the thickness is 0.3-0.8mm, and both too long and too wide are abnormal nails.
①Long Jia: Mostly there is insufficient yang energy or weak lung qi, which is common in respiratory diseases such as cough, asthma, and poor breathing.
② Short-short acerebral: more common in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as headache, dizziness, insomnia, palpitations, , palpitations, chest tightness and shortness of breath.
③Wide armor: It is more common in the symptoms of soreness, fatigue, and mental loss caused by liver and kidney deficiency, or frequent urination, failure to take care of yang, or cold limbs, cold body, and soft limbs.
④ Narrow arthro: Common in wind, cold, and dampness syndrome, and is clinically common in joint soreness, pain, paralysis, and unfavorable flexion and extension symptoms such as neck, shoulder, waist, and legs.
3. Main disease of the aphrodisiac
0 The aphrodisiac surface is uneven, with protrusions, depressions or vertical and horizontal lines all of which are abnormal diseases:
① Concave aphrodisiac : The center of the aphrodisiac surface is low and ridges rise on all four sides; or it becomes low-lying vertical and horizontal, with grooves intersecting, or it becomes dot-shaped pits. Most of them are weak in essence and energy, and common symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, mental depression, etc., such as liver and kidney deficiency, or skin diseases.
②Convex armor: The central part of the nail surface is raised, and the surroundings are sloped, rough and not moist, or protruding in dot-like shape. It is more common in chronic diseases such as kidney essence deficiency, liver and kidney yin deficiency, , etc.
③Longaria: The nail surface has straight vertical lines, or shallow groove-shaped ridge-shaped lines, which are mostly caused by insufficient qi and blood, liver and kidney deficiency, or hyperactivity of liver yang, and incongruence of qi and blood. At the same time, the raised stripes on the nails can reflect chronic inflammation or hyperplasia and hypertrophic lesions of the corresponding organs. It is more common in people who have been engaged in physical labor or continuous mental labor, or people who are mentally depressed, neurasthenia, forgetful and insomnia, or elderly people.
④Handed lines: There are horizontal lines of varying numbers on the surface of the nail. In severe cases, the surface of the nail is like a washboard. It is mostly responsible for chronic limbs, gastrointestinal diseases, or weak or malnutrition in the elderly.
4. Main diseases of nails
Most of the claws are caused by insufficient essence and qi and blood dissipation. Because the claws mainly rely on the nourishment of the liver. If the liver blood is deficient, fever is consumed, and the five internal organs are deficient, it can cause the claws to wither.
①Broken and cracked nails: liver heat and blood deficiency, lung qi damage and exhaustion, and fluid and blood dryness are dry, the nails will wither and have rough and cracks. Commonly found in severe illness.
② Thick and rough armor: The nail is dry, the surface of the nail is thick and bulging, and the color is gray and white, and it is mostly onychomycosis; blood deficiency and dry wind, accompanied by wrinkles and itching of the palm, which is mostly "goose palm wind". The above two types of aphrodisiac disease cannot be cured for a long time, which can lead to a rough and thick nail.
③Soft thin armor: The nail is thin and soft, the surface of the nail is bright and dry, and there is less gray color. Most of them are caused by blood deficiency and fluid deficiency and liver and kidney yin deficiency. Commonly found in people with long-term illness and weakness.
④ Fish scale armor: It is mostly caused by long-term liver and kidney deficiency, low liver blood deficiency, and inability to nourish the body, or is seen in chronic skin diseases such as dry skin and itching.
⑤ Atrophy: It is mostly caused by long-term deficiency of liver and kidney, deficiency of yin and essence, severe illness, and lack of qi and blood.
⑥ Peeling of nails: The nails and nail bed are peeled off, and the nails are dry and not wet, which is mostly due to finger ulceration and long-term treatment. It is mostly caused by excessive blood loss or internal disturbance of fire poison. Commonly found in angiospermia, psoriasis, cervix, and carbuncle.
⑦ Upturned armor: clinically called " spoon-shaped nail " and "reverse armor". Because the deck is thin and soft, the center is sunken and the perimeter is rolled up in a spoon shape. It is more common in patients with diabetes and after physical weakness, anemia, serious illness.
⑧Hook-shaped nails: Because their nails are curved downward like parrots, they are also called parrots. The finger ends are like drumsticks, namely " club-shaped finger ". They are more common in heart and lung diseases, such as congenital heart disease, wind heart disease, chronic heart failure, emphysema and other diseases. In addition, there are discussions on abnormal armor such as small armor, wide armor, ladder armor, fan armor, white spot armor, white ring armor, lily armor, etc.
5. Half-moon marks are the main disease
Half-moon marks, also known as "Archid Seal" and "Archid Seal" and "Archid Seal" are part of the undeveloped deck. The edges of the normal nail marks are neat and clear, with a light and rosy color, accounting for about 1/5 of the deck. The number is 8 to 10. If the moon marks are normal, the body's qi and blood balance and yin and yang are harmonized. The changes can indicate changes in the physiological and pathological state of the internal organs. The ten-finger moon marks correspond to the five internal organs. The thumb, indicator, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger are respectively contradicted by the lungs, heart, spleen, liver, and kidneys.
For example: the size of the moon mark on the thumb is significantly more than 1/5 of the deck, indicating that evil qi is in the lungs and lung yin is exhausted, and symptoms such as cough, hemoptysis, chest pain and may occur.
The size and color of the half-moon mark can reflect the transportation and transformation functions of the human spleen and stomach, the body's energy and cold and heat conditions. If the moon mark is small or the number is reduced, it means that the body's yang energy is insufficient and the yin and cold are abundant; the moon mark is large and the number increases, and there are also moon marks in the little finger, which is a manifestation of excessive heat in the body's body damage to the yin; the moon mark is large and the boundaries are blurred or even disappears and tends to merge with the nail bed, indicating that the body's cold and heat are mutually transformed, and is mixed with cold and heat.
In addition, if the moon mark is blue, it indicates poor peripheral circulation, such as heart disease or rheumatoid arthritis ; the moon mark is red, it may indicate the occurrence of heart failure ; the moon mark is light red or white, it may indicate anemia.
02. Little questions about nails
1. Why are there white spots on the nails?
The white spots on the nails, which are called dot-shaped white nails in medicine, are generally caused by collision or squeezed by the nails. There is no need to worry too much. Most of them will move to the edges as the nails grow until they are cut off. However, if they continue or even expand, they may be fungal infection.
2. Why are there stripes on the nails?
Everyone has more or less vertical stripes on their nails. The surface of the nails is not flat. As they grow older, vertical stripes will become more and more obvious, just like the skin aging and wrinkles are also obvious, which means malnutrition and insufficient qi and blood. Nutrition needs to be strengthened at this time, but if other special colors or irregular stripes are attached, you should seek medical treatment in time.
3. Why do the nails suddenly break?
When thyroid function is hypothyroidism, other physiological processes in the body will also slow down. This means that nails will grow slower and may cause nails to become crisper. Insufficient thyroid function will also reduce the sweat produced by the body, aggravating the problem of dry and cracked nails in patients with thyroid disease .
4. Why does nail separation occur?
Separation of nails from the skin (thyroid peel) is usually caused by hyperthyroidism. There are many potential causes, such as excessive exposure to water.
In short, although the nails are small, they are of great importance. They can reflect the rise and fall of the qi, blood, yin and yang of the human organs. They are a window for human health. In normal times, we should also pay attention to caring for nails, such as keeping fingers, toes, etc. clean. Differentiate between fingernails and nail clippers for toenails. Do not cut too much when trimming your nails, and use nail polish and other products in moderation.
Source: Zhang Heng Shanxi Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine
