just an observation- would others have ever seen this ? We moved to an area where we are now on spring water. Been here nearly four months- just noticed the change in my two nails on the left hand - not so obvious on the right hand. No takeaways, spring water sleeping better - very fresh air. Darker portion of nails are ridged new growth seems healthier.
change in environment change in nails - Thyroid UK
change in environment change in nails
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Charlie-Farley
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Fabulous news! I love the description of where you are staying. Sounds idyllic.
🤗🤗🤗
TiggerMeAmbassador
I'm thinking someone must have had it analysed, is it shared with neighbours? Probably getting some good minerals, zinc, calcium good for the nails... what bedrock are you on?
Hi Eeyore
It has been analysed before and is overdue. I have a kit🤩👍. The council will be testing eventually. We are on sedimentary on a bed of granite (apparently). Water tastes great!
Literally 'hard stuff on tap' 😋
Only issue with granite is to be aware of radon gas 🙃
Yea apparently 15 years exposure can lead to an increased risk- I’m not ar$ed undiagnosed hypothyroidism and all the stress getting onto a therapeutic dose of Levothyroxine will have done me far more damage. Live for the day! 😂👍
I think if it's high in your area it is included in house surveys and when houses are renovated they add traps and make sure it is vented externally?
Life is out to kill us one way or another 🙃
It may sound flippant but trouble is a long life doesn’t get tacked on in the middle when it might have served a purpose only the end. Having nursed both parents - I was a carer for ten years, I’m not overly concerned about longevity - hence I live for the day and perhaps near future. I may well have a reasonable dotage, but after mum n dad’s experience I’m not banking on it 😬
I'm missing some "half moons" which is apparently a Covid thing.
As for ridges...
my.clevelandclinic.org/heal...
Me too, I had never noticed they were missing before but reading this made me look at them. I have fabulous large half moons on both thumbs but they are barely visible on 5 fingers and non existent on the other 3.
My nails are ridged too but there is one that is lovely and smooth, it’s the one I use to dip into the moisturiser pot before using it on my face.
Exactly- but the nail coming through now coincides with a move to a place where we are now on spring water. Perhaps there are more factors involved but the water we drink is very central to our well being.
A Severn-Trent employee interrupted my supply which I think led to a gut infection and reactive arthritis, so I'm keen to avoid any more nasties.
I’ve noticed when I’m low in B12 my moons disappear and then slowly return once I inject.
I doubt it actually has anything to do with covid. I haven't had half moons except on thumbs for the past 40+ years and I've never had covid. More likely a hypo thing.
Covid has all sorts of ramifications, and it would be a lazy or corrupt doctor who didn't link kidney damage or sticky blood, for example, to a recent infection. The lack of half moons was a new one to me, and I recall having a full complement. Well done for monitoring yours. Early in 2021 I was one of those thinking the nasty respiratory infection I'd had in November, 2019 was possibly Covid. However, I was offered an antibody test, which showed I hadn't been infected at that point. Those who've had it with minor symptoms may, at this point, be incorrectly assuming they've never had it.
Lack of half moons is to do with low iron levels.
It can be, although my haemoglobin is over 70% through the range, and ferritin over 85%. I don't have poor circulation in my fingertips, so I assume sufficient nutrients are reaching the nail beds.
I've no half moons and have ridges, and I don't have a thyroid.
I haven’t moved home….but weirdly your post resonated with me. Recently, my pinky and ring fingers of both hands are white at the bottom half - and ridged at top.
My nails have never recovered from hypo symptoms in 20 years - I have to keep them very short - they break if you look at them! On and off my thumbnails can split down the middle.
I take 125 mcg levo and 20 mcg lio daily and feel well on these. All other blood results and vits, etc are good - last tested 6 months ago.
I know cold weather makes them worse and I used to be out in it a lot - O’Keefe’s cream helped - but I no longer have to work outside. Nails are still brittle. There’s a lot of info about what nail changes can indicate - but I’ve stopped looking 😊
Buddy195Administrator
Keep us posted on how the nail improvement goes CF. Mine are very brittle, no matter what I use…. Maybe it is the water quality in my area!
This what I’m thinking
I've certainly improved since they removed the lead feed pipe to our home... even the Jack Russell will now drink the tap water!!
If you look at your water suppliers website they do put up results
We are on a private spring 🤗
Sorry that was aimed at Buddy... but worth checking your feed pipes as would originally have been lead 🤗
Very interesting, which part of the the country are you in?
North Pennines
Lucky you, sounds lovely.
It is a complete contrast to living in a town- back in the countryside. 😅
I am green with envy!
Been a long slog to get here now got to get an income sorted. 😊👍
I jumped ship for a better life from down south to Whitby Yorkshire, bought a house and was hoping for good things, unfortunately it didn't happen and I came back having lost a fortune with my tail between my legs. I love the countryside and nature, would like to have another go, but too much of a drip these days.
Better to try than have the ‘what if’ hanging over one. We have had some twists and turns along the way too. Perhaps there is another avenue waiting to be explored.
This was not our original plan- but it all worked out in the end.
Yes I agree, now I feel so. much better in mind body and spirit , what ever is meant for me will surely happen.
I have just recently found they put fluoride in the water where we have moved to, so now using bottled water. Nails have been a mess for years, so interesting how yours are recovering.
Invest in a decent water filter. I think mine is called a Berkeley which filters out fluoride.
The UK government decided in the last two or three years that they wanted fluoride in everyone's water.
theguardian.com/society/202...
gov.uk/government/publicati...
I've lived in the same house for more than 20 years and our water wasn't fluoridated during that time, but I assume it will be now. I don't actually want to look it up to find out if it has already happened.
Interestingly, Wales has a policy of not fluoridating water, and I don't know about Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Ah - Scotland:
scottishwater.co.uk/Your-Ho...
Lucky them! I have read that some countries in recent years have actually banned the fluoridation of water.
China banned it as long ago as the 1980s.
If anyone is wondering who does fluoridate, this is the most recent list I could find, updated in 2021 :
Interesting. I have no issues with my nails, they’ve always been strong. The same can’t be said of my hair!
My husband (who has no thyroid issues), struggles with weak nails, and he thinks they improve when he goes on holiday,… so now I’m wondering if the environment might affect him, although we are never away for all that long. He does tend to bite them because they fray, so we thought it might be a stress thing.
Does he take vitamin D with k2-mk7? If sun helps then it could be the vitamin D boost from being in a very sunny area.
I know he has taken Vit D in the past, but I’m not sure if he does now, and I’m not sure about the K2 either - not heard of that. He is into outdoor sports, so he does get a lot more sun exposure than I do.
found this paper that will explain better than I. You can buy Vitamin D with K2-MK7. A lot of us take it - I’ve got hubby onto it and he has actually said he feels the benefits 😲 You have no idea how hard it is to get an endorsement like that from him 😂
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl....
Many thanks. I’ll have a read 👍
Hi Charlie
The lines are from not enough thyroid or not converting it. I switched to NDT many years ago and they went away, my hair grows like crazy and isn't greying anywhere as fast as my peers, stopped being breathless after two flight of stairs, I clot much better, skins less brittle . I'm still pale and can't tan like I could 20 years ago. And my tinnitus never got better
J
Interesting!
So glad you get on well with NDT. Everything should be on the table to get people well.
I’ve been feeling pretty good over all - this was just an unexpected improvement.
As I understand it, nails and hair are made of the same stuff namely Keritin (? spelling) ..so I wonder if your hair has changed on your new water supply ..?
I have a sprouting yes 😂. It looks a bit daft but I’ll take the positives! My hair had seemed a bit thinner but I confess I’ve been too busy to care.
I too have ridged nails. When I researched it, I came to the conclusion it was due to nails being subject to repeated wetting and drying out. I go swimming 3-4 times a week and am always washing up - I'm now trying to wear gloves when I do so. Have you done less of either of these activities?
Actually no as the dishwasher broke down in our new abode 🤣. Only just replaced it so will see if any further improvements materialise.
Vertical ridges in nails
Onychorrhexis: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment
RedAppleAdministrator
Interesting. I had assumed it was horizontal ridges that were concerning.
But what can we do about vertical ridges? I have multiple vertical ridges on all nails. They're not especially pronounced, and a couple of coats of ordinary nail varnish evens them out.
I'm not aware of anything we can do to fix vertical nail ridges apart from the usual get thyroid hormones, vitamins and minerals at optimal levels. I investigated because I wanted to find out whether it was something I should take action about. Now i know its not, I'm just going to forget about the ridges on my nails and concentrate on trying to sort out thyroid and hpa axis.
Improvement of my nails is the one improvement I can say resulted from taking Levothyroxine and increasing vitamin d. (I’m lucky I didn’t have many other symptoms)
My nails and teeth were weak, splitting, breaking, soft, all my life. I lost most of my teeth to gum disease in my fifties but the teeth were weak too, easily chipped.
I remember at secondary school there was a craze for eating cubes of Rowntrees jelly ‘to strengthen the nails’. But everyone added, ‘but my nails are strong anyway’. I seemed to be the only one who couldn’t say the same.
Still no moons, still slight ridging, but no more splitting.
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