all my toes nails are like this have been since 2024/2023
On all toe nails and then finger nails I get more like a line ridge across the last three fingers and thumb both hands more like a bump difficult to photo fingers
Has anyone had this with thyroid and how do your treat?
I have suspected Psoriasis on my scalp but this have never been tested just the go said I think it’s this
Wondering if this will need treatments of some kind or if my doctor decided to treat my suspected central hyperthyroidism would levothyroxin fix my nails?
Thanks crystal
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Twixandolive
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In another life I ran a manicure pedicure business. I agree the toenail in the pic looks very dry. Is the skin flakey on the end of the toe? As you have psoriasis elsewhere it could be.
When I was first diagnosed hypo my skin was in red dry, I had cracks in the palms of my hands. My shins were crispy 🙄
I’d normally go for something natural like coconut oil but to really get on top of it I needed Cetraben ointment (Asda has it).
If you massage nail oil or coconut/olive oil into your nails doing circular motions like 10x each direction it can really help. The massage will improve blood flow too which nourishes within.
The other thing that helped was taking an extra biotin supplement, I used Solgar when I wasn’t taking Thorne Basic B which has it in already. Just stop 3-5 days before thyroid blood tests as biotin interferes with the results.
Those lines across are called Beau’s lines or ridges. I have developed these more recently but have had the vertical lines for a couple of years and they can be age related. My nails peel, crumble, break and I’ve tried everything. My GP has agreed to see me next week about it as making a bed, trying to peel sellotape, flick open a shampoo bottle, pull up and zip my jeans, everything and anything, result in my nails breaking off. I understand it is probably thyroid related but I have another chronic condition which might be a player. If this is a nutritional issue or fungal ( it isn’t), then there might be some help.
Try the oil massage on cuticles/nails, it works wonders. Use up old lip balms anything. Trick is to do it daily and keep hands out of water except for washing obvs. Wear marigolds for all jobs.
Yes I get itching too horrible. Mainly my shins but it can be all over. Have you have vit d b12 and ferritin checked? According to research lack of these three can cause nail issues avd itching
Yes my B12 , folate, vit D ,ferritin are all low end boarderline or not optimal
I will be starting all the vits supplements
Waiting to see endo to get thyroid sorted
Had nails like this for over a year now
I don’t put nail polish on I just leave them.
I am hoping they will improve with supplements and Levo but not sure if the endo will say for treatment, as I might be a tricky customer 😂 my bloods are not totally straight forward ,like smacking them in the face yes this person is unwell
yes I thought beaus lines they defo are not happy nails
I suffer also form low blood pressure poor circulation and cold hands and feet so my nails have an up hill battle I think
my OH has terrible trouble with his nails breaking and flaking - I’m not sure about ridges. He is not hypothyroid. I am but have no issues.. He paints a protective liquid on his finger nails, not sure what it is, but I think he does think it helps. It’s not nail varnish but it does smell a bit like it.
Also almond oil with a drop of tea tree dropped on every night before bed helped my nails clear up from looking similar. Also making sure enough protein in the diet.
Brittle nails with vertical ridges are classical signs of hypothyroidism. Mine have been like it for about 20 years (possibly longer), but even after 15 years of Levothyroxine treatment, my fingernails are still the same (toenails not too bad).
Sorry I can't come up with a solution, but I'm sure someone on the forum will be able to make a few suggestions.
Levo was the start of mine going awful I switched to NDT but it hasn’t stopped them getting worse. I think mine is because of long term vitamin deficiencies I know ferritin is rock bottom I suspect vit d and b12 are pants too getting those two up can help the ferritin. I tried iron tablets for three months it was hideous made me feel dreadful I had to stop them it was like being poisoned
Mine are like this too. I have ankylosing spondylitis an autoimmune arthritis and it seemed to be psoriatic arthritis from looking mine up at photos and as mentioned above. Probably have it checked by gp
Interesting I have AS too my nails are a horror story but only went awful after commencing thyroid hormone therapy. The AS was diagnosed decades before the thyroid croaked
I think so much is related unfortunately you never know where you are ! I am on b12 injections too. What fun! My nail problem got worse on a recent horrendous flare of AS did improve nails a bit with Biologics but had to come off as gave me gut issues!! Have you looked at psoriasis arthritis the nails look just mine 😬
Maybe my AS is key, I keep getting attacks. I’ll brace myself for reading up about the delights of psoriasis arthritis and see if it chimes with my nasty old nails 😁
I'm a 69 yr hypothyroid male, who has suffered from vertical ridging on my fingernails and some toenails, for decades. This worsened into an actual splitting (which still looks like physical damage) to both thumbnails (only) beginning about 4-5 years ago, leaving a "shallow central gouge" effect, up the length of each nail surface. My other fingernails, and toenails, do not exhibit such damage/markings.
I am thankfully beginning to see an improvement/ closure of this persistent damage over the last year or so, as I now seem to have found a T3/T4 based level of tablets that works for me (as per private blood tests, circa every 6 months - doctors are useless, they still rely on TSH!).
That said, I still have low ferritin and folate. I like/use Badgers, applied daily, a fingernail treatment ex Amazon UK, which helps keep my nails in good condition/the nailbeds soft - thus assisting faster growth/stronger nails.
Sorry, I think whatever solution you apply to your nails...the key factor in seeing any permanent improvement is probably getting your dosage(s) of thyroid treatment(s), to the right level for you. I believe my self-medicating with T3, was the medical stimulus for my seeming recovery, from this problem.
Hi, Just checked on Amazon UK. Labelled as "Badger Mini Cuticle Care, For Strong Healthy Nail Growth, With Soothing Shea Butter, Rosemary Fragrance, 21g" costing £8.50 as a one time buy.
I can only suggest you give it a try...my fingernails have all grown strong again...About 1-2 years on, since first use, my nails grow really quickly and I can't easily cut my thumbnails now, either with nail scissors or a set of really good, sharp German clippers...instead I have to use a larger pair of sharp kitchen scissors!
Sorry, again I think it's closely linked into my getting my T3/T4 tablets dosage about right...my tests say that I'm 75-80% up the T4 chart and very slightly over-medicated on T3, but its that latter that I think makes the difference, for me! Previous experience over about 3-4 years shows that I am very tolerant of T3 and in fact I think I am best and most active/fitter in a slightly over-medicated state.
After 3 years of trying and lots of conversations, I have persuaded my doctors (generally they are excellent, although I moan about them ref the thyroid!!) and local endo, to give me some leeway. I'm probably labelled as a maverick, but they now supply T4, whilst I obtain T3, and they test me every 6 months or so.... Oh...another possible fallback is Burt's Cuticle Cream, £6.99 ex Amazon, but not used that so much.
Good luck with the nail cream, I hope it works for you, pls keep me posted? Ian
Thanks Ian. I’m sure you are right about T3. That’s a path I haven’t even started on yet as I’m trying to optimise my vits and mins and testing privately regularly to check conversion - which may be improving. Thé zinc deficiency mentioned by another poster may be worth pursuing as it’s common with ckd - and I’ve recently found I’m early stages for that. I’ll see if GP will test for that when I see one next week.
Hi Mary, the conversion issue was/is a problem for me too, hence I was taking larger and larger doses of T4 to no great effect....until my first GP started to panic, when I reported that 250mcg T4 daily was doing nothing for me. He actually asked me to leave the practice, because he said that couldn't help me...which was correct, his dispensing powers would not allow it!
It's since turned out that I actually require a much higher than average dose of thyroid medicines, to prosper...hence why I say I'm very tolerant, but as one of the moderators on Thyroid UK says, we're all different and he told me that he knows someone who takes/needs 5000mcg T4 daily, so a real outlier!
Anyway, T3 has worked for me and I won't go backwards. I've still not optimised all my vitamins et al, they continue to fluctuate, but the move to T3 has meant me turning a corner. When I got my dosing up to the right levels, I then found my life/energy levels were restored...
If you want to discuss T3 self-medication at some point, (and especially reliable suppliers...) let me know...I've been around that block and got the scars.....Paul Robinson's book was also very good reading/guidance, if/as you need a reference? Don't expect your GP to get involved, but you might get lucky and find one who is interested and flexible? Hope that things work out for you...its a path of progress via little victories eh?
Seeing some results via improved/stronger fingernails is a great first step, I'm still unsure of which actual component is actually making this cream work for me, but it is definitely working...
Taking increasing levels of T4 over 3+ years, achieved absolutely zero for me, nothing!
I evolved to taking NDT for about 2 years or so, after T4 failed, but supplies from Thailand and Mexico became unreliable. In hindsight, I'm unsure if this mix ever really worked, for me? You might be similar?
I only saw notable improvements in my nail growth/condition and with my energy levels/fitness, when I moved to sourcing/taking T3 only. I strongly believe now that my body desperately needs that specific chemical/treatment, to fully prosper?
CAVEAT - convincing my GP's of that fact, has not been/is not possible - we have agreed to disagree and unfortunately my local endo is a diabetes specialist, so no mediation! Apart from going completely private (at a cost!) ...to ensure I have ongoing medical support and to placate my wife, who worries about my self-medication approach, I am following a non-optimal T4/T3 path, for now, but we are discussing a house move, so self-medication might yet come back...
That’s very interesting. I have atrophic autoimmune thyroiditis which has trab antibody involvement and is more akin to graves than hashis but has thyroid atrophy as the end game. Dr Tania Smith has it and she also found t3 only the best thyroid hormone therapy for it. I’m on NDT and it has been a game changer from t4 monotherapy which was t4 monstertherapy in my case - I felt terrible.
I’ll post you the link in a mo to Dr T Smiths blog post about her journey to t3 only.
I wonder if you have this type of thyroid disorder too. It has no goitre and is quite rare…. supposedly, it probably is because when they actually knew a lot about thyroid disorder it was known to be less common. That knowledge has been lost by our present TSH worshiping white coat dummies. Levothyroxine monotherapy and TSH blood testing has LOT to answer for
Thank you for this info. I don't know much about my thryoid condition, certainly no-one has investigated it. If it's hereditary, as I've always assumed, then it comes from my mother's side...but I lack any knowledge of any family history nor, now can I find out.
The antibody type determine what excact disorder it is, that’s assuming its autoimmune in origin. Over 90% is autoimmune. Thee can be other causes like problems s with the pituitary rather than the thyroid itself. Dr Tania Smith has done very in-depth blog posts about this can be hard to fully understand but they are still helpful if you want to self ecducate yourself on your condition. If you had thyroid antibodies and a goitre it’s Hashimotos if antibodies and no goiter it’s atrophic. The current medical profession have no interest in antibodies 😳 they think k it can all be sorted by levothyroxine so think it’s acceptable to be openly ignorant about causes.
my maternal side is wracked with thyroid disorders and thyroid cancer.
I too am hypothyroid and suffered with lined, flakey, brittle nails. I take Natures Best Silica Advance. It has zinc to help nails and biotin to help hair and skin. It has definitely worked for me although I understand we are all different but it may be worth a try.
it looks like your nails grow into the skin at the edges. I have this on my big toe nails and it can get really painful. Mine have got better since supplementing B12 (injections), B complex, selenium, Vit D etc , thyroid levels and all vitamins being optimal.
yes mine are a complete mess and fingernails. It could be down to a ferritin deficiency. Treating that I’ve found is more hideous that suffering the grotty nails.
Reading up on it vit d deficiency & b12 deficiency seem to go hand in glove with low ferritin. I’d get all three tested and if they are low geting vitamin d avd b12 up can help the ferritin. Taking iron tablets for it made me feel terribly unwell after 3 months I had to give up on them I felt like I was being poisoned ferritin only rose from 11 to 21.
I felt so exhausted I could hardly lift my legs to walk, I got strange chest and heart pains and afib warnings in my Apple Watch, I felt hungry a lot like I was famished when I wasn’t and very cold. I thought it was my thyroid meds and increased but it did not help at all. That’s when the low ferritin was discovered
I put almond oil on my nails, after I cut them 🤮 I have to use pliers on the toe nails 😬 & some grow like horrible fat sausages, I dread it so the almond oil is a treat it’s got high levels of magnesium & it doesn’t do any harm. The reward for tackling a very nasty job!
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either with nail scissors or a set of really good, sharp German clippers...instead I have to use a larger pair of sharp kitchen scissors! 
Does this sound like my thyroid?
Can all my symptoms be thyroid related? 
Is this all thyroid linked?
Is this thyroid related?
Is this thyroid related?
