From nails to finger length: What your hands reveal about your health

Your hands reveal a lot about the state of your health. Sweaty palms can be a sign of thyroid problems, while the length of your fingers can give you some indication of your risk of developing certain diseases in later life Your hands reveal a lot about the state of your health. Terry’s nails, where one or more fingernails have a ground-glass appearance, can also be a sign of cirrhosis of the liver, but they are also associated with type 2 diabetes, kidney failure and HIV. And sounding a bit more medical and a bit less like a high street nail bar is Muehrcke’s nails, which is where one or more horizontal lines run across the fingernails. Osler’s nodes are typically painful red one mm-10mm coloured nodules on the fingers appearing for hours to days, whereas Janeway lesions are irregular shaped with varying sizes and typically seen on the palms and are not painful, lasting few days up to a few weeks.