What Are Yellow Nails?: Behavioral Causes, Yellow Nail Syndrome, Pathological Causes, Advice And Remedies

As is known, nails reflect a person’s state of health; strictly speaking, an alteration of their natural pink color could hide problems of various nature, both pathological and behavioral.

The causes that lead to the yellowing of the nail plate can be very trivial, consequently easily resolved; in other cases, however, they may depend on more serious disorders, such as metabolic pathologies or infections, which require adequate treatment.

Behavioral Causes

Similarly, even the use of cosmetic products for nails of questionable quality can favor the appearance of yellow nails: the use of poor quality nail polishes  can aggravate the condition of the nail plate, which thins,  flakes and dehydrates, also changing its color. Similarly, the solvents used to remove nail polish, if too aggressive, can cause yellow spots on the nail surface.

Remaining in the field of nail polishes, the yellowing of the latter can also be caused by the application of highly pigmented colored nail polishes without the prior application of the base (top coat) on the nail plate. This does not mean that the product used is necessarily poor, but that the enamel in question is capable of staining the nail due to its high pigmentation.

Furthermore, we must not forget that even an  unbalanced  diet associated with a lack of nutrients ,  vitamins  and  mineral salts can cause a progressive yellowing and weakening of the nails.

Finally, taking some types of medications can also cause yellowing of the nails.

Pathological Causes

Unfortunately, the causes of yellow nails are not always behavioral. In some cases, in fact, this phenomenon is triggered by underlying pathologies, very often not yet diagnosed and sometimes quite serious.

For this reason, when you notice chromatic alterations of the nail plate, it would be advisable to always contact your doctor, in order to exclude the presence of any diseases in progress.

The yellowing of the nail, in fact, could be a mirror of jaundice , in turn a sign of problems and disturbances in the  liver  or  gallbladder .

Likewise, the appearance of xantonymia can be a sign of possible chronic respiratory problems, such as  bronchitis  and  sinusitis .

However, the most common pathological cause of yellow nails is probably fungal infections, better known as  onychomycosis .

Even more serious diseases such as  HIV / AIDS have consequences in the coloring of the nails.

Finally, yellow nails could connote disorders affecting the  lymphatic system ,  diabetes or liver weakness.

In any case, when there are alterations in the skin appendages in general (nails,  hair ), it is advisable to undergo a specialist diagnosis, to identify systemic problems: nails, even more than  hair , can in fact help doctors in identifying of some pathologies.

Yellow Nail Syndrome

Yellow nail syndrome represents the typical case in which xanthonychia is caused by pathological causes.

Yellow nail syndrome, in fact, is a  rare disease  that is characterized by the yellowing of these skin appendages, which is accompanied by more serious symptoms given by  primary lymphedema and chronic respiratory disorders.

Sometimes, as part of this syndrome, the discolored nail may fade from yellow to greenish. In addition to the chromatic variations of the nail plate, patients suffering from this rare pathology have slowdown or even arrest of the growth of the nails which thicken, becoming opaque and devoid of cuticles. Furthermore, the curvature of the nail is more marked and can lead to  onycholysis (loss of the nail).

All these alterations can occur both in the fingernails and in the toenails . In some patients, the nail abnormalities generated by this syndrome tend to regress spontaneously. However, even in the event of recovery, the respiratory symptoms remain chronic, greatly affecting the patient’s life.

Advice And Remedies

Useful Tips And Remedies To Prevent And Counteract The Appearance Of Yellow Nails

It should be remembered that the advice listed below can only be considered if the cause that causes the yellowing of the nail is linked to an incorrect lifestyle.

• Stop smoking : the yellowing of the nail caused by smoking is configured as a reversible phenomenon; in fact, the nail will return to normal just a few days after giving up the habit.
• Keep nails short and clean to avoid infection.
• Use quality enamels and mildly aggressive solvents.
• Use hand moisturizers.

If the triggering factors are of a pathological nature, none of the above-mentioned advice will be able to restore their natural color to the nails; the problem, in fact, can only be solved by treating the root of the pathology.

For example, if the yellowing is due to a fungal infection , the doctor will prescribe  topical or systemic antifungal drugs to the patient. In the case of more serious pathologies, however, it is necessary to contact a specialist who will be able to indicate to the patient the therapeutic strategies that best suit his case.

However, in principle, once the underlying condition has been resolved, the yellow nail problem should go away with it.