For instance, if you have whiteheads dotting your jawline, your body might be begging you to limit dairy or foods with a high glycemic index. Experiencing oilier-than-usual roots? Stress may be to blame. So when we experience ridges in our fingernails, what’s our body trying to tell us? Here, we crack the code, plus how to get rid of those grooves. But when those grooves become coarse, they can change the surface of your nails from smooth to brittle in a snap. If you experience deep, horizontal ripples in your nails, it can be a sign of an underlying health issue. “Horizontal ridges may develop after a physical stress to the body such as an illness, surgery, medication, or even malnutrition,” board-certified dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, M.D., states (a concept also known as Beau’s lines, if you’ve heard the term tossed around). If you do notice some horizontal lines across your nails, it’s best to touch base with your derm straight away to make sure there’s no systemic condition that might be halting your normal nail growth. First up: aging. Unfortunately, those ridges might just be a byproduct of the natural aging process, especially if they’re super subtle and seem to stick around. It makes sense—our nails are vulnerable to the same harmful players that cause our skin texture to appear dimpled (things like sun exposure, loss of collagen, and oxidative stress). Your tips can also experience your run-of-the-mill dryness; if you notice the edges of your nails start to split along with those vertical lines, your nails might simply be trying to tell you that they’re parched. As Amy Lin, the founder of sundays—a wellness nail care brand with New York studios—explains, “Skin dryness can cause ridges on your nails, as your body’s way of trying to communicate with you.” Especially if you tend to use drying products on those tips or wash your hands a bunch (which may very well be all of us right now), you might start to see those grooves pop up. And because beauty always has an internal moment, those ridges could also signify nutrition imbalances. If you’ve recently embarked on a new diet, check in with your nails—those divots could be important signs that the new eating plan might not be working for your body. “Nails are made of mainly hardened proteins,” Lin explains. (Namely, a protein called keratin). “When we’re low in protein, calcium, or other vitamins, that can sometimes show up on your fingernails with vertical lines.” And on a similar beat, stress can also come into play: Just as how stress can lead to temporary hair shedding, your nails can become ridged and brittle as well, according to Lin. According to one study, when patients took collagen daily for 24 weeks, their nail health was better maintained2, including faster growth rates, reduced breakage, and improved appearance.* For more supplement suggestions, check out our vitamins for nails roundup. If you really want to amp up your nail care, look for a polish that contains glycolic acid. “These can help strengthen nail canals3 and minimize the appearance of ridges,” says Zeichner. (Our nails need exfoliation, too!) Or just rub the gentle exfoliant on your nails with whatever you’ve got—be it a serum, peel, or pad. In fact, “If it is due to normal aging, then we probably should embrace it,” Lin notes. The good thing is, there are plenty of ways to delay the onset and keep those grooves looking smooth. That regular upkeep isn’t superficial or vain—it’s necessary for optimizing our health. After all, our nails can tell us so much about what’s going on beneath the surface.
