Beau lines (onychorrhexis) are transverse furrows or undulations on the nails. In addition to spots or grooves, they are one of the characteristic types of changes that appear on the nails. What can such deformations indicate? Do they require an appointment with a specialist?
Nails, like hair, sebaceous glands, or sweat glands, are products of the epidermis, which is why they are sometimes also called skin appendages. Contrary to appearances, they do not only have a decorative function. The appearance of the nail plate can provide a lot of valuable diagnostic information about our he alth.
Nail structure
The structure of the nail is much more complex than it may seem at first glance. The largest visible part of the nail is the nail plate. It is located on the epidermal part, called the placenta, which tightly connects these two fragments.
The natural nail plate may have a slightly different color (from pale beige to dark pink) depending on the number of blood vessels located directly under the placenta. The plaque is made of dozens of thin layers, composed of keratin, a protein produced by keratinocytes and responsible for the keratinization of parts of the epidermis.
The most important, although invisible, part of the nail is the so-called the matrix, located in the area of the plate bed under the cutaneous nail fold. The matrix is the living tissue that is responsible for the growth of nails.
The cells that divide in the matrix gradually mature and become keratinized, and as they build up they move along the placenta towards the fingertips. Therefore, any mechanical damage to the nail matrix, e.g. by crushing or impact, may permanently inhibit the process of new plate growth.
Our fingernails grow on average at a speed of about 3 mm per month, while our toenails grow up to a half slower. However, the growth rate of nails is an individual feature and may depend not only on purely genetic conditions, but also on lifestyle or diet.
Disturbing changes on nails
A he althy nail plate should have a uniform color and surfacedevoid of folds and unevenness. Sometimes, however, due to many different factors, the plaque may be degraded or discolored. The most common changes include :
- dents in the center of the plate,
- excessive thickening of the plate,
- curl of the free edges of the nail,
- yellowing or graying of the plate,
- white spots on the plate,
- longitudinal grooves,
- transverse furrows.
Each of the aforementioned pathologies of the appearance of nails may have a completely different background, ranging from minor deficiencies of minerals and typical mechanical injuries, to serious metabolic diseases.
Therefore, always in the event that the suspicious condition of the nails or toenails persists for a long time, it is worth consulting a dermatologist who will recommend more detailed tests.
Nail changes
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Beau lines, or transverse furrows on the nail
One of the most common changes in the appearance of the nail plate are deep, transverse grooves running through the entire surface of the nail. These furrows are called Beau Lines, after the French physician Joseph Beau who first diagnosed this nail condition in 1846. Another professional name for this condition is onychorrhexis.
Beau's lines can appear in any human being, regardless of gender, race or age. These types of deformities arise mainly due to disturbances in the processes of new nail growth and keratin synthesis in the matrix tissue.
Serious illnesses, often accompanied by fever and systemic inflammation, can affect cell division in many tissues, including the nail matrix. The resulting changes, in the form of furrows, will be visible with a delay, only after a few weeks, when the new nail grows sufficiently.
It is estimated that the degree of plate deformation is proportional to the factor that caused it. This means that the more numerous and deeper the visible grooves are, the stronger disease conditions could (or still influence) their formation.
Beau's lines - symptoms and classification
What do the classic Beau lines on the nail look like? Here are some distinctive features:
- lines in the form of grooves or dents appear singly, but they can also cover the entire surface of the plate,
- joining furrows can create an image of "wavy" nails,
- grooves are 0.1 to even 1 mm deep,
- the color of the plate usually remains unchanged, only in rare cases it turns yellow,
- the furrows are most often located on the nails of the first, second and third fingers, but they can also appear on the toes.
In the classification of onychorrhexis, specialists take into account the number and depth of the present lesions of the nail plate. A single furrow usually indicates a recent disease, while numerous deformities may indicate a long-term, chronic disease.
Delicate, superficial lines will be a symptom of minor metabolic disturbances, while deep furrows - severe disturbances in the organism's homeostasis. By paying attention to the distance of the Beau lines from each other, you can also estimate the frequency of relapses of the disease causing them and their approximate duration.
What diseases may initiate the Beau lineage?
Treatment of deformed nail furrows is mainly based on an attempt to determine the cause of the changes and in-depth systemic diagnostics. Serious he alth conditions that may be symptomatic of Beau's lines on her nails include :
- diabetes,
- circulatory disorders,
- infections with high fever: pneumonia, measles,
- syphilis,
- piggy,
- Kawasaki disease,
- hypotension,
- coronary thrombosis,
- some autoimmune diseases (e.g. pemphigus),
- skin disorders (eczema, alopecia areata),
- very strong stress.
During diagnostics, the dermatologist first tries to eliminate fungal diseases and typically physical factors that could have contributed to the damage to the nail matrix tissue, e.g.
- finger injuries,
- regular manicure,
- using strong detergents during housework,
- being in severe frost,
- some mental illnesses in which the patient damages his nails and pulls his hair out.
Isotne is also collecting a history of regularly taken medications or past therapies. It is known that chemotherapy and the strong cytotoxic drugs used in it are also one of the reasons for the formation of furrows and deformation of the nail plate.
As you can see, the presence of the Beau line may only be "the tip of the iceberg" and indicate a number of serious systemic ailments. The unsightly grooves on the plate do not have a specific treatment and will disappear with the natural growth of the nail if the metabolic cause is eliminated.
However, this type of changes should not be underestimated, because thanks to them it may be possible to early detect a disease whoseneglect will lead to serious, multi-organ complications.