Imagine if you didn’t have access to the internet. What if you didn’t even have any medical or nutrition books to help guide you? And what if there wasn’t a doctor of any kind, for miles around? To compound these issues further, what if this hypothetical situation you’re in lasted for several years?

This is a major dilemma for Preppers, because we would no doubt face medical emergencies from time to time, especially from those conditions that are chronic in nature. It could be from a lack of nutrition, radiation, or chemicals slowly leaching into our environment from our eroding infrastructure. In any long term survival scenario, Preppers need a basic understanding of how to spot chronic conditions. There is often nothing more telling, than observing our fingernails.

Listed below are a number of fingernail ailments that could be signs of a more serious condition. Or it could nothing at all. Having something weird on your fingers isn’t a guarantee that there’s a problem. Treat it like a “lead” in the investigation of your body. After that If you still think there’s a problem, seek medical advice from a professional, at least while you still can.

Color

The color of you’re nail is one of the most recognizable indicators of your wider health. If you have slow growing yellow nails (not the kind of yellowing you get from holding a cigarette) it could be signs of a respiratory illness, jaundice, or perhaps from a heat related injury. Other possibilities include fungal infection, thyroid disease, diabetes, psoriasis, amyloidosis, or even injury to the medial nerve that runs throughout the arm (most commonly caused by carpal tunnel). Continue reading →