Why does the nail health ring turn purple

If the health circle on the nail suddenly turns purple, it is mostly caused by insufficient peripheral blood oxygen supply. The possible causes range from ordinary cold to abnormal cardiopulmonary function. You don’t have to think of a serious illness when you see it, but don’t take it completely seriously.

I have been doing skin health education for more than four years, and the first relevant case I came across was a ski enthusiast. The ski resort was at more than minus 20 degrees for three consecutive days. Except for taking off gloves when eating, his hands were frozen and stiff the rest of the time. When he came back, he found that all the crescents on his ten fingers had turned dark purple, and he was so frightened that he thought he had a heart disease. In fact, this is caused by typical physiological stimulation, just like the contraction of water pipes in cold weather and the flow of water slows down. The peripheral blood vessels shrink at low temperatures, and the amount of blood oxygen delivered to the fingertips cannot keep up, so the color will naturally turn dark and purple. He went back and held the hot water bottle for three days, and rubbed his hands to promote circulation when nothing happened. Within a week, the color was back to normal.

Of course, not all cases of purple discoloration are easy to solve. If you haven’t been exposed to cold recently or done strenuous exercise for a long time, and your crescent moon suddenly turns purple and you still feel chest tightness, and you can’t breathe even after walking up two floors, then you need to get more snacks. A little girl who just went to college came to me before and said that her crescent moon had been purple for almost half a month and she could not sleep all night because of worry. After asking around, I found out that in order to lose weight by wearing a small skirt, she only ate salad every day for more than two months, and her caloric intake did not even reach half of her basal metabolic rate. My hands and feet were as cold as ice cubes, and my blood oxygen saturation was 2 points lower than the normal value. I also had mild iron deficiency anemia. Later, I adjusted my diet and added two ounces of red meat and a cup of hot milk every day. Within three weeks, the color of the crescent moon slowly turned back to light pink.

Nowadays, there are actually different opinions in the academic circles. Many dermatologists believe that a single change in the color of the crescent moon is not an indication of disease at all. After all, everyone’s nail bed blood vessel distribution is inherently different. I once met an aunt whose crescent moon was a darker pink-purple color since she was a child. When she turned 62 this year, all physical examinations were normal, and there were no problems. This natural condition does not require special intervention at all.

It’s just that if your crescent moon was pale pink before, suddenly turns purple and is accompanied by other discomforts, such as chest pain, dizziness, inexplicable dents or black lines on your nails, don’t delay, go to the hospital for a blood oxygen test, cardiopulmonary function and blood routine.