Everyday symptoms

If Your Nails Look Like This After 60, Your Body May Be Warning You

Nurse Ade, BSN, RN · October 25, 2026 · 20 min

Educational only, not medical advice. Talk to your own doctor, nurse practitioner or pharmacist. In an emergency, call 911.

What this video covers

Hold out your hands. Nail changes after 60 can be harmless, or an early clue about your heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, thyroid or iron. In this video, Nurse Ade walks through six nail changes a nurse checks first and gives each one a simple traffic light, green, yellow or red, so you know what to do next.

You will learn about thick yellow toenails and the test to ask for first, blue nails and the 2-second press test, white spots, Terry’s nails and half-and-half nails, and brittle nails, including the biotin warning that can affect a heart blood test. Nurse Ade shows the diamond window test for clubbing you can try right now, explains spoon-shaped nails and low iron (and why not to start iron pills on your own), and covers a dark streak on a nail that should never be ignored. She ends with splinter lines, Beau’s lines, pulse oximeters and nail polish, and a simple monthly nail check.

Key points

• Yellow, thick toenails: fungus or something more, and the test to ask for first
• Blue nails: cold fingers vs. low oxygen, and the 2-second press test
• White spots, Terry's nails and half-and-half nails (liver, heart and kidney clues)
• Brittle nails, and the biotin warning that can hide a heart attack on a blood test
• Clubbing and the diamond window test you can do right now
• Spoon nails and low iron (and why not to start iron pills on your own)
• A dark streak on a nail you should never ignore (nail melanoma)
• Splinter lines, Beau's lines, pulse oximeters and nail polish, and the monthly nail check

Chapters

1. 0:00 Hold Out Your Hands: What Your Nails Can Show
2. 1:05 6 Nail Changes and the Traffic Light System
3. 1:53 Yellow Nails: Fungus, Polish Stains and Yellow Nail Syndrome
4. 4:48 Blue Nails: Low Oxygen, Cold Hands or Raynaud's
5. 7:01 White Spots, Terry's Nails and Half-and-Half Nails
6. 8:53 Brittle Nails and the Biotin Heart Test Warning
7. 11:21 Clubbing and the Diamond Window Test
8. 13:28 Spoon-Shaped Nails and Low Iron
9. 15:01 Bonus 1: A Dark Streak on the Nail (Melanoma)
10. 16:29 Bonus 2: Splinter Lines Under the Nail
11. 17:13 Bonus 3: Beau's Lines Across the Nail
12. 17:51 Pulse Oximeters, Nail Polish and Diabetes Foot Care
13. 18:53 Your First-of-the-Month Nail Check and Recap