Ridges and more ridges

I have ridges appearing on my nails I have never had before.  I used to have only one nail that had a few of those veritcal puppies.  Now I have 6 or 7 nails with them.

What causes them?  Anything I can do to get rid of them?  I am healthy, so my doc says.

Vertical ridges are hereditary.  Think of them like wrinkles in your nails - the older you get, the more you will see them.  This doesnt mean you have to be old to get them, though - I have seen them in very young clients!  And I have seen old clients with none.  Is in your genes.  If they arent too deep, you can take a light buffer and smooth them out and use a ridge filling base coat.  If they are deep, you can still smooth them a bit, but dont try and buff them out all the way or else you will weaken your nails!

I didn't know that.  I had heard that they were a result of a calcium deficiency. 

Nope, there is so little calcium in your nails that it makes very little difference if you have a deficiency or not!

Do you know what it means if you have ridges going horizontally?  I've got the vertical ones, but also horizontal ones.  They are on all my nails, but very noticeable on the thumbs.  Looks like plaid. 

Horizontal ridges are generally caused by some type of damage.  1.  A severe illness can cause your nails to stop growing temporarily and usually shows up a few months later.  2.  Since you say they are mostly on your thumbs, I am suspecting a habit tic.  Do you pick at your cuticles?  Constant cuticle picking causes damage to the nail matrix which will show up as horizontal lines.  If you stop, you may - or may not - reverse the damage.  It depends on how much damage was caused.  3.  Obvious damage such as slamming your finger in a door.  Sometimes this type of trauma can cause permanent damage which will grow out as a ridge continuously. 4.  The last thing I can think of is overfiling the top of the nail or buffing it at a wrong angle.  The file will cut into the nail causing a ridge.

Hope this Helps

jessica

Thanks for the info.  No, I don't mess with the cuticle or buff or file them.  I paint them sometimes but not constantly and I don't think I damaged them.  I also don't have any illnesses that I'm aware of.  Its just many rows of ridges, as if I get one naturally every week or so (its a one every milimeter kind of wave pattern).  I guess they must just grow that way, but I'm relieved you didn't say it was a sign of illness!

If it was on all nails then maybe, but you said your doc says you are healthy, so it is probably permanent damage from a really long time ago.

I'm bumping this thread up because I figured out why I had the horizontal ridges. Once I started drinking more milk (2 glasses a day), not only did my nails grow longer and thicker, the horizontal ridges disappeared. What I mean my that is they are slowly growing their way to the ends of my fingernails and will eventually get cut off, no new ridges growing in. So, I guess I was low on calcium.