Nail Loss

A while back, I was speaking to a gentleman on an airplane. He was in his seventies, and had just hiked the Grand Canyon, rim to rim. He made a statement about being sure he was going to lose his big toe-nails, and probably a few others. I’d never heard such a thing, so I asked my wife, who is also a big hiker. She said that it’s not uncommon for people to “kill” their nails on long, steep hikes. The constant beating of your toes against a graded slope, I guess, effects circulation, similar to if you hit your nail with a hammer, or slam it in a drawer. The circulation is disrupted, and the nails come off, to be replaced by “new” ones in a month or so.

So, I guess my point is that nail loss, especially after a period of increased hiking/walking, wouldn’t be that big of a surprise even for “healthy” people; CIDP and other similar conditions probably just exacerbate the condition.

All these issues are probably “hormone” related, and we all know that auto-immune diseases wreak havoc on hormone balances/levels.

Elmo