If his feet are in shoes which are too tight in the toe box,
then the shoes press down on the nails ...

Try another style of shoe, or at least a wider one.

Boys tend to push forward on the toes, anyway.

If it were fungus, there would be an abnormal looking nailbed thru the nail. The nail would be discolored too.

Nice to see you again Kim.

Hi MrsD. Nice to see you too.

This is actually a problem that pre-dates shoes. Within his first year of life his toenails were curving sharply downward and it was very bad by the third year.

Even now, we homeschool, so he seldom wears shoes, if anything, usually his soft leather, native Canadian slippers. In the summer, he wears those open-toed slide-on-shoes when we go out. And he insists that summer runs, generally, from April to November.

They used to be much worse but are definitely improving. His big toenails (I took another look last night) are no longer curving downward at all. The two that are now the worst are the 2nd and 3rd toenails.

I just don't want to start going backward. He's come SO far!

Actually, I don't want to end my note in a negative way. He's come from being a fatigued boy who could barely walk a block, an immunological mess (almost always 'sick') and only grew 1/2 of what he was supposed to - to not 'needing' any medicine or doctors for almost 6 years now.

So, he's still (knock on wood) doing fabulously! Playing the guitar, got plenty of energy for Aikido, vaulted all through the summer, his buddies come over on Fridays and they spend ALL DAY running outside, sometimes he goes to their house on Wednesdays and their Mom tells me they run all day there too. So, life is really great.

I'm nitpicking now, I suppose. But so many things improved for him, including his toenails, that I never expected to improve... that I think if I keep looking, I can do even better for him. And lately, the two toenails have seemed a little worse and his hair seems a little more straw-like... so these kinds of threads really catch my eye.

Am I letting too much sugar and grain into his diet now? I have relaxed a lot about it and we do know that his system really just doesn't do well with a lot of grain/sugar. Is it due to cutting out biotin, thereby reducing ability to process protein???? (I went out and bought some more yesterday to get us through the grain/sugar filled holidays.) Not enough epsom baths to reduce toxin levels? We've really dropped the ball on those baths, which were/are really miraculous on those really challenging days? There are very few really challenging days now, so we don't do the baths very often any more. I've dropped the ball on gelatin too. Could that be it?

I think nails/hair really do reflect where a person is at. Finding the magic formula to counter whatever's going on is worth looking for, but a very challenging journey. Sure beats sitting in Emerg. at midnight, every other week though.

Clubbing....

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/e...cle/003282.htm

This is a picture of the fingernails...
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nails/WO00055&slide=4

But it can occur in the feet.

That article says, it can run in families too, so not to worry.
Since it is getting better, it just might go away.

Interesting photos.

Beau's lines are what my thumbs used to look like... but with several lines. Funny that the other nails were not so bad. It had begun to spread to my first fingernails though in my early/mid 30s.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nails/WO00055&slide=7

I have considered the spooning for my son... but he is not so fleshy and the nails curve downward at a much faster rate. I am fairly convinced it has to do with his body not getting access to something it needs.

Beware... some of these are enough to turn your stomach.

http://www.merckmedicus.com/ppdocs/u...h-029-s007.htm

Another link to zinc... which we find to be helpful... Beware of overdoing zinc though. It can cause as much trouble and it can help.


http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/527751_4




Lines of Beau

In 1846, Joseph Honoré Simon Beau described transverse lines in the substance of the nail as signs of previous acute illness.[2,3] The lines, also known as Beau-Reil cross furrows because Johann Christian Reil described them 50 years earlier, look as if a little furrow had been plowed across the nail. By noting its location on the nail, the approximate date of the illness can be determined. Moreover, the depth of the line provides a clue to the severity of the illness. Illnesses producing Beau's lines include severe infection, myocardial infarction, hypotension, shock, hypocalcemia, or surgery. Intermittent doses of immunosuppressive therapy or chemotherapy can also produce Beau's lines. Severe zinc deficiency has also been proposed as a cause of Beau's lines.[4]

Have his selenium level checked, it may be high. Many people are finding high levels even though they don't take supplements.
We need to be careful with grains because the whole state of South Dakota is putting out so much high selenium wheat and other grains that they supply much of the country now. There is no regulation on the growing of grains in high selenium soil and no regulation about selling it. No matter how dangerous the level. When you make gluten, you concentrate the levels of everything that is in the grain.
Nails and hair are usually the first indicators of Chronic selenium toxicity. A person would have to not eat to have a deficiency. It's in the meat because the animals are eating high selenium diets. So virtually everything has selenium in it and it accumulates in the body. The body just can't get rid of the excess fast enough.
Please let me know if you get a test. I am keeping track of how many people I can find with high levels. I have a theory that many people are toxic. I have already found many toxic livestock in several different states.

Thanks.

We are grain low and eat no gluten at all. Gluten is a BIG toxic thing for him.

We are quite meat high.

Can you post a link to an explanation of testing and where to get it? I have asked for mineral testing etc. and the docs. just look at me like I'm nuts. The exception was our pediatrician but she didn't know where to send us for it either. (She's retired now.)