Healthy Aging How Aging Affects Your Nails Natural Changes and Signs of Medical Conditions By Sharon Basaraba Updated on January 02, 2024 Medically reviewed by Jennifer Pollard Ruiz, MD Print Your nails can show signs of aging as you grow older. Like hair, nails change over time, due to disease, internal processes in the body as it ages, nutritional deficiencies, or external factors like long-term exposure to chemicals or ultraviolet light. Over time, these changes affect growth rate, texture, thickness, shape or contour, and color. This article goes over some of the changes you may observe in aging nails, what causes them, and when you should see a healthcare provider. Growth Rate Echo/Getty Images Nail growth slows slightly over time. The average growth rate is around 3mm per month, though anywhere between 1.8 mm and 4.5 mm is considered normal. Toenails grow about one-third to one-half as quickly as fingernails. As early as the age of 20, the growth rate slows by about 0.5% per year. Nail Texture With age, nails may become brittle and prone to breaking. Repeated wetting and drying, or exposure to harsh cleaning chemicals or cosmetics like cuticle and nail polish removers, can worsen the problem. More serious brittleness can cause ridges along the length of the nail and fragmenting of the nail tips. Conditions like anemia, hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), and hormonal problems can cause changes in texture, so consult your health provider if you notice significant texture differences in your nails. Nail Thickness Nails may become thicker or thinner with age. Conditions like psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis can also result in thicker nails. Fungal infections, which account for about half of all nail disorders and are common in older people, can cause nail thickening and discoloration. The scientific term for a nail fungal infection is "onychomycosis." Toenails are particularly vulnerable because shoes provide a warm, moist environment for fungus to grow. Factors that predispose someone to nail fungal infections include:Being maleDiseases like diabetes and immune deficiency conditionsSmoking Treatments for fungal nail infections include oral or topical (applied to the nail) antifungal preparations, which may need to be administered for months. Choosing the right medication will depend on other prescriptions you may be taking (to avoid drug interactions) and the severity of the infection. Nail Contour The curve of your nails may change as you age. A dramatic shape change with very rounded nails is clubbing, a sign of long-term oxygen deprivation. It can occur with a variety of diseases including kidney, liver, and endocrine disorders, and should be investigated by your healthcare provider. Pressure from too-tight shoes or foot deformities that push a nail inward can cause ingrown toenails. Though more common in younger people, ingrown nails in the elderly can cause substantial pain and walking problems. Simple treatment involves soaking the foot to ease the ingrown nail out using small pieces of cotton. Minor surgery to remove a narrow strip of the nail is usually more effective at preventing future ingrowth. What Is A Splinter Hemorrhage? Nail Color Over time, nails may turn yellow or become discolored, turning slightly gray, generally pale, or opaque. Fungal infections can also cause discoloration. One type of color change involves dark stripes or ridges along the length of the nail. The medical term for this is "longitudinal melanonychia." What Causes White Spots on Nails and How to Treat Them Darker-skinned people, such as Hispanics and African Americans, often develop longitudinal melanonychia as they age. The stripes are made up of the same pigment, or melanin, that accounts for the color of your hair. In some cases, dark ridges can signal a more serious condition. The stripe may constitute a melanoma, or malignant skin cancer, under the nail. This is more likely when it appears on only one digit—typically the big toe, thumb, or index finger. Bowen's disease, a form of skin cancer, may occasionally show up as a darker stripe on the nail. More typically, it appears on the skin of the hand. A dark stripe may also be caused by a splinter hemorrhage, or bruise beneath the nail, which in the elderly is usually due to minor trauma to the nail and resolves on its own. When to Contact Your Healthcare Provider While many of the nail changes that occur with age are minor, some can signal more serious health problems like heart and lung disease, anemia, liver and kidney problems, and diabetes. See your family healthcare provider or dermatologist if you have any concerns. Summary As you get older, your nails may change in appearance and texture. Some of these changes happen naturally as you age, while others may be a sign of a medical condition. See your healthcare provider if you notice significant changes in the texture, thickness, color, or shape of your nails. Your healthcare provider can help determine if the changes are caused by an underlying problem or are a normal sign of aging. 8 Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Baswan S, Kasting GB, Li SK, et al. Understanding the formidable nail barrier: A review of the nail microstructure, composition and diseases. Mycoses. 2017;60(5):284-295. doi:10.1111/myc.12592 Richert B. Nail Disorders in the Elderly. Baran and Dawber's Diseases of the Nails and their Management. 2018:337. Singal A, Arora R. Nail as a window of systemic diseases. Indian Dermatol Online J. 2015;6(2):67-74. doi:10.4103/2229-5178.153002 Aluja Jaramillo F, Quiasúa Mejía DC, Martínez Ordúz HM, González Ardila C. Nail unit ultrasound: a complete guide of the nail diseases. J Ultrasound. 2017;20(3):181-192. doi:10.1007/s40477-017-0253-6 Gupta AK, Versteeg SG, Shear NH. Onychomycosis in the 21st Century: An update on diagnosis, epidemiology, and treatment. J Cutan Med Surg. 2017;21(6):525-539. doi:10.1177/1203475417716362 Gopal V, Shenoy MM. Nail evaluation in internal diseases: An indispensable exercise. Arch Med Health Sci. 2017;5(2):269-74. doi:10.4103/amhs.amhs_124_17 Habeeb TA, Elaidy MM, Mawla WA. Altering toenail biomechanic in managing ingrown toenail. Randomized controlled study. Int J Surg Open. 2020;24:96-9. doi:10.1016/j.ijso.2020.03.008 Lee DK, Chang MJ, Desai AD, Lipner SR. Clinical and dermoscopic findings of benign longitudinal melanonychia due to melanocytic activation differ by skin type and predict likelihood of nail matrix biopsy. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2022;87(4):792-799. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2022.06.1165 Additional Reading American Academy of Dermatology. 12 nail changes a dermatologist should examine. National Library of Medicine. Aging changes in hair and nails. By Sharon Basaraba Sharon Basaraba is an award-winning reporter and senior scientific communications advisor for Alberta Health Services in Alberta, Canada. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Medical Expert Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Other Helpful Report an Error Submit