← Chapter 8
Health Assessment · Chapter 8

Hair & Nail Reader

Hair and nails are slow-motion recorders of systemic health. Open the nail base angle until the Schamroth window closes, date a Beau line at 3 mm of fingernail growth per month, read a set of hair and nail findings for what they actually mean, and then separate an arterial limb from a venous one — because compression helps one and can destroy the other.
160° proximal nail fold SCHAMROTH WINDOW TEST window present
Have the patient place the dorsal surfaces of two matching fingernails together. Normally a small diamond-shaped window of light appears between them. Drag the slider and watch it close.