You notice a small flap of dry skin lifting beside your fingernail, and you pick at it because it is right there. Peeling at the nail fold is the stage before splitting, and splitting is the stage before bleeding. This guide covers what is happening to the skin at the base of your nails, which causes are worth acting on, the warning signs that need a clinician, and what daily care can and cannot do.
Maybe you noticed one nail thickened a few months ago and put it down to age. Or the changes accumulated slowly until you started to wonder what they meant. For people with diabetes, toenail changes — brittleness, thickening, discoloration, skin cracking around the edges — are signals worth acting on early. This guide explains every cause, what the warning signs of escalation look like, and what daily nail care actually needs to do to protect the skin around the nail.
