10 instant health checks

http://i.ivillage.co.uk/uk_en/a_ukpix/100x100/naked_lady.jpg" alt="a woman" align="right">How healthy are you? Give yourself a quick MOT with these simple tests

1. Check inside lower eye lids

If the inside of your lower eye lid looks unusually pale, you could be anaemic, especially if you have heavy periods or your diet is low in iron. Other places to check for paleness are your gums and your finger nail beds.

2. Check inside your mouth for discoloration and ulcers

Mouth cancer now accounts for five per cent of all tumours. All smokers and those over the age of 40 should look for persistent white patches, red velvety lesions or ulcers that last longer than a couple of weeks.

Lesions on the roof of the mouth or on top of the tongue are often spotted quickly, but those on the floor of the mouth, under the tongue or in the crevices at the back of the throat are difficult to detect in the early stages. Use a dental mirror to view the floor of your mouth, the sides and underneath of your tongue, and the gutters around your gums.

3. Check nails

Your nails provide lots of instant health checks, which is one reason why doctors often start a physical examination here. The following table shows some possible nail signs:

Sign
Possible causes

Loss of usual pink nail colour
Low level of haemoglobin in the blood (anaemia) due to excessive bleeding, lack of iron, vitamin B12 or folic acid

Deep ridges across the nails due to a temporary lack of nail growth (Beau's lines)
Physical stress, such as periods of illness or lack of zinc

Small, shallow pits in the nail plate
A few may be due to trauma. Lots can be a sign of psoriasis, alopecia areata or atopic eczema

Separation of the end of the nail from the nail bed
Can occur with psoriasis, an over-active thyroid gland or nail trauma

Thin, spoon-shaped nails
Usually due to lack of iron, but is sometimes hereditary

White marks on the nails which can form spots, streaks or affect the whole nail
Usually due to trauma, but can be linked with low levels of albumin so fluid leaks from the circulation, compressing blood flow under the nails. White nails that also feel rough suggests a fungal nail infection

Purple-black discoloration of nail bed
Trauma, such as hitting your hand rather than a nail, with a hammer

Yellow-discolouration of nails, sometimes with thickening and slow-growing nails
Nicotine staining, using nail polish without a base coat, fungal infection. Sometimes it can be linked with poor lymph drainage

Swelling of the fingertips beneath the nail beds
Illnesses affecting the heart or lungs

Long, thin, splinter-like brown streaks due to bleeding from tiny blood vessels under the nails
Although this is often occupational, it is sometimes due to tiny blood clots coming from an infection of the heart (bacterial endocarditis

Gross thickening of the nails, to resemble claws
Can occur in later life, especially in the big toe nail. May also be linked with trauma, psoriasis or fungal infection