Ridges In Fingernails: What Do They Mean + 4 Ways To Get Rid Of Those Lines

There's no denying that our bodies are super smart—they routinely give us signs, telling us what we might need (or what we should steer clear of).

For instance, if you have whiteheads dotting your jawline, your body might be begging you to limit dairy or foods with a high glycemic index. Experiencing oilier-than-usual roots? Stress may be to blame.

Take a good, closeup look at your nails—notice those fine lines? Nails normally have super-fine, vertical ridges that aren't too noticeable unless you inspect them at eye-level.

The short answer? It depends. While those vertical ridges are quite common and relatively easy to treat (you'll see), horizontal lines might warrant some concern.

If you experience deep, horizontal ripples in your nails, it can be a sign of an underlying health issue.

"Horizontal ridges may develop after a physical stress to the body such as an illness, surgery, medication, or even malnutrition," board-certified dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, M.D., states (a concept also known as Beau's lines, if you've heard the term tossed around).

Vertical ridges, on the other hand, can happen for a multitude of reasons, not all of them preventable.

First up: aging. Unfortunately, those ridges might just be a byproduct of the natural aging process, especially if they're super subtle and seem to stick around.

It makes sense—our nails are vulnerable to the same harmful players that cause our skin texture to appear dimpled (things like sun exposure, loss of collagen, and oxidative stress). 

Your tips can also experience your run-of-the-mill dryness; if you notice the edges of your nails start to split along with those vertical lines, your nails might simply be trying to tell you that they're parched.

As Amy Lin, the founder of sundays—a wellness nail care brand with New York studios—explains, "Skin dryness can cause ridges on your nails, as your body's way of trying to communicate with you."

Especially if you tend to use drying products on those tips or wash your hands a bunch (which may very well be all of us right now), you might start to see those grooves pop up.  

And because beauty always has an internal moment, those ridges could also signify nutrition imbalances.

If you've recently embarked on a new diet, check in with your nails—those divots could be important signs that the new eating plan might not be working for your body.

"Nails are made of mainly hardened proteins," Lin explains. (Namely, a protein called keratin).

"When we're low in protein, calcium, or other vitamins, that can sometimes show up on your fingernails with vertical lines."

Let's start with the inside out, shall we? "You can take supplements like biotin to help nourish your hair and nails," Lin states.* Biotin, that B vitamin involved in the production of keratin, can help support vitamin deficiencies and manage those brittle nail ridges. After all, biotin has been shown to support thickness and firmness of nails1 in several human studies.*

Supplementing with collagen can help manage the appearance as well, as collagen is also involved in the production of keratin:

According to one study, when patients took collagen daily for 24 weeks, their nail health was better maintained2, including faster growth rates, reduced breakage, and improved appearance.*

If you already see some divots across your nails and hate the lumpy appearance when using polish, don't fret: You can apply strengthening base coats to give your nails some love, as the ridges eventually grow out. Lin suggests lightly buffing your nails and using a ridge filler before polish (such as this repairing primer) for a smooth canvas. The base will quite literally fill in the lines, so your colored polish won't look bumpy on the surface.

Vertical nail ridges, annoying as they might be, are quite common as we age—and they're bound to happen to every one of us.

In fact, "If it is due to normal aging, then we probably should embrace it," Lin notes. The good thing is, there are plenty of ways to delay the onset and keep those grooves looking smooth.