Doctor-approved finger prick test can detect serious health problems

Fold the indicated area so that your fingernails touch.

Pay attention to the space between your fingernails.

The space between your fingernails may be a diamond-shaped space. The absence of this space may be a sign of a finger hernia, which requires further medical evaluation.

“If there are no signs of a space under your nails, it means your area is sausage-shaped. “You should see your doctor to avoid the sausage-shaped area,” said oncology nurse Emma Norton in an article for The Huffington Post.

Schamroth’s sign, shown in this clinical picture, is a technique used to diagnose clubbing of the fingers, which can be transmitted from the fingertips: www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.190515

Published by CMAJ on Thursday, November 14, 2019.
Please note that the results do not constitute a definitive diagnosis, but merely a warning that suggests they may be used.