What do ridges on the fingernails indicate?  What are ridges on
the fingernails supposed to indicate?  I have some vertical
ridges, running from bottom to top.  I have been told that this
is an indicator of something, but I can't remember.  Liked this
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Oldest to Newest Newest to Oldest  Vertical nail ridges, which
run from the cuticle to the tip of the nail, are fairly common.
They don't indicate serious illness and typically increase with
age.  White lines and horizontal ridges,  although in
exceedingly rare cases can be due to arsenic poisoning, are
almost certainly normal. The nails grow from the nail bed and in
most people the growth across the nail bed is a little up and
down, which results in a corrugated appearance. It's quite
normal and not a sign of any disease process.   Nail ridges are
fairly common in older people (I hope you're not offended if you
happen to be young!). There is actually a medical term,
"onychorrhexis," for this condition.