This is such a vast subject that it can easily fill a book all by itself. For those who are especially interested in diagnosis, complementary therapies, or other health matters, this is the most exciting and interesting aspect of hand reading. For the rest of us, it is a fascinating part of the subject as a whole. There are a few books that specialize in this aspect of palmistry, so if it particularly interests you, look on Amazon for them. My own advanced book, Modern Palmistry, has a large section on health. This was mainly because my coauthor, a spiritual healer, was very interested in health matters.
Older readers may actually have visited doctors who checked the finger nails for anemia by pressing down on a nail, then seeing how long it took the blood to return. Doctors also used the nails and hands to check for psoriasis, kidney failure, tuberculosis, and many other things, but many modern doctors no longer use this kind of diagnosis. You're a lucky patient if your doctor checks your fingernails as part of your yearly checkup! Whenever I point out how much information is available on hands, medical people are amazed and fascinated.
Soft hands belong to those who want an easy life but they can also be an indication of sickness or thyroid problems, especially if the skin feels like cellophane stretched over a gel filling. Softness also occurs during pregnancy and in the hands of vegetarians so it seems to signify a low level of iron in the blood.
If a hand changes color, it can indicate a health problem. Here are a few common ones.
Tiny pits along the life line indicate backache, slipped discs, and other spinal problems. If the problem is in the neck area, these will appear on the upper part of the line. If the lumbar region is painful, the pits show up much further down the line, beside or around the mount of Venus.
Chains on the head line indicate headaches or migraines. Islands on this or the heart line can relate to problems with the eyes, ears or head. A break can indicate a head injury. A truly strange head line with huge islands is a sign of mental illness. A strange formation on the percussion that looks like a pair of tongs grabbing the end of the head line relates to insomnia.
Flakiness at the start of the heart line under the Mercury mount is a sign of heart trouble. Any disturbance or island under Saturn/Jupiter where the line starts to bend upward is an indication of breast problems. Feathering along the line can mean a shortage of potassium, which leads to depression.
Dots, pits, blue marks, grilles, discoloration, redness or anything else that is strange on any line can mean inflammation in some area of the body.
Disturbances low down on the mount of Neptune indicate problems for women. If there is a triangle formation there which suddenly fills up with tine broken bits of line or which becomes red, pregnancy may be the reason!
A single wart represents a temporary problem. If this is on the palm, the person is his own worst enemy, but if it is on the back of the hand, someone else is causing the problem. Once again, relate this to the part of the hand or to the finger in question.
Fingernails take around six to eight months to grow out from root to tip, so they show health or current or recent health and emotional problems. Lateral dents show a period of illness or an upset when the nail was forming.
Longitudinal ridges suggest problems with bones and ligaments; the corresponding finger will show you the part of the body that is affected.
Old palmistry books talk of “Hippocratic nails” or “watch glass nails.” If you imagine an old pocket watch—the kind that used to hang on a chain—the glass on the front was usually a convex or lens shape. Nails of this shape revealed that the person was suffering from tuberculosis.
I never expected to see this type of nail in modern times, but some years ago I was giving sample readings while promoting my books in a book store. A young woman sat down and gave me her hands. I always start by looking at the back of the hand, so the first thing I saw was a full set of watch-glass nails. This was a real first for me, and I commented that old palmistry texts would have said that she had TB. She told me that the old books were right because she had recently been in the hospital for TB, which she had caught while traveling in India but was no longer infectious and she was well on the way to recovery.
I have also seen this nail type in cases of lung cancer. Sometimes bunches of tiny, shiny warts appear on some area of the hands—especially on the sides of the hands—and this can be a warning of cancer or other tumors. Changes in the color or temperature of the hands can alert one to potential heart problems.
