Subtle signs that could be a serious health concern

Managing your health can be an anxiety-inducing affair, especially when healthcare costs are high and access to treatment can be obstructed. But that doesn’t make it any less important to regularly check in with your doctor to make sure you’re healthy. 

Additionally, you need to monitor your body for all kinds of changes as those fluctuations can give you vital information. For example, you can monitor your blood pressure for free at many pharmacies, or wear an activity tracker to look for patterns in your physical activity, heartbeat, and sleep. 

But the most powerful tool you have at your disposal is you and you ability to monitor changes in your body. Here are some subtle signs to look out for that could be a serious health concern.

Our knees are a complex work of art, allowing for an impressive range of motion and capacity for weight. But it’s important to be aware of any strange sounds or sensations in your knees as that can be an indication of real problems. 

“If you can hear or feel crunching in your knee when you go up stairs or get up from a squat, it is a bad sign, and means the cartilage under your knee cap is wearing out,” according to Dr. Barbara Bergin, an orthopedic surgeon. “This most often occurs in women and is the result of a condition called patellar malalignment. Women are predisposed to having this condition because of the way our lower extremities are naturally aligned in order to accommodate our child bearing pelvis.” 

You also many be prone to this if you do certain exercises. Bering continued, “If you do a lot of squats, box jumping, or stair climbing you might begin to notice this crunching. It might be painless at first, but then it will become painful and cause swelling. This will eventually lead to the development of arthritis in your knee.” So be mindful with those knees!

Your fingernails can tell you a lot more about your health than you likely thought possible. If they’re normal and healthy looking, that’s a good sign and you have nothing to worry about. But if you notice changes in the color, texture, or strength of your nails, you might want to investigate further what the cause might be. 

For example, have your nails flattened, accompanied by concave divots? This is called koilonychia, and can indicate an iron deficiency as well as other issues. Are your nails white with only a narrow band at the top? That could be Terry’s Nails, which can be indicative of serious underlying concerns like liver disease and other organ problems. Do you have indented lines across your nails? That might be Beau’s Lines, which are associated with a host of ailments from uncontrolled diabetes to vascular disease. So if you notice anything off about your nails, go to your primary care physician and have them examined.

Some symptoms are easy to observe in yourself, but there are others that aren’t so much, such as mental health. So it’s important to be on the lookout for symptoms, which can subtle, in friends or family members. 

“Some subtle signs of a beginning psychiatric illness may include a significant and consistent change in the content and tone of an individual’s conversation style,” according to Dr. Drew Pate, a psychiatrist. “They may begin to frequently speak about things that others have not heard them speak about in the past. For example, they may express concerns that they are being followed or harassed by others or that they are involved in some sort of conspiracy known only to them or a select group.” And while this may seem innocuous at times, it can develop into something quite series if ignored.

You also want to be on the lookout for even more subtle shifts. Pate continued, “The tone of their conversation may also change reflecting changes in mood. They may begin to speak much more pessimistically about their lives or their future, or alternatively they may speak in more grandiose or expansive ways about new plans or ideas they have.” So if anything seems the least bit off, it’s time to check in with a mental health professional.

Human beinsg rely on their eyesight for everything from driving to working and watching screens. And most of the time people don’t have to think to much about their eye health — it’s taken for granted that seeing won’t be a problem. However, eyes are not immune to aging, and are prone to wear and tear just like any other organ. While some symptoms are not of major concern, like thinning eyelashes, other symptoms are. 

Are you seeing spots, lines, or floaters? Did you lose peripheral vision? Are you having eye pain, or dryness with burning? Do you have unusual sensitivity to light or glare? If you have any of these, it could be a sign of something more serious.

Weight gain or loss that isn’t a result of intentional diet and exercise modifications can indicate some pretty serious health issues. “Unintentional excessive weight loss or weight gain are often signs of mental health issues,” according to Hershenson. “Food is sometimes used as an unhealthy coping skill in order to deal with issues of anxiety or depression.” So if your weight is fluctuating from changes in your eating, check in with your mental healthcare professional.

Weight gain or loss can also be a sign of digestive problems such as gastroparesis, or endocrine disorders such as diabetes and thyroid disorders. And because many of these diseases and conditions are serious, any unexplained weight changes merit a trip to the doctor.