[Nail diseases in routine practice]

Nail problems are common reasons for patients presenting to dermatological and general practitioners practices.

Which nail diseases should be known and recognized in routine daily practice?

This article presents the most common nail alterations experienced by the authors from clinics and routine practices with guidelines on the diagnostics, therapy and additional literature.

Nail alterations can be designated as inflammatory nail dermatoses or neoplasms. Depending on the local nail findings, clinical investigations, patient history, histology if necessary and additional procedures, concrete indications can be derived for the correct diagnosis and therapy.

Knowledge of the most commonly occurring nail diseases allows a targeted classification and additional diagnostics which can help to alleviate pain, improve aesthetics and adequately treat malignant alterations.