My mom is on oxygen and her lung doctor always looks at her nailbeds. I assume it is to see if she is getting enough oxygen as they would be a blue or purple if not. (He also uses a machine to test her too.)
It sounds like this is a recurring experience with a pattern to it and perhaps prior medical advice. In that case there is not much we can do to help you.
Check out Raynaud’s Syndrome. It’s fairly common; if your hands get cold and the circulation is slowed down, whip your arms around like windmills and flap your hands fast.
@Facade – When you get cold the blood vessels in your extremities constrict to help preserve core body heat. As such you aren’t getting enough oxygenated blood to your fingers, so your finger nails look purple.
You could have a mild version of Reynaud’s Syndrome as my daughter does – you might consider taking extra steps to keep your hands from getting cold (gloves, pockets, sticking them in your armpits) and see if that makes a difference. As you get older it might get more extreme and result in actual pain in your hands. If so, talk to a doctor.
You really do need to make sure your doctor knows what is going on with your hands. It could be Raynaud’s Syndrome, but it could also be a sign that you have Lupus or scleroderma. You should check it out just in case.