When it comes to lung cancer, many of us don’t correlate our fingers with our lungs. However, an expert has revealed a simple “finger trick” could uncover any respiratory tumors.

Emma Norton, oncology nurse advisor at Bupa UK, is calling on people to place the nails of their index fingers together, as if making the top of a heart.

Most see a diamond-shaped gap between the nails. If this is missing, it could be a sign of “finger clubbing”, she warns.

This strange symptom occurs in up to 35% of lung-cancer patients, according to Cancer Research UK.

This test is recognized and actually used by medical professionals and easy enough to perform yourself.

If you are not able to see any sort of gap between your fingernails, than your nails are ‘clubbed’. You should probably get it checked out, but it’s not always a bad thing. Clubbed fingers can be part of a families history.

What is finger clubbing?

“Clubbing” describes changes to the shape of the fingers and nails.

It usually starts with the nail bed becoming soft and the surrounding skin shiny.

The nail then looks more curved when viewed from the side.

Finger clubbing doesn’t necessarily effect all fingers either. It can effect just one.