Nail health knowledge

As long as there are no sudden depressions, dark spots or thickening on the nail surface, the nail bed can return to ruddy color within 1-2 seconds after being pressed, and there is no repeated redness, swelling or exudation around the nail surface, it is basically in a healthy state and there is no need to worry about the fragmented standards on the Internet.

Let’s talk about the most controversial issue of crescents first. There are currently two mainstream clinical views: Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the number and luster of crescents can reflect the state of Qi and blood circulation. For example, half of the crescents suddenly disappear in a short period of time, which is often accompanied by fatigue and cold sensitivity. However, the general consensus of Western dermatology is that the essence of crescents is incompletely keratinized nail matrix. Some people are born with nail matrix far behind and cannot be seen. Some people have a fast metabolism and often work with their hands, so the crescents will be more obvious. There is no absolute correspondence with health. A while ago, I met a little girl who gets manicures all the year round. Only two of her ten fingers can see the crescents on her thumbs. Her physical examination indicators are all normal. To put it bluntly, when she does manicures, the exposed crescents are worn away by polishing the nail surface. It is not a physical problem at all.

After talking about the crescent moon, let’s talk about the vertical nail lines that everyone is also afraid of. There is really no need to panic. In the five years I have been practicing dermatology, I have met more than a hundred patients who have come to see the doctor because of vertical lines. 95% of them are physiological. To put it bluntly, they are "wrinkles" on the nails. Just like the fine lines on your face and the old spots on your hands, they naturally occur as you age. For people who like to have manicures on their nails and often come in contact with detergents and disinfectants, the vertical lines may be more obvious. Only those vertical lines that grow suddenly, are more than 3 mm wide, are dark in color, and have blurred borders, you need to be alert to whether they are onychomycosis. Just go to the dermatology department for a dermoscopy in time. The probability is lower than winning the lottery.

Oh, by the way, many people ask if the white spots on the nails are calcium deficiency. Don’t buy calcium tablets blindly. Most of them are caused by you accidentally hitting the nail matrix before, such as opening the door and hitting the nails, picking hard objects with the nails and hurting the roots. When the white spots slowly move to the fingertips as the nails grow, cut them off and they will be gone. It has nothing to do with calcium deficiency.

Compared with these small natural or physiological differences, what really needs your attention are the sudden abnormal changes. For example, I once had a psoriasis patient whose first symptom was not red spots on his skin, but dense pits on his nails, denser than thimbles used to sew clothes at home. At the time, he thought it was a manicure that had damaged the nail surface, so he delayed seeing a doctor for half a year, missing the best opportunity for early intervention. There are also those kind of spoon-shaped nails that are concave in the middle and have upward curling edges, which look like a small spoon. Most of them are a sign of iron deficiency anemia, but it is not absolute. I have met two aunts who do housework. They often use strong alkaline dish soap and toilet cleaning liquid. There are also nails that suddenly become thick and yellow, with empty shells under the nail. It is most likely to be onychomycosis, which is what everyone calls onychomycosis. Don’t buy Internet celebrity potions and apply them on your own. If they are not symptomatic, they will burn the surrounding normal skin. Go to the hospital for a fungal microscopy. The diagnosis can be confirmed for a few tens of dollars. Most of them can be cured by taking medicine according to the course of treatment.

Let’s talk about whether manicure will hurt the nails that everyone is most concerned about. This is also a fierce dispute between the two sides: one group says that manicure has no effect at all, and the other group says that it will hurt every time you do it. To be honest, as long as it's a regular nail salon, it's not that scary if the procedures are in place. I occasionally do color-changing styles myself. The premise is not to violently polish the nail surface. Apply a layer of primer before removing the nail. When removing the nail, apply it for 15 minutes and then push gently. Do not scratch hard. What you are most afraid of is that the nail surface will be sore as soon as it is applied, and the epithelium of the nail will be pushed upwards when applying the nail patch. After two or three times of application, the nail surface will be as thin as a piece of paper, and it will split when it touches something hard, and it is easy to get paronychia. I received a patient last month. The epithelium of the nail was pushed through and infected when the nail extensions were applied. The entire finger was swollen like a small carrot. Finally, it was incised and drained. The pain made her cry for a long time, and she said she would never do manicures again.

There really aren’t that many fancy home remedies for daily nail care. My own habit is to apply hand cream after washing my hands, and then apply a circle around the nail. Don’t be bothered. Most barbs grow when the skin around the nail is too dry. Don’t tear them off with your hands. Just use a nail clipper to cut them all the way to the root. If you can’t tear them off properly, you will have paronychia, which is too painful. Also, don’t use your nails as tools. In the past, I used my nails to open cans and pick out express tape, so I split half of my nails. It hurt for almost a week. Now I always look for scissors no matter how urgent I am.

To be honest, nails are just a piece of "accessory skin" on your body. You don't need to over-interpret them as some kind of accurate health barometer. If there is any abnormality, it is much better to go to the doctor directly than to search for a long time and scare yourself. Pay more attention to small details, and armor essence worth hundreds of dollars will be more effective.