healthy nail color

The standard color of healthy nails is a uniform light pink, with a clear-cut milky white crescent (nail half-moon) at the root of the nail. When the tip of the nail is pressed, it will turn white briefly, and it will return to its original light pink state in 1 to 2 seconds after releasing it. This is the standard for nail health color generally recognized in the field of dermatology.

I just told this to Xiao Zhou, who came to the store to remove her manicure last week. She saw a health video the day before, saying that white nails meant lack of energy and blood. She was so frightened that she drank red date and white fungus soup for three days. After removing her nails, she saw that her nails were indeed whiter than those of her colleagues, and she hurriedly came to ask me if there was something wrong. I did a pressing test on her, and the pink color returned instantly after I released it. I checked her pre-manicure records that I had saved before. She had her first manicure done three years ago, and her nail bed was a light pinkish-white color. She was born with it, and there was no problem.

In fact, there is really no need to use the "standard color card" on the Internet to cover your own hands. The color of nails varies greatly from person to person, just like some people are born with cold white skin and others with yellow and black skin. Some people have thicker cuticles on their nail beds, and the color is a matte light pink. Some people have thin nail skin, and even the capillaries underneath can be seen, with a bright pink tone. As long as it stays in this stable state all year round and does not suddenly change, it is considered healthy.

Speaking of which, I have to mention the crescent moon issue that everyone has been arguing about for many years. Schools of traditional Chinese medicine generally believe that the number and size of crescents are strongly related to the state of qi and blood. The ideal state is to have 6 to 8 crescents on the hands, accounting for about 1/5 of the nails. If the original crescents suddenly become fewer and blurry, it is most likely due to a recent disorder in work and rest and reduced immunity, and you need to pay attention to adjustments. ； However, the mainstream view of modern Western medicine is that the nature of the crescent moon is determined by the growth position of the nail matrix. In some people, the nail matrix is ​​long and hidden under the nail epithelium, so the crescent moon is not visible naturally. As long as there are no other discomforts in the body, it is not abnormal at all. There is no absolute right or wrong between these two statements. In fact, there is no need to get entangled. As long as your crescent state is stable all year round and does not change suddenly in a short period of time, there is no need to panic.

Oh, by the way, the most frequently asked question is about yellowing of nails. Don’t assume it’s onychomycosis as soon as you see yellow nails. First, recall your recent living habits: Do you wear dark manicure all year round without base coat? Are your fingers that have been smoking for a long time getting smoked all year round? I used to have a regular customer who owned a fresh-cut fruit shop. The edges of his nails were yellow for more than half a year. At first, I thought it was a fungal infection. I went to the hospital and had two fungal microscopy tests, but nothing was found. Later I realized that he was picking mangoes, touching pumpkins, and peeling carrots every day. Foods high in carotene caused excessive pigmentation. After I stopped touching such fruits and vegetables for half a month, the yellow marks disappeared on their own. Of course, if the yellowing is accompanied by thickening, brittleness, and layering of the nail surface, and slag will fall off when you pick it, then it is most likely onychomycosis. Don’t apply medicine blindly on your own. Go to the dermatology department and prescribe regular antifungal products as soon as possible.

There are also those nails that suddenly turn pale. If they don’t return to pink after a long time of pressing, and they still feel dizzy or have black eyes when they stand up after squatting for a long time, then they really need to be alert to anemia. It’s best to check the blood routine. But if your color is just a little lighter than the people around you, and you don’t miss anything when you climb stairs and dance at discos, then you are really born with it, and there is no need to make up for it. By the way, there are also small white spots on the nails. The older generation always said that this is because of roundworms in the stomach. Nowadays, clinically, most people think that either the nails were accidentally squeezed and touched, and the nail matrix was temporarily affected by the small white spots that grew out, or it is the recent lack of some trace elements, which will disappear when the nails are long and cut. It is not a big problem.

I have been doing manicure for almost 8 years, and I have seen between 10,000 and 8,000 nails. There are really very few serious diseases that can be diagnosed by nail color alone. Many people search online when they see something wrong with their nails. After searching, they scare themselves so much that they can't sleep for half the night. It is completely unnecessary. Of course, there is one situation that needs special mention: If a dark brown vertical line suddenly grows on your nail, and it rapidly becomes wider and darker in a short period of time, or even accompanied by pain, then don’t delay and go to a dermatologist for a checkup to rule out the risk of onychomycosis or even melanoma. This is something you should not be careless about.

After all, nails are just a small barometer of the body, not a precise testing instrument. There is really no need to stick to the standard chart. After all, who doesn’t have individual differences? Pay more attention to the condition of your nails at ordinary times. If there is a sudden obvious change in color or shape, combined with physical discomfort, go to the doctor, which is more reliable than any popular science on the Internet.