Nail Health Tips

The overall color is uniform light pink, the nail surface is smooth and tough, and there is no redness, swelling or pain around the nail frame. For daily maintenance, remember not to pick your nails randomly, do not use your nails as tools, and do not do frequent manicures without intervals. It is much more effective than spending a lot of money on supplements.

Some people must ask, so I haven’t had a crescent moon since I was a child. Is it because I was born weak? I believed this statement a few years ago, but it wasn’t until I went to the dermatology department with a friend to have a nail check and asked the doctor that I learned that the lunula is a nail that has not been completely keratinized. How much of it is exposed depends on where your nail matrix grows. Some people are born with the nail matrix at the back, and the part of the nail that grows out has already been keratinized, so naturally the lunula cannot be seen. As long as your number of crescents doesn't suddenly increase or decrease within a month or two, there's no need to panic. Oh, yes, my friend stayed up for more than half a month to catch up on a project, and suddenly found that only 2 of the original 6 crescents were left. He was so scared that he bought several hundred yuan of liver-protecting tablets. The doctor said that his metabolism slowed down during that period. After going home and sleeping regularly for a week, all the crescents came back.

There is also the myth that "vertical lines on nails = bad liver". To be honest, I also have faint vertical lines on my nails, just like the fine lines on my face. The older I get, the more obvious they become. It is a normal physiological phenomenon. Unless it is the kind of vertical lines that appear suddenly, are very dark or even black, or the vertical lines are extremely bulging and split the nail in half, then you need to check whether it is a nevus or other nail lesions. For ordinary shallow vertical lines, you really don’t need to think about it.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that you don’t need to pay attention to all changes in your nails. If a small pit like a needle tip suddenly appears, or your nails turn gray or yellow, become thicker and layered, and flake off when you pick them lightly, then there is a high probability that there is something wrong: the former may be skin diseases such as eczema and psoriasis affecting the nails, and the latter is most likely onychomycosis, which is what we call onychomycosis. Don’t buy blind remedies and apply them on your own. Go to the hospital for a fungal microscopy that costs more than ten yuan. Once the diagnosis is confirmed, you can use medicine to avoid delays.

When it comes to maintenance, I have learned a lesson through blood and tears. In the past few years, I used my nails to pry open express delivery and open cans. One time, I pried the nail of my thumb almost half off the nail bed. It hurt for almost half a month, and it was difficult to even hold a pen. Since then, I have always carried a small box opener in my pocket, and I no longer dare to use my nails as a universal tool.

Many people say that getting manicures is all bad, but I don’t think it’s necessary to beat them to death with a stick. A friend of mine who has been a manicurist for five or six years said that formal phototherapy glue only polishes the cuticle on the nail surface, which actually does very little damage to the nails. The real damage to the nails is those shops with irregular operations: dead skin shears. It's so harsh that you want to cut the flesh, and the nail bed hurts when you polish it. There are also many people who pick out their manicures with their own hands, tearing off the cuticle on the surface of the nail. They do it three or four times in a row. The nail is so thin that it can transmit light, and it breaks when touched. If you really love doing manicures, it is best to leave a window of 1-2 weeks after each treatment to allow the nails to breathe and recover. Don’t cut the dead skin too often, no more than once every half a month. If you cut too much, you will easily get hangnails, and in severe cases, you will get paronychia.

And the most frequently asked question is, what can I eat to make my nails thicker and stronger? Biotin and collagen gummies, which are very popular on the Internet, have been tried by me myself. After taking them for three months, my nails did not break easily. However, my best friend and I took them together, and they had no effect at all. Later, after asking the doctor, I found out that if you eat a balanced diet, including eggs, milk, red meat, and vegetables, there is no need to supplement these supplements at all. Only people who have been vegetarians for a long time, or have anemia or trace element deficiencies, supplements will be useful. Normal people may spend hundreds of dollars to buy supplements, which may eventually be excreted in the urine. It is purely IQ tax.

By the way, don’t tear off the barbs! I tore off a hangnail on my hand last winter, and it swelled for three days. I got paronychia, and I had to apply anti-inflammatory ointment for a week before it healed. The pain was so painful that I doubted my life. If you have a hangnail, soak it in warm water for two minutes, then use alcohol-sterilized nail clippers to cut it off at the root. Don't tear it or bite it, otherwise it's really easy to get infected.

Finally, I would like to say something more. Don’t believe the “nail bed lengthening technique” or “nail repair essence” advertised by nail salons. 70% of the length of the nail bed is innate, and very little can be cultivated. Those who say that using essence can double the length of the nail bed are basically deceiving you. It is better to pick your nails less often, which is worse than anything else.