Nail health

The essence of healthy nails is the external manifestation of normal nail matrix metabolism and sufficient blood supply to the nail bed. In most cases, it is normal to have a uniform light pink color, a smooth surface with very light physiological vertical lines, and a stable crescent size of about 1/5 of the nail. There is no need to worry too much about the occasional white spots or individual lines.

I accompanied my sister to get a manicure last week. The manicurist held her hand and muttered for three minutes. One moment, she said that the vertical lines were due to poor liver detoxification. The other time, she said that only two crescents were due to a lack of Qi and blood. He tricked her into getting a nail care package worth more than a thousand dollars. He even told my sister that he had to take out his cell phone on the spot. In fact, this kind of marketing rhetoric focuses on the poor information about nail health. Many statements are half true and half false. The judgment standards in different fields do vary. There is no need to believe it all or not to believe it all.

Take the crescent moon, which everyone is most concerned about, as an example. Western medicine clinically generally believes that the crescent moon is the "production trace" of the nail matrix - the nail matrix is the "small factory" for growing nails. The newly grown nails are white, and as they grow forward, they become transparent and reveal the pink color of the nail bed. Some people are born with the nail matrix positioned far back. The newly grown white nails are completely blocked by the skin behind them, and the crescents may not be visible on all ten fingers. As long as they remain in this state from childhood to adulthood, there is no problem. Only if the crescents suddenly become more numerous, larger, or disappear quickly in a short period of time, you need to be alert to whether there is a thyroid or metabolic problem. But from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, the crescent moon is indeed linked to the state of spleen and stomach qi and blood. When I went to a traditional Chinese medicine doctor to regulate my menstruation, the doctor also mentioned that I had lost two crescent moons during that period, which was a symptom of staying up late recently and weak digestion of the spleen and stomach. After adjusting for half a month, the crescent moon did grow again. There is basis for both opinions. There is no need to argue about right or wrong. Just judge based on your own physical condition.

A while ago, my friend had a thin black line on her nail. She saw a short video saying that it might be an onychomycosis, which could develop into melanoma. She was so frightened that she called a dermatologist overnight. The doctor took a dermatoscope to look at her for two minutes and then sent her back. He said that the pigmentation under the nail was caused by moving things and the pigmentation had not gotten bigger or thicker for half a year. She ignored it at all. After a false alarm, she came back and turned off half of the health care accounts on her phone.

When I was an intern in the dermatology department, I would meet seven or eight people a day who had their nails damaged by manicures. Some of them had their nails worn so thin that the blood vessels underneath were visible in order to apply extensions. It hurt even if they touched cold water.； Some people tear off the nail pieces when removing the nails, tearing the matrix of the nails, and the nails become pitted and uneven for several months. ； Others like to tear the barbs on their hands until they become inflamed and swollen into small radishes. When they come, they have to cut open the pus, which makes them cry in pain. Really, many people's bad nails are either caused by internal problems in the body or caused by surgery.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you don’t need to take care of any abnormalities in your nails. If your nails suddenly become thicker, turn yellow and gray, and feel as rough as sandpaper, don’t think it’s normal because you’re old. It’s most likely onychomycosis, which is what we call onychomycosis. It’s contagious. The sooner you treat it, the better.； If the black line on the nail exceeds 3 mm, suddenly becomes wider in a short period of time, and is uneven in color, you must have it checked in time to rule out the possibility of malignant transformation. ； There are also those nails that are sunken like a small spoon, which is most likely due to iron deficiency anemia, so don’t take it seriously.

In order to take wedding photos, I had my nails done twice in three months. After the removal, my nails were so soft that I couldn't even pry through the tabs of cans. During that time, I didn't take any fancy supplements. I just tried to avoid irritating things like dishwashing detergent and washing powder. I applied hand cream and some nail polish when I washed my hands. The original hardness was restored in about three months. It's really much more useful than taking collagen or trace element supplements.

In fact, to put it bluntly, nails are the "small signal lights" of the body, not an accurate health tester. If there is a problem with the internal organs, most obvious symptoms such as fatigue, pain, and weight loss will first appear. Don't hold your hands up to the light every day to look for lines and guess. If you are really not sure, go to a dermatology department. It costs more than ten yuan, which is much more reliable than reading ten alarmist health posts.