healthy nail color

The core color of healthy nails is a uniform pale flesh pink. The nail bed covering the nail bed below the nail plate has a warm blood color. The nail plate itself has a translucent matte texture. The nail half-moon near the root (also known as the crescent moon) is soft milky white without variegation, color blocks or abrupt discoloration at the border.

Last week, I accompanied a friend to get a Japanese manicure. The manicurist, who has been in the industry for almost ten years, took one look at her nails and smiled, saying that the basic color is more positive than the best-selling nude gel in my store. She must not stay up late at night, right? My friend was very surprised and said how did you know? In fact, manicurists see a lot of nails, and the difference between healthy and unhealthy colors is really obvious.

Don’t believe the nonsense on the Internet that “nails must be peach pink to be healthy.” Individual differences are huge. People with cold white skin will have a brighter nail bed pink color. People with darker skin and often do physical work will have a darker nail bed color. As long as the color of the entire nail is uniform and no one is dark or light, there will be no problem. Of course, there are different judgment standards. In traditional Chinese medicine, pale nails are used as a reference indication of insufficient Qi and blood. Western medicine will first check whether there is the possibility of iron deficiency anemia. However, in clinical practice, we have also seen many people with naturally lighter nail beds. They usually run and jump vigorously, and their blood tests are completely normal. In this case, there is no need to label yourself as "deficient".

When I was helping out in a dermatology clinic, I saw too many patients who came in because of discolored nails. What particularly impressed me was a 20-year-old girl whose nails had been yellowing for almost half a year. I searched online and said it was onychomycosis. She applied antifungal medicine for three months to no avail. When we came to the doctor, we asked and found that she had dark manicures almost every month and never applied primer. She always used violent picking to remove her nails. We asked her to stop manicures and apply nail polish twice a day. In less than two months, the yellow marks were completely gone. Oh, yes, the yellow color of real onychomycosis is caused by graying and staining, and it will also be accompanied by thickening, layering, and chipping of the nail plate. It is completely different from the yellow color of pigmentation. Don’t make blind judgments on your own.

Some people are frightened when their nails suddenly turn black. In fact, first of all, recall whether you have been pinched by a door or hit by a heavy object recently. The black blood under the nails has a clear border. As the nails grow, they will slowly move towards the fingertips and will completely grow out in about two months. But if there is no history of trauma, and dark spots with blurred borders suddenly appear on the nails and they continue to grow, don’t delay, and go to the dermatology department for investigation to rule out the risk of onychomycosis or even melanoma. This is not a trivial matter.

Speaking of this, someone must want to ask about the crescent moon. Many people count how many crescent moons they have every day, and get anxious when there are fewer crescent moons. In fact, the number of crescents is really not that important, the right color is the key. A healthy crescent moon is soft and milky white. If the crescent moon suddenly turns dark red, it may indicate inflammation in the body. If it turns gray and black, it may mean poor peripheral circulation. As for those who are born with only one or two crescents, or even no crescents visible, as long as they are not dizzy, afraid of cold, or easily tired, they don’t need to take it seriously. Many health bloggers say that fewer crescents will lead to a shorter life, which has no scientific basis at all.

I also went through the trap of manicure in the past two years. I had my nails extended for eight months. When I removed them, the nail plate was so thin that the blood vessels underneath were visible. My nails turned black and gray. I was so scared that I thought something was seriously wrong. I stopped all manicure products and used hand cream every time. I massaged the dead skin around my nails in circles and ate more oranges and lean meats, and it returned to its original uniform light pink color in about three months. So, nails also need to "breathe". Don't always apply thick nail polish glue to them. The nail plate is thin, and the color revealed will naturally be wrong.

In fact, nails are a small barometer of health that you carry with you. You don’t need to look at them with a magnifying glass every day, and don’t scare yourself when you see the wrong color. If you really have abnormal discoloration that lasts for more than a week, accompanied by pain, itching, and delamination, you can go directly to the hospital to see a dermatologist, which is much more reliable than searching online for half a day to find the right treatment yourself.