healthy nails

The nail surface should be smooth and naturally shiny, with an even light pink color overall, the nail edge should be flat and free of redness, swelling and barbs, and the blood return speed after pressing and releasing the nail surface should be between 1-2 seconds. Most of the sayings circulating on the Internet, such as "the more crescents are, the healthier" and "vertical lines mean kidney deficiency" are not universal, so there is no need to be overly anxious.

Controversy about lunula has actually existed for many years. Western medicine clinically generally believes that lunulae are new nails that have not yet been completely keratinized. The number and size are mostly related to the location of the natural nail matrix and the nail growth rate. Some people are born with the nail matrix at the back, and the lunula is hidden in the flesh and cannot be seen. This does not mean that the health is poor. In the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, the crescent moon is indeed used as a reference for the fullness of qi and blood. If you originally had crescent moons on all ten fingers, but suddenly shrunk to only your thumb in a short period of time, and are also accompanied by problems such as dizziness and cold hands and feet, you can indeed seek treatment from a regular traditional Chinese medicine doctor. There is no need to say that this statement is all a lie. Last week, there was a little girl who often got manicures. She was about to cry when she reached out her hand. She said that she saw a short video saying that less than 6 crescents are a sign of serious illness. She only has two thumbs left. She was so scared. I looked at the photo of her first manicure two years ago. At that time, she was also two crescents. The physical examination report she just got was normal. I was just scaring myself.

In fact, rather than obsessing over ambiguous signals like the crescent moon, more people get into trouble because of minor issues around the nail peritonium. Many people can't help but tear it off when they see a barb on the edge of the nail. My best friend did this last month. The day after tearing it off, it became swollen. The next day, the whole fingertip was hot, and I jumped in pain when I pressed it. Finally, I went to the community hospital to make a small incision to drain the pus. I couldn't touch the water for half a month. I even had to ask my roommate for help to wash my hair. To put it bluntly, hangnails are when the skin around the nails is too dry and the cuticles are cracked. You can use sterilized nail scissors to cut them off at the root. If you tear them hard, you are likely to tear the normal skin. In severe cases, it can cause paronychia, or even damage the nail bed and cause nail deformation.

When it comes to nail bed deformation, many people think that doing manicure is the number one killer of nail health. Some people even say that wearing manicure can cause onychomycosis. This statement is actually a bit extreme. I have been a manicurist for almost 7 years, and most of the cases of nail injuries I have seen are caused by irregular operations: In order to save time, some shops directly remove most of the original layer of nail during polishing. When removing the nail, push and pry with steel, and the nail surface is torn off. After two or three times of tossing, the nail surface is not so thin that it hurts when touched. However, if you follow the regular process and polish only the most superficial sealing layer, apply a nail polish remover for 15 minutes and then gently push it off, you will be left with a thin layer of residual nail to protect the nail surface, and then apply nail edge oil for maintenance. In fact, the damage to the nails will be minimal. I change my manicure every month and a half, and I have had it for almost 6 years. The last time I went to the dermatology department for a routine check-up, the thickness and health of my nails were completely normal. It is not at all like what is said on the Internet that "manicures will cause rotten nails."

Oh, by the way, some people stare anxiously at the small vertical lines on the nail surface every day, saying that they are vitamin deficiencies or kidney deficiency. In fact, most people's vertical lines are normal physiological aging, just like fine lines on your face. They will appear more or less after the age of 25. As long as they don't suddenly become thicker, raised, or even change color, there is no need to buy a bunch of supplements to take them, they are useless.

Of course, this does not mean that you don’t need to pay attention to all changes in your nails. If you suddenly find a black line wider than 3 mm on your nails, and it is getting wider and uneven in color over time, or your nails are suddenly sunken, thickened, and gray, and some people have large white spots on their nails for no reason, and the nails become brittle and easy to split, then don’t hesitate, go directly to the dermatology department, and don’t try Baidu at home to treat the symptoms. I once had a customer who had a black line on his nail. He thought it was melanoma all night long and came to the store crying. It turned out that he had bruises when he moved a flowerpot last week. The nail grew out and disappeared after two months. I cried for half the night.

Speaking of the maintenance tips that I tell my customers the most in the past few years, they are actually very simple. Don’t use your nails to open express delivery or tear off the tape. I tried to use my nails to remove the express delivery tape easily, so I cut it in half. It hurt for almost a week. Later, I always kept a mini letter opener in my bag, and I never made the mistake again. Also, nail oil is really not an IQ tax. You don’t need to buy the expensive imported products. Ordinary olive oil or even the hand cream you usually use will do. Every time you wash your hands, apply a circle around the nail and rub it for absorption. It is much more effective than just applying a thick layer once.

In fact, there are not so many mysterious standards for nail health. It is like a small "barometer" of your body's exposure to the outside world, but not every small change corresponds to a serious illness. Don't make up for it. If something is really wrong, go to a professional doctor to see it. It is more reliable than watching ten short health videos.