What’s the matter with the enlargement of the nail health circle?

The scientific name of the health circle on the nail is half-month nail. When it increases, most of the time it is a normal manifestation of increased metabolic activity of the body. Only a few cases accompanied by other discomforts may be related to diseases. There is no need to get nervous when you see it getting bigger.

I have a friend who has been working out for more than half a year. He used to sit in the office every day and work overtime. It was common for him to stay up late. At that time, he could only see a faint dot of nail polish on his two thumbs. In the past six months, he has fixed strength and aerobics four times a week, quit milk tea and fried chicken, and adjusted his work and rest regularly. Some time ago, he suddenly discovered that all ten fingers have grown. It is obvious that the nails are bigger than before. I went for a full physical examination and all the indicators are much better than before. The doctor said that after the metabolism is improved, the rate of keratin production from the nail matrix becomes faster, and more translucent keratin that has not been completely keratinized is exposed. The nails naturally become larger, which is a sign that the physical condition is getting better.

Of course, not all enlargement of the nails is a good thing. Nowadays, many people think that "the bigger the nails are, the healthier they are." This statement is actually not rigorous. Abnormal metabolism may also cause the nails to become larger. When I was helping a teacher at the dermatology clinic sort out cases, I met a patient who had just been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. He said that in addition to losing 10 pounds inexplicably in the past three months, always being afraid of heat and sweating, and feeling his heart beat fast even when he was calm, the most obvious change was that the nails on his ten fingers were nearly one-third larger than before. This was because hyperthyroidism caused the basal metabolic rate to increase abnormally, and the working speed of the nail matrix was also disrupted. Later, he took medicine for a few months to control the thyroid function, and the nails slowly returned to their original size.

If the nail half-moon of a single nail suddenly becomes enlarged, accompanied by uneven nail surface, blurred edges or even grayish and dark colors, most of them have little to do with the health of the whole body. Either the nail has suffered trauma that stimulates the activity of the nail matrix, or there is inflammation around the nail that affects the production of keratin. It is enough to deal with the local problem of the nail in a targeted manner.

Oh, by the way, there are many people who are born with nails that are half a month larger than others. As long as they have been in this state since childhood, there is no discomfort at all. Don’t worry about it at all. After all, everyone’s nail matrix position is naturally different, just like some people are born tall and others are born short. You can’t use height as a unified yardstick to judge health, right? If your nails have only been getting bigger in the past month and a half, and you are eating well and sleeping well, then it is most likely that your physical condition is getting better and better, and you can just enjoy it secretly. If it suddenly gets bigger and something is wrong, it is not too late to go to the hospital for investigation.