Maintaining beautiful, healthy nails has become part of an overall beauty regime. Even if people don’t go out and about the way they used to, it is still worthwhile to look after the nails the way they’d look after their hair and skin. By the way, nails, skin and hair are made of the same stuff. Nails grow continuously, like skin. Like hair, the cells of the nails are tightly bound together. Nails grow about 1/8 inch per month.
Nails that are healthy have beds that are pinkish-white, no matter the color of the rest of the person’s skin. They have cuticles and a white lunula. This is the half-moon shape at the bottom of the nail, and it’s the place where the soft cells are keratinized, or turned into the hard stuff of the fingernails. Here are five tips to keep nails looking their best:
This might be surprisingly hard to do, especially for a person who likes to garden, cook or do manual labor around the house. But keeping fingernails clean prevents pathogens such as bacteria and viruses from growing on or beneath them. Frequently exposing hands to water can cause nails to split. When washing dishes, the washer should wear gloves. Ideally, they should be rubber gloves with a cotton lining. Also wear gloves when using harsh cleansers or other chemicals.
People shouldn’t forget to moisturize their fingernails, including their cuticles, at the same time they’re moisturizing their hands. They should make sure that any clippers or manicure scissors are clean and sharp before using them. Make sure to cut the nails straight across then shape the tips with a nail file. The best ones are made of glass and won’t damage even fragile nails. Emery boards, especially ones that haven’t been used in a while, can cause nails to peel. Finally, if the fingernails are soft or brittle, a nail hardener can fortify them.
This may be a tough habit to break, especially for children, but it’s important to break it. Biting nails or cuticles can break the skin around the nail and allow pathogens to enter. This can set up an infection. As with biting nails, tugging off a hangnail can rip skin and put the area at risk of infection. Hangnails should be clipped off neatly.
The very smell of nail polish remover is a hint to what a harsh chemical it is. Because of that, it should be used sparingly. Better yet, it’s a good idea to find a nail polish remover that is acetone free. It’s important to be gentle with the nails overall. Even scrubbing them too vigorously can hurt. Metal implements should not be placed under the nail because it can lead to onycholysis, or a separation of the nail plate from the skin.
Don’t ignore a persistent problem with the nails because they can be symptoms of something wrong somewhere else in the body. Among the signs that shouldn’t be ignored are:
