Taking care of your Fingernails
20-10-2015 | Posted By: Vivek Singh | 2518 View(s)
It is said that one who is healthy from nail to nail is stronger and has better immunity than others. You take care of your whole body with precision but somehow miss the nails. How will you judge the condition of your fingernails? If you are aware of the abnormalities of a fingernail and careful enough, then you can avoid a lot of undesirable conditions.
How to check Normality of a Nail?
Your finger nail is composed of keratin in laminated layers covering the tips of the fingers. Keratin is a protein found in claws, hooves and horns of animals. A healthy fingernail has a function to protect the fingertips and surrounding soft tissues from injury. It also helps in delicate movements of the fingers and provides strength to the grip.
If your fingernail is consistently smooth, uniformly coloured devoid of spots and discoloration then it is in perfect health. You may have vertical ridges running from the cuticle zone to the tip. Do not worry as it is normal. The ridges get prominent with age. The injury may project spots or white lines or blackening. They are temporary and eventually vanish when nails grow out.
But you need to know the abnormal conditions of the fingernails to judge the ailments early and consult a dermatologist. Visit a doctor when you see:
1. Abrupt changes in the colour of the entire nail or abnormal patches appear without any injury like a dark patch under the nail. It is a symptom of dysfunction in the nail bed under the nail.
2. Abnormal shape changes such as curling, pit-like depressions and scaly patches
3. Nail clubbing, a bulging effect on the nail tips due to abnormal enlargement.
4. Spoon-like soft nail formation due to iron deficiency anaemia
5. Separation of the nail from the nail bed. The separated nail becomes opaque and whitish-yellow in colour.
6. Abnormal nail thickening and discolouration to yellow nails. Growth slows down and seldom detaches from the bed due to lack of cuticle.
Taking care of Fingernails:
To avoid all the above anomalies of finger nails you should do the following:
1. Keep the finger nails clean and dry to prevent bacterial growth under the finger nails. Use protective gloves when using toxic chemicals or prolonged exposure to water.
2. Use sharp and clean manicure instruments like scissors and clippers to trim the nails with gentle curves along the corners.
3. Moisturisers also keep your hand and finger nails soft and flexible. It keeps the cuticles softened too so that they do not rupture while aggressive gripping or friction.
4. Avoid bad habits like biting finger nails or picking cuticles. These habits damage the nail bed and might allow bacterial growth in the minor cuts causing infection.
5. Using harsh nail care products may cause damage to the consistency of the fingernails.
It is very easy to keep your fingernails strong and healthy just by following some basic steps. Make sure that the manicure technician is properly sterilising the tools and not removing your cuticles.
