The nail health line is gone

The disappearance of what we often call the nail health line (commonly known as the crescent moon, scientifically known as the nail half moon) is not a warning of serious illness most of the time. There is no need to scare yourself and search for "cancer precursors".

To be honest, I just struggled with this matter with my best friend a while ago. She stayed up late for three weeks to catch up on a project. One morning when she was washing up, she suddenly discovered that the crescents on both thumbs were gone. She became red-eyed on the spot and thought she was going to die suddenly. She went to the dermatology department and the traditional Chinese medicine department that day.

The dermatologist’s statement is very true: A-half moon is essentially new keratin cells that have not been completely keratinized, and not everyone can see it. Some people are born with nail matrix positioned far back, and the new cells that grow out have already been keratinized before being exposed, so naturally no crescents can be seen. Others are born with slow nail metabolism, slow keratin renewal, and small or even no crescents. My cousin has been the only one in the whole family who has not had a crescent moon since he was a child. His physical examination report has been perfect every year, and he has not even had high uric acid. The doctor said that this kind of natural condition does not need to be considered as a health problem at all.

I have been a manicurist for 6 years, and I usually see more nails than rice. She also mentioned to me that many clients are not born without crescents, but "disappear" in a short period of time. Most of them have traces - either they are on a diet to lose weight recently. If you are fat, your protein intake is seriously insufficient, and your keratin synthesis cannot keep up; or if you stay up late and spin continuously, your body's metabolism slows down, and the growth of your nails also slows down; some of you have just suffered from wasting diseases such as influenza and gastroenteritis, and your body has not yet recovered. She had an old client last year. She spent four months preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination. Four of her nails originally had crescents, but eventually all of them were gone. The nails were so thin that it hurt when she touched them. After the exam, she adjusted her schedule for three months and drank milk and eggs every day, and the crescents slowly grew back.

The old Chinese medicine doctor who accompanied my grandma to see her before, who had been practicing for decades, had different views from Western medicine. He felt that the first half moon could indeed reflect the state of qi and blood to a certain extent. The disappearance of the crescent moon in a short period of time was mostly related to the loss of qi and blood and weak spleen and stomach transportation. Of course, one would not judge a serious illness based on the crescent moon alone. It must be combined with the pulse, tongue coating, and accompanying symptoms such as fatigue, insomnia, and poor appetite. My grandma had a bad appetite last winter and couldn't eat anything for half a month. The crescent moons on her two thumbs were almost gone. The old Chinese doctor prescribed some medicine to regulate the spleen and stomach. After taking it for more than half a month, she started to eat better, and the crescent moons slowly appeared again.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the disappearance of the crescent moon shouldn’t be taken seriously at all. If you originally had an obvious crescent moon, but suddenly it not only disappeared, but your nails gradually became thicker, yellowed, and had pitted nails, then it is most likely that you have onychomycosis due to fungal infection. My former roommate was one of them. At first, I thought it was the crescent moon that was gone, but I didn’t take it seriously. Later, I went to see the nail after the whole nail turned gray. It took almost a year to apply medicine for it to heal completely. Also, if you still feel weak, dizzy, sweat frequently, and lose several pounds for no apparent reason while the crescent moon disappears, then don’t delay and go directly to the hospital for a full physical examination. My colleague was like this last year. At first, he just thought it was tiredness, but later it was found that it was hyperthyroidism. With timely intervention, he is now almost cured.

To put it bluntly, this thing is just like the dark circles on your face. Occasionally staying up for two days to appear or disappear is not a big deal at all. It can be relieved by a few days of good sleep. There is really no need to pick out the crescents on the tips of your fingers every day. When you have that anxious time, go to bed early and eat two more eggs, which is better than anything else.