Nail Health Daily Care Methods

The three core keys to daily maintenance of nails are actually "less tossing on the nail surface + good moisturizing around the nails + avoiding external damage". The remaining dietary supplements and special nail care products are just icing on the cake, and there is no need to spend a lot of money to pay the IQ tax.

I was obsessed with doing manicures for the past two years, and I had to change them every half month. Every time I removed my nails, I had the manicurist polish the nail surface until it was rough before I would remove it. I thought it would stick well, but later on, the nail surface was so thin that it hurt when I touched ice water, and it broke with the slightest force. It took me half a year to recover, and I really went through a lot of pitfalls.

There are actually two schools of thought as to whether manicures will hurt the nails: The view of professional manicurists is that as long as there is no violent nail polishing or nail removal, the nail polish itself will not cause permanent damage to the nails.； However, the general clinical conclusion of dermatology is that even if the operation is standardized, the ingredients of nail polish and the lighting process will cause the nail surface to become dehydrated. If you perform manicures frequently for a long time, there is a high probability that the nail surface will become thinner and easier to break. The compromise plan I have tried is to have a manicure once a month at most, leaving at least a 1-2 week window in between to allow the nails to breathe. Never pick the nails after removing them, just apply the nail polish remover and wipe it off gently. If the manicurist comes and wants to cut the epithelium of your nails and grind away the dead skin, just refuse. The thin layer of skin blocks bacteria, and if it is cut, it is easy to get infected with paronychia.

Many people only focus on applying various strengthening liquids and hard nail polish on the nail surface when maintaining their nails. In fact, they have completely missed the point - the nail epithelium around the nail is the "keeper" of nail health. If this area becomes dry and sticks up, it is what we often call a hangnail. If you tear it off casually, it may bleed and hurt for two days, or it may become infected and swell into a radish.

There are also different opinions on how to deal with hangnails: the older generation always said to just pull them off, but now many beauty bloggers say to soak them in warm water first and then cut them off with dead skin shears.； But I specifically asked my dermatologist friends. The safest way is actually not to cut the skin around the nails casually. Apply more moisturizing products as soon as it dries. The barbs will slowly disappear on their own. If you really need to cut, you must disinfect the scissors with alcohol first to avoid cutting live skin. I used to get hangnails all the time in the winter, which caused small wounds all over my nails. Then before going to bed, I applied a thick layer of Vaseline on my nails and covered them with cotton gloves for 15 minutes. After half a month, they never appeared again. It is better than hundreds of dollars of finger oil.

Another point that is most easily overlooked is not to use your nails as tools. I have a friend who uses his nails to open express delivery and cans all year round. The nails are left 3 or 4 millimeters longer than the fingertips. Last year, the nail bed suddenly separated from the flesh underneath. It was so painful that it was difficult to even hold a pen. It took almost half a year to grow. There is no conclusion on whether long nails or short nails are healthy. If you like long nails, just don’t keep them too long. If they are more than 2mm above the fingertips, they will easily break. When working, try to use the fingertips instead of the nail tips. Wear rubber gloves when handling dishwashing liquid and disinfectant during housework to avoid irritating the nail surface.

As for eating biotin, supplementing collagen, and drinking special protein powder for manicures to nourish your nails, which are so popular on the Internet, you really don’t need to spend money blindly. The consensus of the dermatology department is that as long as you eat normally and have no serious malnutrition, your nails do not need additional nutrients. I followed the trend and took biotin for three months, and my nails did not change at all. I went to the hospital and asked the doctor, who said that my own nutrition was enough, and it was useless to eat, and it might increase the metabolic burden on the liver.

Oh, by the way, don’t believe the rumors that fewer crescents are unhealthy, or that vertical lines on nails mean kidney deficiency. The number of crescents is determined by the position of the natural nail matrix. Vertical lines are present in everyone, and they will become more obvious with age. They have nothing to do with health.

If your nails are really yellow, gray, uneven, painful or itchy, don’t blindly search Baidu to buy skin care products to apply on your own. Go to a dermatologist to register for a checkup. It is most likely to be onychomycosis or nail malnutrition. Taking medication according to the doctor’s instructions will be more effective than any maintenance method.

In fact, nails are really durable. Don’t mess with them every day. No matter how much expensive nail polish you apply, they will be more effective.