healthy nails

More than 90% of nail abnormalities have nothing to do with internal diseases or cancer precursors. The vast majority are just caused by local bumps, infections or temporary fluctuations in physical status. There is no need to be overly anxious at all.

A while ago, I was helping out in a dermatology clinic. I received 8 patients in one morning. Six of them came in with their fingers raised and asked, "Doctor, you see there are vertical lines on my nails. Is there something wrong with my liver?" ”There was a little girl in 1995 who even had her blood drawn and done a full-abdominal CT scan in advance, but no problem was found. Finally, when I asked, I found out that she was busy with projects for a month and was so anxious that she chewed her nails every day.

Let’s talk about the white spots on nails that everyone is most worried about. The older generation always said that this is caused by calcium and zinc deficiency. In the early years, there were indeed studies in the field of nutrition that long-term lack of trace elements such as zinc and silicon may cause spotty white nails. However, the current mainstream clinical consensus is that 80% of nail white spots are caused by slight external damage to the nail matrix. Think about it, it takes 3 months for your nails to grow completely. Maybe you knocked the roots of your nails while carrying express delivery last week, or you went for a run in shoes that squeezed your feet. You didn’t take it seriously at the time. After a while, white spots will appear. When they grow to the tip of your nails, they will be gone. You don’t need to buy a bunch of health care products to patch them up.

There is also a popular saying on the Internet that "vertical lines on nails are a sign of cancer." Don't scare yourself. There is only one type of vertical lines that you need to be wary of: dark black in color, blurred borders, and a width exceeding 3mm, which will gradually become wider over time. This type of vertical lines may be onychomycosis, which has a very low probability of malignant transformation, and you need to go to the hospital for investigation in time. But the light, skin-colored or light brown vertical lines on the hands of ordinary people are actually "wrinkles" on the nails, no different from the fine lines at the corners of your eyes. The older you get, the easier they are to develop. I have two lines on my right ring finger for almost 7 years, but nothing happens during my annual physical examination. The old director of our department who is about to retire has more vertical lines on his hands. He plays golf and climbs mountains every day, and his body is stronger than many young people.

When it comes to Crescent Moon, the controversy is even greater. In the traditional Chinese medicine system, the size and number of crescents are indeed used as one of the references to judge the status of Qi and blood. In clinical practice, we can indeed encounter some patients with Qi deficiency. The crescents will suddenly become smaller or even disappear, and then slowly grow back after conditioning. However, the consensus of Western medicine is that the lunula is the nail that has not been completely keratinized. To put it bluntly, it is the exposed part of the nail matrix. Some people are born with the nail matrix at the back, and the crescent is small or even invisible. Some people are born with the nail matrix at the front, with full crescents on all ten fingers. This cannot be used alone as a criterion for judging health. I met a fitness instructor before who had almost no crescents on her ten fingers and all physical examination indicators were excellent. I also met an aunt in her sixties who had big and full crescents on all ten fingers. She was found to have mild hyperthyroidism. It is really unreliable to talk about the crescent moon alone.

Speaking of which, I met an old man before. He used popular science articles on the Internet to ask if the horizontal lines on his fingernails were a sign of myocardial infarction. When I asked, he found that he had suffered from hand, foot and mouth disease a while ago and had a fever for a week. The horizontal lines on his nails were caused by that time, and he would be fine in two months.

There are very few situations where you really need to go to the hospital: for example, if your nails suddenly turn yellow and thick, easily break off, and become delaminated when you pick them, then it is most likely onychomycosis, which is what we call onychomycosis. Don’t go to a nail salon to buy so-called repair solutions for hundreds of dollars. Also, if your nails suddenly become as sunken as a small spoon, or the entire nails turn black or fall off, and are accompanied by systemic symptoms such as sudden weight loss, long-term fever, or large-area rashes on the skin, then consider whether it is a systemic disease. Just go to a doctor to check it out at that time. Don't just watch a short video and get it right.

Daily maintenance is not that mysterious. I used to love doing manicures myself. I did them for more than half a year. My nails were so thin that they fell off as soon as they were torn off. They even hurt when I touched hot water. It took me almost half a year to get them back. You really shouldn’t do the kind of extensions that wear off the surface of your nails too often. Doing them too much can really damage your nails. Also, don’t use your nails as tools. For things like opening cans, tearing off express delivery tape, and picking out labels, use scissors if you can. Last month, I was trying to save time by picking out express boxes with my nails, and I tore the nail matrix. It hurt for almost two weeks. Now there is a small dent in the newly grown nails, which is really not worth the gain.

In fact, nails are just ordinary skin appendages, similar in nature to your hair and fine hair. It is normal to have minor problems occasionally. Don't regard it as a "health tester". If you have any problems, just scare yourself. If you are really worried, go to the hospital to get a dermatology number. A regular number only costs more than ten yuan. Buying a peace of mind is better than anything else.