Fingernails are made of protein layers called keratin. This protein is also in our skin and hair. However, nails are something beyond keratin, it has some unique parts:
- Nail Folds: The skin around nails
- Nail Bed: skin that nails cover
- Nail Plate: Physical part of the nail
- Lunula The white area seen at the base of fingernail
- Cuticle: This is the tissue that covers the base of the nail, as the nail grows, to protect newly formed keratin.
Nails - Development and Their Structures
On average, nails grow around 2 to 3 millimeters long (around 0.08 to 0.12 inches) in a month. Along these lines, it takes around five or six months for a fingernail to completely regenerate. Interestingly, fingernails of the hand you use regularly grow faster than the nails of the other hand.
Now that you know the general structure of nails, let take a look at some of the problems that can develop there.
Nail Diseases
Our bodies have some types of beneficial microorganisms. These microorganisms additionally include fungi and bacteria. Infections of fungi are caused by microscopic plants that live on the skin and on the dead tissue of the nails.
Below are some lists of common nails disorders, diseases and irregularities.
Tinea Unguis: This is also known as ringworm: of the nails, it is characterized by deformity and thickening of the nail, and in the end leads to loss of nail plate. This also indicates candida yeast infection.
Onychatrophia: This infection is identified by the waste away of the nail plate (atrophy) which makes it lose its luster, it’s sometimes shed entirely or become smaller. disease or Injury may cause this irregularity.
Paronychia: This infection can be caused by fungi, bacteria and other infections. The lateral nail and proximal nail folds’ act as a seal, between the plate of the nail plate and the surrounding tissue.
Pseudomonas bacterial: This infection can surface between the nail bed and the nail plate, or potentially between the natural nail plate and artificial nail coating.
Yeast infection: this infection results to Onychomycosis, can attack through nail overlays and proximal tear, and also the eponychium. This type of infections is identified by nail plate separation (onycholysis) with debris under the nail plate. It regularly seems yellowish or white in color.
Onychogryposis: These are Claw-type nails that are identified by the thickened of the nail plate and are regularly take place due to trauma. The nail plate will curve internal, the nail bad is pinch and require a surgical operation to assuage the pain.
Onychorrhexis: These are weak nails which frequently split vertically, peel or potentially have vertical ridges. This abnormality can be the after effect of heredity, using of strong solvents, including household cleaning solutions.
Koilonychia: This infection is typically caused due to iron insufficiency anemia. The nails develop raised ridges and are concave and thin. It’s recommended to seek doctor’s guidance and treatment.
Melanonychia: These are pigmented bands that are vertical, frequently depicted as nail 'moles', which usually develop in the nail matrix.
Pterygium: This is identified as skin inward advancement over the nail plate, usually the consequence of matrix trauma as the results of a deep cut to the nail plate or surgical procedure.
Onychauxis: This infection is characterized by over-thickening of the nail plate and might be the results of inner issue — seek medical advice.
Leuconychia: This is apparent as white spots in the nail plate and might be caused by small rises in air that are caught in the nail plate layers because of injury.
Beau’s Lines: This is nails that are identified by darkened cells horizontal lines and linear depressions. This issue might be caused by hunger, injury, sickness, or any major metabolic condition.
Pterygium Inversum Unguis: This is an acquired condition identified by live tissue firmly attached to the underside of the nail plate. It contains nerves and blood supply.
Psoriasis: This is identified by scaly, raw skin of the nails and is once in a while mistaken for dermatitis. When occurs in the nail plate, it will abandon it pitted, dry, and it will often disintegrate.
Hematoma: This occurs due to the nail plate trauma. It can occur basically as a result of wearing tight shoes etc.
Brittle Nails: This infection are identified by the nail plate layers’ vertical separation at the nail plate distal edge.
Vertical Ridges: This are normal for aging, though they are not restricted to the matured or elderly. In a 'rail and groove’ impact, the nail plate becomes forward on the nail bed.
Nail Patella Syndrome: This is an uncommon hereditary issue involving skeletal and nail deformities (among many other related anomalies) that affect around 2.2 out of 100,000 people.
Things You Should do to Protect Your Nails
Avoid using Harsh Chemicals
Most of the ingredients in nail polish bottles can be truly frightening. Formaldehyde (what they use to treat dead body) can be found in a ton of them! Fortunately, there are exemptions, for example, Zoya, Sally Hansen, and numerous others. You should know precisely what 3/4/5 free means in the nail clean world and which chemicals you ought to be paying special mind to in your polishes.
Stop Getting Gels and Acrylics
Gels and acrylics are pretty horrible for your nails. To make the gel and acrylic stick on the nails, the technician needs to buff them. Serious buffing can make the nail thin and prone to breaking.
Stop Cutting The Cuticles
Nobody needs crusty fingernail skin messing up their wonderful nail trim. Nonetheless, cutting them is not the appropriate solution. You shouldn’t use that cuticles clipper unless you want your nails looking bad. Rather than cutting your cuticles, you can apply cuticle oil. The oil will relax up your fingernail skin so that they're pliable and nice which will enable you to pull them back.
Stop Washing up Without Protection
A long, hot shower can be exactly what health experts recommend for you, but soaking your hands for a long time can make the cuticles and nails become plainly engorged with water and debilitate. Make the most of your shower, however, protect your hands with chip-proof manicure, dish gloves or cuticle oil etc.
Don’t Use Your Nails as Tools
Resisting this urge is certainly difficult. Why are we using a pan scraper to remove food caked on a pan when our fingernails work perfectly for that? In any case, picking, prying and poking can lead to damage to nails and cause cuts on the fingernail skin (cuticles).
Stop Biting Your Nails
Whenever you have the inclination to bites your nails, consider all that you've used your fingers to scraped or picked in the past 24 hours. Disgusting? Not only can biting cause health risk and harm to the nail beds, it additionally exposes your mouth to bacteria and dirt.
Don’t Pull off Hangnails
Without a doubt, it's staying there like a hanging chad, simply asking to be pulled, however, resist! Pulling hangnails off can tear live tissue and uncover the nails and hands to bacteria and fungi.
Stop Pushing the cuticle back too far
Nail enthusiasts have a tendency to get somewhat overzealous with fingernail skin care, however, it's advisable to leave it alone, as this skin protects the nail.
Don’t Overuse Polish Remover
While the inclination to switch to neon green and expel the electric blue polish from your nails might be overwhelming, try to stop it. Consistently using of polish remover can damage and dry out the nails. You may consider using CH3)2CO-free (acetone-free) polish remover every week.
Stop Peeling off Your Polish
This is an apprehensive habit much like nail biting, polish peeling doesn't simply get rid of polish. It additionally evacuates layers of your nail.
Don’t Share Your Nail File
Microscopic organisms and other microbes make their homes in nail file, so using another person's nails file is a surefire approach to transfer these terrible critters to your body. Toss away old nail file and purchase another one to use.
Diet to Improve Nail Health
Increasing the intake of key supplements can trigger parts of the vital process that bolster nails health and see a difference that you would never get by means of any conventional beauty care products.
Researchers have identified somewhere close to 20-25 selenoproteins in the human body that depends on selenium presence. Some of these proteins are accepted to be essential for hair and nails. For these proteins to have the capacity to work appropriately, they require adequate measures of selenium.
Biotin can help improve the production of keratin. Keratin is the protein that forms our nails, hair, and skin—so including the suggested levels of biotin in your eating routine can be advantageous to your appearance. One study shows that 25% increase in the thickness of nails while eating biotin supplements. A comparative report expressed that there was a huge change in nail quality in 91% of members who took the prescribed levels of biotin for their age group. You can try food like salmon, Bananas, peanuts, lentils, eggs, cauliflower and beans.
Omega-3 fatty acids sustain your hair follicles and your nails. Your nails will likewise become less brittle and stronger. The Omega-3 fatty acids dynamic ingredients — docosahexaenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid and alpha-linolenic acid —are all important fatty acids and "are essential stratum corneum components, which is the epidermis outermost layer that has water-holding abilities and contains keratin. Essential fatty acids deficiency can cause nail infections. Try to eat walnuts, tuna, spinach, sardines, salmon, mackerel, fish oil, flaxseed and eggs.
Vitamin C is a basic supplement that your body can't fabricate and should be gotten from nourishment. This vitamin is important for collagen production, which is used to form fingernails and hair and additionally other parts of your body. Vitamin C deficiency may cause symptoms, for example, brittle and concave nails. Vitamin C additionally assumes a critical part in the immune system integrity and cuts and bruises healing. A study shows that Vitamin C has the ability to improve skin and nail health
Vitamin A improve protein process in the body, the protein process our body needed to ward off hangnails and maintain the nail bed. Lack of this may result in Brittle nails. You can eat food like sweet potatoes, spinach, oatmeal, mangoes, egg yolks, Cheddar cheese, carrots, cantaloupe, broccoli and Apricots.
Zinc assume an orchestral part in keeping up our looks since it’s crucial for maintaining smooth skin and strong nails. If the body needs zinc, the insufficiency is probably going to appear on the nails, skin, and hair appearance. On the other hand, increasing zinc intake regularly brings about unmistakable changes that happen within weeks. You can try eating soybeans, oysters, lobster, lean beef, green beans and cashews.
Your nails condition extensively reflects the condition of your physical well-being. Your nails greatly depend on adequate supplies of protein, vitamins and minerals to function. If the body does not use these supplements properly or does not get enough, it is reflected in the nails condition. Maintaining natural, healthy nails depends on the reliable intake of appropriate nutrition through mineral and vitamin supplements or diet.
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- Livestrong.com
- Science ABC
- How Stuff Works
- Examine - Biotin
- Health and Science
- Fitzpatrick’s Dermatology
- Black Cat Nails - by Arden
- Igennus - Avoiding omega-3 deficiency
- lifeextension - Skin Hair and Nail Health
- American Academy of Dermatology - Nail fungus
- Bhatta AK, Keyal U, et al. “Fractional carbon-dioxide (CO2) laser-assisted topical therapy for the treatment of onychomycosis.” J Am Acad Dermatol. 2016;74:916-23.