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“How to take care of your nails” – its an important issue because, they can make all the difference to your look. While acrylic and gel nails can make even the most horrid hands look pretty, what you must not forget is that your nails can give out warning signs about your body that you might otherwise not realize. According to dermatologist Dr George Dake, the most common causes of fingernail or toenail problems include trauma, ageing, infection and skin disease. “Splitting of the nail plate is caused when hands are constantly wet, when one uses and removes nail polish very frequently and at times when artificial nails aren’t applied properly. Painful ingrown toe nails result from clipping nails too short and wearing ill-fitting shoes,” he says.
Nail problems occur due to infections, injuries, inflammation, growths or even a deficiency. “In order to handle nail problems, we need to diagnose the problem. Most can be diagnosed by examination, but some cases may require blood work-up, a nail scraping, or nail biopsies.

Dry, weak or brittle nails need to be greased immediately often during the day. Oral iron, calcium and biotin help in improving the structure of the nail,” says Dr Amanda Brown, another Dermatologist. “For healthy nails, avoid biting the nail or damaging the cuticle or the nail fold at the base of the nail.  If there is constant immersion in water, dab dry and apply a cream or petroleum jelly. And lastly ensure that your diet is rich in iron, calcium and B complex vitamins. Have adequate quantities of milk and milk products, dark green vegetables like spinach, broccoli, mint, cereals and grains.”
A diet rich in Vitamin A, E and biotin is believed to make nails stronger. Vitamin A is found in green, yellow and orange vegetables. Vitamin E includes nuts and green leafy vegetables. Biotin is a B vitamin found in eggs, almonds, soya beans and sweet potatoes. Drinking eight to ten glasses of water daily helps keep nails from drying out and slathering some moisturiser on hands and nails will make your nails healthy and strong.

Common nail problems

• Thin, pale concave nails occur due to iron deficiency.
• Thick, discoloured misshapen nails occur due to fungal infections.
• Pincer or ingrown toenails occur due to wearing narrow closed shoes or after a nail injury.
• Stained, discoloured nails occur due to chronic nail-varnish use.
• Ridged, discoloured nails occur due to constant wetting of the hands.

You’d be surprised to know that more often than not your nails can be a window to the problems in your body:

• An anaemic person may have pale, concave nails.
• A person with jaundice will have yellow nails.
• Increase in curvature can indicate a respiratory problem
• Multiple transverse white bands may be seen in patients with arsenic or thallium poisoning, or those with acute or chronic renal failure.
• Bluish discolouration occurs in patients with cyanosis or carbon monoxide poisoning.
• A diabetic patient may have the entire nail white with only the last 1-2mm pink color.

Now, we do understand that nail care is an essential practise to stay healthy. Do leave a comment to appreciate or even contradict this post as it will be useful to all others who will read it

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