We attach too much significance to nails!

"My nails have white spots! Am I calcium - deficient?"

"My nails have vertical stripes. I've heard it might indicate heart problems?"

"The half - moons on my nails are so large. I must be extremely healthy!"

First of all, friends, nails are not the results of a medical examination.

If there's an issue with the body, usually the affected area will feel notably uncomfortable, rather than just showing some circles and curves on the nails.

Now, hold your phone in one hand and stretch the other hand in front of your eyes. Observe your nails while reading this article as we answer common nail - related questions.

Does the half - moon equal the state of health?

No.

The "root" of the nail is called the matrix or nail matrix, which lies inside the flesh. The matrix continuously produces new nails, pushing them from the root towards the tip.

New nails are soft and white, and they grow faster in the center than on the sides. Thus, a white half - moon, the "lunula", forms at the base of the nail.

After a while, the soft and white new nails turn into transparent and hard old nails.

Some nails may not show a half - moon. It could be that the "root" is buried deep, hiding the lunula in the flesh, or the nails naturally grow slowly. Before a lunula can form, the new nails have already become transparent and mature.

However, if the half - moon suddenly disappears after being large or if many large half - moons suddenly appear where there were none before, it might indicate a thyroid problem.

Do white spots on nails mean calcium deficiency?

No. Also, white spots on nails don't mean there are roundworms in the stomach or digestive problems.

Most white spots on nails are related to the "root" of the nail.

If the "root" of the nail is injured, the new nail produced at that time may have a white spot.

Don't worry. Just cut off the white - spotted part when it grows out of the fingertip (you don't have to cut it).

Do hangnails mean vitamin deficiency?

Hangnails aren't part of the nails, but since they're close, we'll discuss them together.

The answer is still: no.

Vitamins are important for skin health, but we can't say that all skin problems are due to vitamin deficiency.

The main cause of hangnails is excessive hand - washing and friction, which lead to local skin dryness and subsequent exfoliation of the stratum corneum.

Remember to wear gloves when working and use hand cream after washing your hands. That's it.

Why are there ridges/depressions on the nails?

Vertical ridges usually aren't a cause for concern. They're mostly due to a slower cell - renewal rate [1]. Generally, the older you are, the more likely you are to have vertical ridges on your nails.

However, if there's a horizontal depression, the cause is more complex.

It could be due to a previous nail injury (usually only one or two nails show horizontal lines).

It could also be a sign of diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, zinc deficiency, etc. (multiple nails or even all nails show horizontal lines) [3].

Does the whole nail change color?

Turn yellow?

Mostly, it's because of excessive smoking, overuse of nail polish, or too much contact with irritating substances. Once you avoid these factors, it'll get better after a while.

If the nails start to turn white or yellow from the edges, it could be onychomycosis (nail fungus).

There's a rare disease called "yellow nail syndrome" where the entire nail is yellow. It's usually related to problems with the respiratory or lymphatic systems.

(Believe me, if you really have this disease, you won't have the energy to worry about your nails turning yellow.)

Turn black?

Mostly, it's because the finger was smashed or squeezed, causing bruising to look black.

It could also be due to melanin deposition or onychomycosis in a small number of cases.

It's very rare for it to be melanoma.

Turn blue?

Mostly, it's because you washed your hands after handling faded blue jeans.

It could also be due to insufficient oxygen in the blood, similar to the way lips turn blue when one is lacking oxygen.

How should you cut your nails?

It's not better to cut them too short.

If you cut them too short, the skin around the nails will grow higher than the nails, and the nails may grow into the flesh later. Also, it's easy to cut the flesh when cutting nails too short, right?

The most appropriate way is as follows:

Leave about 1 millimeter of the white part at the tip of the nail.

Leave the sides of the nail a bit longer, so that the top of the nail is preferably a smooth square. This can prevent the nails from growing into the flesh, especially for toenails that are squeezed by shoes.

Does nail art affect nail health?

Yes!

When doing nail art, the nails are always buffed. More buffing is done for long artificial nails, which makes the nails thinner.

Nail technicians often scrape off some cutin at the base of the nails, making the nail base more susceptible to infection.

When removing nail art, the components of the nail polish remover may also damage the nails.

A study found that the average thickness of nails before nail art is 0.59 millimeters, and only 0.30 millimeters after removing the nail art.

Not to mention, thinner nails are prone to becoming brittle and cracking, which goes completely against the original intention of pursuing beauty! (And the uglier the damaged nails look, the more you'll want to do nail art to cover them.)