The Growth of the Nails - Common Disorders - How to Treat Them - The Effect of General

Health upon the Nai's - -Biting the Nails - Pedicure

A healthy nail should be shell pink: in colour, with a clearly defined white crescent at the root. It should be free of all spots, cracks, or blemishes, and be so hard as not to break or split easily.

Although there are rose-tinted preparations for accentuating the pink colour of the nails, the nail cannot be considered healthy unless that pink shade is natural.

In texture the nails should be sufficiently hard to stand the ordinary wear and tear to which they are subjected.

They should be neither too fine nor too thick in quality. Bodily weakness of any kind tends to make the nails thin, and to cause them to grow quickly. A slower growth naturally tends to thicken the nails. A normal nail should not require cutting more frequently than once a week. The natural shape of the nail is rounded, and when cutting care should be taken to preserve this roundness.

Disorders of the Nails

Before the necessary cleansing, filing and polishing of the nails are taken into consideration, the first care should be the correction of defects. There are many of these which arise from a variety of causes, but the secret of most of the disorders of the nails is loss of physical tone.

Brittleness

Brittleness of the nails is very troublesome, and brittle nails should be treated with great care. They are sometimes due to constitutional weakness, but contact with alcohol, eau-de-cologne, hard water, and inferior soap will cause brittleness, chaps, and fissures of the nails.

Where brittleness of the nails is caused through poorness of blood and bad circulation, the following tonic is good:

Ammonio-citrate of iron .. 1 drachm

Tincture of nux vomica . . 1 fluid drachm

Syrup of orange .. .. 1 fluid ounce Water to make up 6 ounces

A tablespoonful of this mixture should be taken in water three times a day.

A split nail should at once be cut to the end of the fissure, otherwise it will tear more deeply.

Very hot water has a softening effect upon the nails, and if the hands are frequently immersed in hot water the nails will become brittle and break off at the slightest pressure.

Soda mixed with the water is very bad for the nails, and if they have been soaked in water and soda for any length of time, it is advisable to apply lemon-juice and glycerine and to avoid using the hands much or putting any strain upon the nails until they have resumed their customary hardness.

In cases of severe illness the nails are curiously affected. For instance, in heart disease and consumption, a too convex condition of the nail is produced. In sufferers from gout the nails become fissured. Furrows in the nails are the result of fever.

White Spots on Nails

There is much speculation as to what causes white spots on nails. They are generally produced by the presence of air which has entered during the growth of the nail, and is confined there. Anaemia and bad circulation will cause white spots, and they will naturally disappear as the health is built up again.

Minor accidents are also responsible for such spots; but these, of course, are cut away with the dead edge of the nail during its growth.

Any severe pressure, causing injury to the nail, results in a dark stain from beneath. This is due to the exuded blood showing through the nail, and will pass away as the wound heals and the nail grows. Only in very bad cases is the nail injured so badly as to come right away, and in time a healthy new nail grows in its place.

Infection of the Nails

Care should be taken to guard the nails from infection of all kinds. The free edges should be carefully cleaned, in order to avoid loosening the nail bed, the result of which is very painful, and may lead to serious consequences, as the exposed membrane is very susceptible to contagion. The nails should be kept clear of all dust and dirt, which accumulates round the edges. If the quick is pressed very hard by the manicure instrument, it recedes and leaves too much dead edge to the nail, thus spoiling its appearance.

Deformity of the nails is caused through infection of certain fungi.

Splinters beneath the nails sometimes are very difficult to remove. In such cases the layers of the nail which cover the splinter should be softened with an application of a solution of potash lye, and then the nail should be scraped with a sharp knife until the splinter is exposed, and can be removed easily with tweezers. A splinter should never be allowed to remain for any length of time under the nail, even if it does not hurt, as the presence of any foreign body sets up immediate inflammation, and diseases of the nail bed are very difficult to treat.

Biting The Nails

A habit which is unfortunately prevalent in grown-up people as well as in children is that of biting the nails. This failing is not only ruinous to the nails themselves, but it spoils the shape of the fingers. Besides which, it is disagreeable in itself to the person who indulges in it, and an objectionable sight to others.

Continual correction and early training alone promise complete cure of this habit, although the custom of putting bitter and badly-tasting drugs on the tips of the fingers has some value in checking the weakness. Bitter aloes is a very favourite remedy, and is generally efficacious, especially with children.

The habit of biting the nails, although often attributed to a bad temper, is due to extreme sensitiveness and a highly nervous temperament. Children who are victims, therefore, should be watched carefully, and attention paid to their general health.

In grown persons the habit is a form of nervousness, and to overcome it requires the exercise of will-power and the general cultivation of nervous energy.

Stains on the Nails

All stains which are caused through domestic duties are easily removed by the application of lemon-juice. Stains of nicotine, from which cigarette smokers frequently suffer, are effectually removed by the use of dilute hydrochloric acid. Peroxide of hydrogen will be found to be one of the best bleaching fluids. These remedies apply only to surface stains, and not to those occasioned through any physical disability.

The cuticle is very sensitive, and a very slight tear will occasion pain. In such a case the skin should be closely cut; but if, in spite of careful trimming this remains sore, a healing cream should be applied.

Healing Cream for the Cuticle

The following is an excellent recipe:

Boric acid ......20 grains

Zinc oxide ......20 grains

Vaseline ...... 2 drachms

Lanoline ...... 2 drachms

These ingredients should be well mixed together, and the cream applied to the cuticle twice a day.

If the skin adheres to the nail it is a good thing to make a practice of rubbing this healing cream into the nails all about the roots every night. In this way agnails are prevented.

It is a bad plan to press the skin from the root of the nail with a steel file, for this is apt to cause blemishes. An orange-stick should always be used for this purpose.

Pedicure

The same care should be given to the growth and culture of the toe-nails as to the nails on the hand. The pressure of boots render these liable to malformations, and they should be constantly supervised in children.

Ingrowing Nails

Ingrowing nail of the big toe is the most frequent malady, and any tendency to ingrowing should be watched, and the slightest indication of such a condition immediately treated. If this is not attended to, the border of the nails presses into and makes a wound in the underlying skin, causing acute pain and often necessitating an operation.

If the nails are cut to any extent down the sides, ingrowing toe-nails often result. The toe-nail should be cut square, and if the corners are uncomfortable, they may be slightly cut down. But it is better to cut as far down as possible in the centre of the nail a small V-shape piece, and beyond that to scrape the centre of the nail with the nail file. This makes the nail thin and yielding, and causes the edges of the space cut to incline towards each other, and eventually unite. Such contraction of the nail will draw the pressure from the corners, and possibly prevent any recurrence of the trouble of ingrowing nails.

Ingrowing nails are caused from ill-fitting shoes. Tight stockings also are liable to cause the gradual malformation of the foot and nail. These should fit perfectly, and the shoe be three-quarters of an inch longer than the foot, the heel being broad and low. Daily Care of the Toe-nails

After the daily foot ablution, the nails should be carefully cleaned and trimmed to ensure comfort. Loose skin should be pushed back carefully, and the half moons kept clear. The same creams which are used for the nails of the hand can be applied to the toe-nails also.

Corns

There are special instruments used for pedicure. The corn-knife is invaluable for cutting away the horny substance which forms this very painful foot trouble from which so many people suffer. Corns, of course, result from pressure of badly made shoes. The point pressing on the nerves of the foot causes intense pain. Corns can be entirely cured by careful treatment.

To relieve soft corns a piece of linen sprinkled with powdered alum or tannin should be placed between the toes.

Before the cutting instrument is used a hard corn should be soaked in hot water, and a good paint applied. The following is an excellent recipe:

Salicylic acid......30 grains

Extract of Indian hemp .. 10 grains Flexible collodion .. .. 1 fluid ounce After applying this for three nights, the film which has been formed by the corn paint can be easily removed, bringing the corn away with it.

The following are good firms for supplying materials, etc.. mentioned in this Section: Messrs, T. J. Clark (Glycola); Wright, Layman & Umney, Ltd. (Coal Tar Soap); A. & F. Pears, Ltd. (Soap).