Natural nails - cuticles

| February 5, 2010 |

Don’t bit or pick your nails or cuticles. This is one of the hardest habits to break, but it’s important to do it. Not only does it shorten your nails and make your cuticles look horrible, you can permanently damage your nail beds. Any type of nick or cut can allow all types of bacteria, mold and fungus to enter your nail bed and cause infection. At the rate your nails grow it can take months for the damage to be repaired, and in some cases the damage is permanent.

Take care of your cuticles, it can be just as important as caring for your nails. As I said in a previous post, the cuticle acts as a barrier to protect the nail matrix so your nails can grow. Never cut your cuticle unless absolutely necessary. You do want to keep your cuticles from overgrowing onto the nail bed, as that will inhibit nail growth. If the cuticle has grown out, make sure you thoroughly soften the cuticles in warm water, with a warm cream or cuticle remover. Then, very gently, use a sterilized cuticle pusher to push the cuticles back. This will help eliminate the dead skin and even any debris that may have accumulated there. You should hold the pusher at a slight angle and gently push back. Some people recommend a circular motion, however I don’t . The less you push, the less likely damage will occur. Adding a circular motion will have you scraping parts of the nail bed that you normally wouldn’t have to touch.

Keep your nails and hands clean and use a nail brush to clean out under the nail on a regular basis. Never pull off a hangnail or loose cuticle, to do so will almost guarantee pulling off or ripping live tissue. Again, this will result in a greater chance to acquire some type of infection. Use nail scissors or nippers to clip any hanging or rough skin around the cuticle and whenever possible cut the skin on an outward angle.

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