Nails Health And Beauty » Nails

Thick Dark Toenails – Methods to Cure and Prevent

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 05:33:38 +0000

Rob P asked:

Thick dark toenails are almost always associated with a toenail fungus. Fortunately with a little work this fungus can be treated.

Symptoms of Toenail Fungus

Toenail fungus is often associated with a discoloration of the toenail to a brown, yellow, or black color. The toenail might also become flaky and brittle. Thickening of the toenail is not uncommon either. Walking on the infected toe might cause slight pain.

Understanding Fungus Prevention To Cure Toenails

It’s important you understand where your nail fungus came from. If you try and treat your nail fungus without knowing how you got it you might get it back. It’s common for people who go to public pools, use public showers, or saunas to have increased risks of getting it. Generally speaking exposing your toes to these sorts of moist places will increase your chance of getting a toenail fungus. To reduce your chance of getting toenail fungus try to wear sandals at all times around these places.

Treating Infected Toenails

There are many remedies out there. Unfortunately most are ineffective or contain unwanted side effects. Ingested prescription drugs are not recommended due to the severe side effects. These drugs can cause liver and kidney damage which could result in death! This treatment isn’t even guaranteed to work.

The best treatment I found was using a combination of approaches. First I started by showering my thick dark toenails in warm water. I did this to moisten up the nail to file it down. Make sure you only file off a thin layer of the nail and be gentle! Next I soaked my infected nails in beer for 30 minutes twice a day. Beer believe it or not helps combat and kill fungus. After the beer treatment I applied a natural toenail treatment.

This combination approach took a little persistence but I started seeing results within about two weeks of starting.

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Spoon Nails

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 20:38:48 +0000

Vineet Mehta asked:

Spoon shaped nails are very common. Nail technicians can not usually recognize one when they see one. When it can be seen, it might mean that there may be a serious underlying disease. If it’s only an aesthetic deformity a simple overlay can solve the problem.
Spoon nails are caused by a trauma to the nail matrix. This results in a deformity of the nail. The edges of the plate curl up which then is called the “spoon nail” deformity.

What Is this?

Spoon nails are a deformity of the nail. Usually it will grow out in a few months, but if it does not, it could be a sign of a more serious problem. Clients who have spoon nails should seek medical attention before seeing a nail technician. If a technician knows the client, she can easily determine how to proceed with her nails. For example the nail technician knows that it is a hereditary condition. If it is new client for the nail technician and the nail seems unhealthy, it can indicate a fungus infection or even a more serious problem.

How does it look like?

The nail looks exactly like a spoon. In minor cases, the nail only has a little wave in it. In more severe cases, the nail becomes brittle and usually cracks inside the wave. It may even ***** to the very end of the nail plate. The skin around the damaged nail is usually dry. Fungus infections can develop within these splits and may discolor the nail to a green or yellowish color.

Causes

The deformity can be hereditary, and in this case the nail seems completely healthy. Biting and an unhealthy diet (the lack of iron and nutrition)can also cause this kind of deformity.
Different forms of trauma to the nail plate can also be the reason of spoon nails, but in this case the shape will sooner or later grow out, and can be filed off. If the nail technician recognises some kind of change on the clients’ nails they should suggest the client to seek medical advice.

Treatment

In milder cases the problem can be solved by just letting the nail grow out. In other causes such as a iron deficiency or improper diet, taking some form iron supplementation or changing the diet may help. During the treatment the skin around the nail should also be looked after.
for Nail Techs

If you think your client has spoon nails ask him or her and find out how long your client has this condition. If you do not know the client and see that the nails are unhealthy or discoloured send her to a doctor before doing the clients’ nails. However if the nail seems clean you can safely put an overlay on it. Extra precaution should be taken to make sure that nail and edges are carefully cleaned. Apply the overlay just the same. Try not to miss any part of the nail. Make sure you properly fill in the wave (the overlay will be a bit thicker there)!

Remember that if a client appears with this condition, it is better to first refer them for medical advice than to be sorry later.

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The Vital Importance of Proper Nail Care!

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 22:20:41 +0000

Konrad Braun asked:

Nail care can easily be overlooked, but it is a very important detail in personal hygiene and beauty care.
The very basis of nail care is a healthy diet, but that applies to care of the entire body.

The first matter of business is cleanliness. Hands should be washed with a gentle soap, and one should use a nail brush to scrub under the nails. Not only does this enhance the appearance, but it keeps bacteria at bay. Using a basic hand lotion after washing will keep the hands soft, and is especially important in winter.

Before trimming your nails, your hands should be soaked in warm water for a few minutes (after having a bath is a convenient time) This softens the nails, and makes trimming safer, healthier, and less messy.

At this point, the cuticles are also soft and yielding. They should be gently pushed back with a cuticle stick. Don’t cut your cuticles. Cuticles exist to keep bacteria out of the body, so cutting them can put your nails at a risk of infection. Keeping cuticles pushed back also avoids ragged cutting, and in the long term your cuticles will look much better pushed than they would cut.

If you have trouble with hangnails, chances are you aren’t moisturizing your cuticles enough. A good hand lotion or cuticle cream should be applied as often as possible.

After you’ve trimmed your nails and pushed back your cuticles, allow your nails to dry. Once they are hard again, gently file the tips to remove rough corners or edges. File from the corner to the centre of your nail in one direction and a single motion.

Before applying polish, make sure your nails are free from oil, lotion, or any previous nail polish. Always use a base coat, allowing it to dry thoroughly. A base coat extends the life of polish on your nail, and prevents the nail from breaking.

Nail polish should be applied in two coats, allowing the first to dry completely before applying the second. Fast drying polish doesn’t last as long as ordinary polish, and darker polishes require more time to dry. You should use about 3 strokes to apply polish, first on either side, and the final stroke in the centre of the nail.

Once the final coat of polish has dried entirely, a clear top coat should be put on. Applying a top coat daily will preserve the polish, and keep the nails fresh in appearance. Nail polish should be removed with a polish remover that includes hydrating oils.

When hands and nails are well maintained and cared for regularly, people will notice. It has been said that hands are the best indicator of a person. A person who cares for their hands cares for the rest of their body. Unkempt hands may be a signal that the person doesn’t take good care of his or herself. So, remember to take good care of your hands!

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The Importance of Nail Manicures

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 20:18:10 +0000

Amy Leigh Parker asked:

You use your fingers the whole day for most of your tasks and yet do not take care of your nails that are also use and abused most of the times you perform such tasks. Most people just do not bother to spend some time and money to go in for nail manicures. Quite a few of them permit their nails to grow longer to give a unique look to their fingers. Longer nails are harder to maintain than shorter ones and even the simple task of typing too hard on the keyboard might damage them.

These things apart, there is the inherent habit of chewing at the nails. Not only does this damage the nails, it also leaves sharp edges on the same and creates a weapon out of the nibbled nail. Just a brief accidental touch of the same on any sensitive surface… like the eyes… might cause grave injury. It is high time we understood the basics of nail manicures and practiced the same at home. There are options of visiting the salons for a manicure session, but this costs a decent sum of money. The sums spent on undergoing a couple of manicure sessions are sufficient to purchase nail manicures sets.

There are many online sites that sell such sets and you can opt in for a set of your choice. However, do not go in for cheap imports since they might eventually end up causing more harm than good. Now that you have purchased a manicure set and are ready to do nail manicures, here are a few things that will help you with your task. You should remember to remove all the traces of nail polish that you have applied on your nails. All manicure kits contain an emery board and you should use this to buff the edges of your nail and shape them.

Never make the mistake of rubbing the emery board using a seesaw motion. Rub it only in one direction. These emery boards are dual sided with one side being coarse and the other one being fine. If you intend to shorten your nails a bit, use the coarse side of the emery board. This task should be done carefully and you should ensure that there are no sharp edges left on your nail after sanding it with the emery board… to ensure this, run your fingers over discarded and old pantyhose.

If the nail has been sanded properly, it will not snag the fibers of the pantyhose. You should never cut away the cuticles. Instead apply some cuticle remover cream and push back the cuticles gently with the help of a cotton bud. Most nail manicures sets also contain special oil for treating your nail. Take a jug of warm water and put a few drops of this oil in it. Now dip your fingers in this water and allow your nails to soak in them for some time. Once this task is completed, pat dry your nails. Never rub them dry.

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where can i buy OPI nail polish?

Wed, 26 May 2010 16:34:06 +0000

Ashley16 asked:

i think there is like an OPI nail strengthener and i was wondering where i can buy it because my nails are crappy right now
oh and did you ever use it? how did it work on strengthening your nails?

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What kind of OPI nail polish did I use ?

Thu, 20 May 2010 11:15:11 +0000

×renaa× asked:

At a salon today I did my nails rainbow and I used OPI nail polishes.. I don’t really do my nails but I got bored..
My favorite nail polish there was this sparkley orange nail polish with a little red liquid on top.. I cant find it on any websites :/

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OPI nail polish help?

Thu, 13 May 2010 19:40:31 +0000

SWC asked:

1. Where can I buy Sapphire in Snow in California?

2. Is there a similar color to that that i can buy from walgreens, walmart, and etc. (No i do not have an Ulta or Sephora near me) or just any similar nails polish that is not from OPI thanks!

or even a review of the product or a blue violet nail polish would be fine…

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OPI nail polish?

Thu, 13 May 2010 07:48:32 +0000

k.forkendra asked:

I love OPI nail polish. I need to paint my nails for an event I have comming up and I’m not sure what color of OPI nail polish to do. Got any suggestions, pictures would probably be more helpful. Thank you!!

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How long does Nicole by OPI nail polish last?

Tue, 11 May 2010 05:02:55 +0000

Hellen H asked:

Hey I just bought some Black Nicole nail polish made by OPI. How long will it stay on my nails usually?

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Chanel or OPI nail polish?

Mon, 10 May 2010 17:06:20 +0000

Chely asked:

i absolutely love chanel nail polish, and i have quite a collection built up.
i never have to re paint my nails unless i need a new color.
butttt, spending $30 on one bottle of nail polish each time seems to add up.
i hear OPI is good and far less expensive, but does it work just as well as chanel?
also, can i find it at macy’s as well? or where can i find it?

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