YOUR NAILS.

Hokitika Guardian, 4 March 1922, Page 1

YOUR NAILS.

(By a Physiian). Healthy, wfell-cared for finger nails are universally admired, and women especially have recognised the added charm which they give to the hands. In substance a nail corresponds to the horny outer layer of the skin and differs from it only in being harder and firmer. It is made up of a number of layers of palygonal cells or little plates. Sometimes between these plates, and also in their interior, small or large air bubbles occur, producing by reflected light the white spots often known as gift spots. The top surface of the nail should be smooth, horny, and glossy, hut the undersurface is longitudinally ridged, thus giving the nail a firm seat in its bed.

The half-moon-shaped area at the base of the visible portion of the nail is most distinct on the thumb, although usually Well defined on the other fingers. There is some difference of opinion as to its formation, but it seems to he due to opacity or decreased transparency of the nail tissue at this place. Nail-growth varies somewhat ' in different individuals and in different nails. It is more rapid in the young, and during the summer.

According to a careful observer, the increased rapidity of growth in the summer is much more marked in the case of the nails of the right hand than in those of the left.

The growth from the half-moon to the free of the finger takes about four months, and it has been calculated that the nails of the hands and feet together produce about one-ninth of an ounce of substance a year. Proper care and cutting of the nails, including avoidance of pressure from tight-fitting gloves, are essential to nail beauty. Even slight injuries from manicure implements should he guarded against, especially the careless use of the cuticle knife, which is often responsible for white spots and transverse furrows. Any excessive nail growth should first be thoroughly softened by soaking | in hot water in which a little sodium bicarbonate or borax has been dissolved and then carefully cut or filed away. Subsequent overgrowth can usually lie kept under control by a fine file rather than with scissors or knife. If there is a tendency to stony hardness or brittleness a slight soaking nightly, or every second or third night, in hot water, with or without the addition of the alkali, is advisable, the nails being subsequently smeared with a plain ointment, such as cold cream or vaseline, which should be left on overnight. In cases of nail-splitting the first essential is to keep the free end of the nail closely cut or filed. A plain salve should he applied nightly and a piece of a glove finger worn over the finger-tip. If persisted in, this treatment will often be successful in getting rid of the trouble.