Don’t neglect your NAILS

By Keith Purtell
Phoenix Staff Writer

July 21, 2008 08:10 pm

— Angie Ebert is one of many people who goes to a little extra effort to take care of her fingernails and toenails.
A part of our bodies often taken for granted, the nails add strength and stability to the ends of our digits.
They add functionality to our hands; everything from scratching an itch to separating flat objects that are close together.
Ebert, 47, who visits manicurist Shelly Chitwood on a regular basis, described a typical session.
“She uses a scrub on my feet and she uses a pumice stone to get the dead dry skin off there,” she said. “She will push back the cuticles. She will clip my nails; I like my toe nails short. In fall I wear close toe shoes and if my nails are short my toes don’t keep getting sore.”
Ebert said there is another practical reason she takes proper care of her feet.
“My heels are very dry,” she said. “A lot is about being able to walk comfortably; I get pedicures all year round.”
Part of the reason Ebert has to get professional attention for her hands is a result of her job.
“I have really dry cuticles on my hands because I work for a law office and I’m handling a lot of paper,” she said. “For some reason that dries them out. She puts cuticle oil on my hands.”
Ebert said another thing that dries out her hands and creates problems is yard work.
“I plant flowers, and I’ve been taking rocks out of the flower bed and replacing those,” she said. “This is a valid part of my health care.”
Chitwood, 40, said hand and foot care is something people don’t think about until they have problems.
“Healthwise, the feet are probably more important than the hands,” she said. “Diabetics have to really take care of their feet and be careful also. Circulation, get a massage especially the diabetics. Also helps with cracked feet to take off the dead skin. This is sandal season and feet tend to get more dry.”
It’s not just lifestyle but genetics that can affect the health of feet and hands.
“Some people have hereditary dry skin,” Chitwood said. “I have some customers who get a pedicure every four to six weeks to keep up with dry feet.”
Chitwood said the common hangnail is caused by dry skin, or skin-drying jobs like handling a lot of paper.
“Don’t pull or bite off a hangnail,” she said. “It can get infected. And saliva hardens the skin more. Don’t trim anything unless it is dying or dead.”
The health of the toenail or fingernail is rooted in the cuticle area. The cuticle is special area where the skin of the toe or finger grows slightly over the base of the nail.
“For some people their cuticle grows up on their nail; you don’t want it to do that,” Chitwood said. “It happens on the feet too. It’s all hereditary.”
Chitwood listed the basic tools everyone should have to take care of their toenails and fingernails:
• Clippers.
• A nail file.
• Cream, especially for the feet, that is thicker than lotion.
• A cuticle pusher.
• Nippers to clip hangnails.
Chitwood doesn’t recommend cutting the cuticle or any other skin that is not dead.
“The length of the nail is more important for feet than hands,” she said. “On feet, if you cut too short it can cause ingrown toenails. Some peoples nails grow up — they scoop up — and may need to be cut shorter. Length of fingernails is a personal preference.”
Chitwood said different jobs cause different problems for the hands and feet.
“Salespeople get corns and calluses on their feet,” she said. “Farmers and ranchers who handle tools get calluses on their hands. A corn is a small bump that is a buildup of hard skin tissue.”
Although hand and feet problems are common for both men and women, Chitwood said she has noticed a gender difference in who takes care of themselves.
“My customers are mostly women,” she said. “But hand and foot care is just as good for men as women. One man had arthritis in his hands. I dipped them in wax and massaged his hands every day; his insurance paid for it.”
Reach Keith Purtell at 684-2925 or kpurtell @muskogeephoenix.com.

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