LIVING

Are you lucky? Are you going on a journey or perhaps love lurks wistfully around the corner? Do your fingernails predict life events, or simply reflect your lifestyle choices of diet, hobbies or even something more sinister….

Fingernails tell tales, especially when scientists get hold of them. More effective than a urine sample, the humble fingernail clipping can reveal levels of exposure to dangerous substances. Which was very handy for residents in Slovakia who discovered via their fingernails, that they were slowly being poisoned by deadly levels of environmental arsenic.

Wind back the clock by millions of years and we find that fingernails evolved from claws, when our ancestors moved away from tree climbing to scrambling over smaller branches and twigs.

Today, you can expect your nails to grow at an average rate of 1 cm every 100 days. Male nails grow faster than female nails – although during pregnancy lady nails go into overdrive along with everything else. But if you leave them long enough, say 47 years like Mr. Shridhar Chillal, your nails could measure 7.21 meters long. So long in fact that they have coiled around themselves and Mr. Chillal’s hand like erratic helter skelters of horned keratin. Fantastic if you want an appearance in the Book of Guinness World Records, but not so good if you want to dress yourself….or get a date.

Since ancient times, nails have been used as diagnostic tools to interpret the health of their owner. White spots on our fingernails are sometimes regarded as lucky. Some Germans correlate the number of white spots to the number of years left to live. In the UK, some people think that a white spot on the pointer finger indicates a new friend, the middle finger predicts a new enemy, on the ring finger money or new love and if it is on our baby finger, a journey. Science says that white spots are caused by minor trauma, especially if you regularly work with your hands – or if you are a clumsy home improver. Likewise they do not reflect calcium deficiency. No treatment is needed since the white spot will grow out with the nail.

Looking after your former claws

Our nails become more brittle as we age. They suffer more in winter too, so it’s never too late to lavish them with attention to keep them well hydrated and less brittle. Apply hand cream frequently, especially after washing your hands and pay attention to the cuticle area as this protects the nail from invading bacteria. A damaged nail can invite infection - and cause permanent damage. Moisturize your nails and cuticles at bedtime and cover them with cotton gloves.

Top Tips

Don't use nail polish remover more than twice a month. Instead, touch up the nail polish.

Try to use an acetone free polish remover as acetone dries nails.

After you have removed the nail polish, wash your nails to remove the polish remover and then moisturize your nails.

Disinfect your nail clippers as bacteria and other microbes can get transferred to other nails.

Keep your nails short, trim into a slightly rounded shape.

If you have very brittle nails, try trimming them after a bath or a 15-minute hand-soak in baby oil.

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