Leave your cuticles well alone Taking care of your cuticles also helps minimise those dreaded hangnails (try not to tear them to avoid infections). If you're dead-set on messing with your cuticles, we recommend gently pushing back the cuticle once a week after getting out of the shower.
Nail roots can easily become infected if they're exposed. Pushing back the cuticles rather than trimming them keeps them sealed to the nail root and prevents the onset of bacteria and germs.
Your cuticle is an important part of your nail. This small strip of skin at the bottom of your nail acts as extra protection from germs entering your nail bed. Pushing them back incorrectly or cutting them too short can put you at risk of infection. A licensed nail technician can do this for you safely.
You need cuticles; they protect your nail. You can push them back but do not try to completely remove them, as doing so can cause infections and damage to the nail bed.
But if your cuticles are over trimmed, picked or pushed back, the road to healthy cuticles is a lot harder. “Sometimes, after chronic manipulation picking and pushing, combined with inflammation and damage, the new cuticle skin does not readily adhere back to the nail plate,” explains Dr. Shainhouse.
It's mostly for the looks and less for health. Cuticles are the dead skin dragged out as the nail grows. They make the nail look smaller and sometimes less attractive. The idea behind removing the cuticles is similar to the idea of nail cutting.
Healthy fingernails are smooth, without pits or grooves. They're uniform in color and consistency and free of spots or discoloration. Sometimes fingernails develop harmless vertical ridges that run from the cuticle to the tip of the nail.
Using a metal pusher, you can carefully push the cuticle toward the back end of your nail. “Afterwards, use soap and water to wash the cuticle remover off of the nail plate and cut whatever's hanging,” Gerstein says. Remember, you only trim the dead excess skin (hangnails), nothing further.
Staying consistent with pushing back your cuticles and buffing them helps train them over time to lie flat. Weekly manicures will ensure your cuticles are almost a non-factor. Cutting your cuticles causes your cuticles to come back each time.
What is a Russian Manicure? A Russian Manicure or also known as a dry manicure is done primarily with an electronic file (e-file). The certified technician precisely uses the e-file and different attachment bits to gently lift and buff away dead cuticle skin around the nail bed.
If you're hoping to make your nails appear longer, you can push your cuticles back gently with a wooden orange stick instead. "Cuticles don't want to be cut," Toombs says. "They're supposed to be soft, and cutting can make them hard, more likely to fracture. If you cut it, it has an increased tendency to split off."
Manicurist Nicole Wong swears by soaking nails in soapy water. "First, push your cuticles with a wooden stick or use a cuticle pusher to loosen up the cuticles on your nail, then soak them in soapy, warm water for a couple of minutes," she advises. "Soaking your cuticles will make it easier to see and trim dead skin."
Manicurist will push your cuticles back to give the illusion of a longer nail bed. This is also done because the cuticle grows on top of your nail bed, and if left alone will continue to grow. Painting the excess cuticle or applying gel / acrylics on top of the excess cuticle will cause them to lift, and flake of.
Leave your cuticles well alone
The cuticle has a very important purpose to serve: It seals the area at the base of the nail. So when you cut (or gnaw at) the cuticle, it breaks that seal of protection. The better you are at leaving cuticles alone, the more your nails will thank you.
Normally, cuticles that have seen better days will heal on their own in about a week or two. In severe cases, it could take months to treat damaged cuticles (and you'll have to consult your doctor in such instances). But there are daily habits that will help fix gross cuticles so they don't get worse.
Moisturize Daily
Keeping the cuticle moisturized is the easiest way to keep it healthy, points out Stern, who notes that the type of product you use to do so is important. "Oils are preferred over creams, as creams aren't absorbed as effectively by cuticle tissue," she says.
Not being able to see a half-moon, or lunula, on the nails may be a sign of a vitamin deficiency, vitiligo, kidney failure, or another health condition, some of which can be serious.
Koilonychia is indented nails. Instead of growing straight, your nails look concave, like spoons. In many people, koilonychia is a sign of iron deficiency. Usually, you can get rid of spoon nails by treating the underlying cause.