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May 13, 2004

Hands and Feet Through Time by Jan Nordstrom-Arnold & Pierce Mattie

You’re invited to take a walk from infancy to elderly—the long journey of the hands and feet. On an ordinary day, an average person walks 5,000 steps; in a lifetime, 50,000 miles. Consider the major role hands and feet play in basic functioning, and you will understand the amount of abuse the hands and feet sustain just going from the bedside to the workplace.

Nail Growth
Nail growth is stimulated greatly by good nutrition and can be affected by general health or disease. Growth depends on age, gender, time of year and hormones. For example, men’s nails grow faster than women’s nails, nails on the toes grow slower than nails on the hands and pregnant women’s nails tend to grow quickly because of a shift in hormones. Nails also grow more quickly in warmer weather. Children’s nails grow an average of two inches per year and as an adult, they grow at about 0.1 mm per day, the same rate that the continents shift.

Hands and feet can reveal personal grooming habits and typically reflect a person’s general state of health, but they also can be an indicator of age. Properly cared for nails, hands and feet project a well-polished look that most women seek to achieve.

Infants
As an infant, the nails grow rapidly and are very delicate and sharp. Babies often scratch themselves if their nails are not properly trimmed once or twice a week. When a child is born, none of the bones in the foot are completely formed—the bones actually still are cartilage that has not calcified, so a baby’s feet can be very flexible.

Young Children
Nail biting and thumb sucking are very common in young children and can be a very bad habit. Approximately one-third of elementary-aged students and one-half of adolescents bite their nails and roughly one out of every three children ages 1-4 will suck their thumb, at least for a period of time.

Girls
Girls as young as 10 have been taking care of their nails and frequenting nail salons more often. Regular care and attention paid to nails at an early age will train young women to practice good grooming.

Young women
Heavily pigmented nail polish can stain the natural nail, so women who paint their nails are sometimes surprised to remove their polish and find their nails have become discolored. Discoloration can be prevented with a good base coat. The discoloration can be removed by rubbing pure acetone over the nails until the color is gone. Moisturize afterward to counteract the drying effect of the acetone. It’s also recommended to polish the nails no more than twice a week, as repeated removal can dry out nails.

Men
A common problem in men between 40 and 65 is nail fungus. Nail fungus is an infection that usually occurs in the toenails when tiny organisms called dermatophytes enter from beneath the nail or a damaged area of the nail. Women suffer fungal infections as well, but they are most common in the foot of a male. Fungal infections occur when a fungal organism is trapped in a warm, dark area where moisture is present, such as a sweaty dress sock, and injury or illness created an opportunity for infection to occur.

The Elderly
In the later stages of life, the elderly experience many problems with the hands, feet, skin and nails. Circulation begins to slow, especially in the feet, skin becomes thin and dry, and nails can become ingrown and thickened. Problems in the feet for the elderly can lead to more problems than foot pain, discomfort or infection. With age, the nails become brittle and maintaining a pedicure can be difficult. The nails can become thicker and more susceptible to problems or infection. Circulatory problems don’t allow as much blood to the foot and can hinder the healing process of minor cuts or scrapes, causing them to develop into lesions or infection.

Jan Nordstrom-Arnold is a co-founder of Creative Nail Design.

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Posted by at May 13, 2004 01:21 PM

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