Mani-Pedi Basics: Your Complete Guide to Safe At-Home Nail Care

Hand & Foot Care

Pick up almost any nail tutorial and the advice is the same: soak, cut, scrape, push, trim, scrub. Ask a dermatologist or a podiatrist and you hear something quite different: do less, be gentle, and leave a few jobs to professionals.

This series is a guide to giving yourself a manicure and pedicure the careful way. It is nine posts, and this one is the hub. The health advice is checked against sources such as the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA), the UK’s NHS, the US FDA and Cleveland Clinic, and each post lists what I used. Where those sources disagree, I say so instead of picking a winner quietly. It is general information, not medical advice, and it does not replace a doctor, podiatrist or dermatologist.

Your nail, part by part

Most of what you paint is not the living part of the nail. Cleveland Clinic calls the whole structure the “nail unit”, and the hard surface you can see is only one piece of it.

Side-view diagram of a fingertip with the nail parts marked with letters A to H: nail plate, lunula, root, sinus, matrix, nail bed, hyponychium and free margin

Image: Diagram of the parts of a human nail by KDS444, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The diagram above marks eight parts with letters: A is the nail plate, B the lunula, C the root, D the sinus, E the matrix, F the nail bed, G the hyponychium and H the free margin. In everyday terms:

  • Nail plate: the hard, slightly curved surface you trim, file and polish. It is made of keratin. It normally has faint ridges running from the base to the tip, and Cleveland Clinic says each person’s pattern is their own. The white tip that extends past the finger is the free edge.
  • Nail matrix: the structure that makes the nail plate. Most of it is hidden under the skin. The pale half-moon at the base of a nail, called the lunula, is the only visible part of it. MedlinePlus notes that crushing the base of the nail or the nail bed can cause permanent deformity, which is one reason to be gentle near the base.
  • Nail bed: the skin under the plate. It holds the plate in place and its small blood vessels feed the fingertip.
  • Nail folds: the skin bordering the nail. The lateral folds tuck in at the sides and the proximal fold sits at the base.
  • Cuticle (eponychium): a layer of skin cells along the proximal fold that sticks to the plate. Cleveland Clinic says it protects against germs and infection. The cuticle post is all about it.
  • Hyponychium: the skin and space under the free edge, where the nail bed meets the outside skin. Cleveland Clinic calls it a strong barrier against germs and irritants, which is a good reason not to jab at it with sharp tools.

Nails are slow. According to Cleveland Clinic, fingernails grow about 3 millimeters a month and toenails about 1.5 millimeters. A lost fingernail takes at least six months to regrow and a lost toenail 12 to 18 months. The AAD quotes the same six-month and 12-to-18-month figures when it talks about growing out gel polish. So a nail mistake is not something you can undo by next weekend.

A hand with short, unpolished natural fingernails

Image: Short, natural fingernails by Kommissar, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The ground rules in one list

Every later post goes deeper, but these are the habits that come up again and again in the AAD, APMA and NHS advice:

  1. Toenails: cut straight across. Do not round the corners or cut them short. The APMA says rounded edges raise the odds of an ingrown toenail, and the NHS says to trim straight across and not too short. Fingernails can be cut almost straight across, with the corners rounded slightly with a file (AAD).
  2. File in one direction. The AAD says back-and-forth filing can weaken nails.
  3. Do not cut your cuticles. Every source I read agrees on that. Whether to push them is less clear, and the cuticle post covers it.
  4. Keep sharp tools away from under the nail. The APMA says to use a wooden or rubber manicure stick, gently, and nothing sharp. The NHS says not to clean under nails with sharp objects.
  5. Moisturize. The AAD recommends moisturizer after trimming, after washing and after polish remover. Gloves for wet chores help too.
  6. Clean your tools and do not share them. The AAD gives a monthly disinfecting routine (the nail tools post). The APMA and NHS both say not to share clippers or files.
  7. Ventilate, and keep flames away. The FDA says nail products can catch fire and that good ventilation matters.
  8. Do not paint over a problem. The APMA advises against covering thick, discolored toenails with polish, because you cannot see what is happening underneath.

What I would skip at home

Some things sit in a salon menu or a viral video that the health sources actively warn against.

  • Foot razors and shaving calluses. The APMA tells people not to let anyone use a foot razor on them, because it can cut too deep and cause infection.
  • Cutting corns or calluses, or using corn pads and liquid removers, if you have diabetes. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) says not to do any of these.
  • Digging out an ingrown toenail. The AAD and NHS both say not to. The pedicure post and the nail problems post explain what to do instead.
  • Picking or peeling gel polish. The AAD says this can badly damage the nail (the gel polish post).
  • Counting on gelatine to strengthen nails. The AAD says there is no scientific evidence it works.

When to stop and ask a professional

Home care is for healthy nails. These are the signs where the advice is to stop and get checked:

  • You have diabetes or poor circulation. The APMA and NIDDK say to see a doctor or podiatrist about any foot or nail problem and to take special care with pedicures. The pedicure post covers this in detail.
  • The skin around a nail is red, swollen, sore or hot, or there is pus. The NHS says to see a doctor, and the AAD says early treatment of this kind of infection often works well.
  • A nail changes color or shape, lifts away, thickens or falls off for no clear reason. The NHS lists all of these as reasons to see a doctor. The AAD says a nail lifting up should be examined by a dermatologist.
  • A new or changing dark streak appears. The AAD says it could be melanoma, and that not every streak is, but it is always worth having a dermatologist look.
  • A rash or swelling after gel, acrylic or dip nails. Stop using the product, and see a dermatologist if it does not settle (the gel polish post).
  • Your toenails are too thick to cut, or you cannot see or reach your feet. The NHS suggests a podiatrist for tough nails, and the NIDDK says people with diabetes who cannot see, feel or reach their feet should have a foot doctor trim their nails.
  • You are pregnant. Nails can change in pregnancy, and the NHS says brittle nails usually improve within about six months of the birth. For questions about chemicals in nail products, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) advises talking to your ob-gyn, so do that.

Where to go next

The rest of the series, in the order I would read it. If you want gear in one place as you go, the Shop page links to our mani-pedi collection, and the kit post explains what you actually need so you do not buy the same thing twice.

Sources

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  1. Pingback: Cuticles: Push Them Back, Don’t Cut Them

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