{"id":92901,"date":"2017-09-29T13:59:04","date_gmt":"2017-09-29T20:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nailcarehq.com\/?p=92901"},"modified":"2025-06-18T13:31:59","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T20:31:59","slug":"healthy-nails-and-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nailcareheadquarters.com\/healthy-nails-and-stress\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthy Nails – The Effect of Stress"},"content":{"rendered":"
HEALTHY NAILS<\/span><\/h6>\n

\"healthy-nails---stress-effects\"Some are born with naturally beautiful nails and hands that just seem to stay picture perfect.<\/p>\n

For many others (myself included) growing and maintaining healthy nails can be a challenge at times.<\/p>\n

Did you know that there are two kinds of stress<\/strong> that can affect the health of your nails?<\/p>\n

In this Ask Ana article, you\u2019ll learn the different ways physical and emotional stress impact the health of your nails.<\/p>\n

QUESTION<\/h2>\n

Hello Ana, I\u2019m a very stressed person, dealing with anxiety for a long time now. I have experienced hair loss, acne breakouts and such on. Recently I’ve noticed certain lines on my nails that look like fractures. Seeing these lines made me wonder, is there any affect on the nails by severe anxiety? What are the effects that anxiety have on hair and skin? I have read your article about stress fractures. The lines I mentioned look very much like stress fractures. Could my stress fractures actually been caused by stress? ~Emma<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

ANSWER<\/h2>\n

Emma, this is a great question! <\/span><\/p>\n

There are actually different definitions for the word \u201cstress\u201d. The main two are physical stress and emotional stress. They affect our nails differently.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Definitions of Stress<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Constraining force or influence: such as<\/span><\/p>\n

a: \u00a0a force exerted when one body or body part presses on, pulls on, pushes against, or tends to compress or twist another body or body part; especially: \u00a0the intensity of this mutual force commonly expressed in pounds per square inch<\/span><\/p>\n

b: \u00a0the deformation caused in a body by such a force<\/span><\/p>\n

c: \u00a0a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation<\/span><\/p>\n

d: \u00a0a state resulting from a stress; especially: \u00a0one of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium job-related stress [Source: <\/span>Merriam-Webster.com<\/span><\/a>]<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Physical Stress<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Transverse and lateral fissures usually occur when the nail is sharply bent<\/strong>. Transverse fissures (horizontal) are caused when the nail plate is nearly bent and small cracks form in the stress area. Lateral fissures (vertical) are often caused when the free edge is sharply impacted. ~Doug Schoon, author of Nail Structure and Product Chemistry<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The fissures, which I call stress fractures<\/strong>, happen when\u00a0you aren\u2019t paying attention and\u00a0you wack\u00a0your nail against something hard. It can also happen when doing a task that forces\u00a0your nail to bend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes the stress exerted on the nail is so intense that it can cause the nail to bend but not snap. The nail layers are split too much to recover.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If you are regularly using a\u00a0jojoba wax ester based nail oil<\/a>, then your nails will bend. If not, the tips will be too dry and break.<\/span><\/p>\n

I usually get a stress fracture in one of my nails when putting clean sheets on my bed<\/strong>. I try to\u00a0get my husband, Cory, to take care of that\u00a0chore as much as possible!<\/span><\/p>\n

I used to do a silk or fiberglass nail repair<\/a> over the stress fracture to preserve the damaged tip. Since I have horses and a garden that require a lot of hard work that puts more stress on my fingernails, I just file off the fracture or cut my nails shorter<\/strong>. The daily chores in my life just don’t allow my nails to stay long. Thankfully, the nail community has shown me that well manicured short nails can be very beautiful.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The good\u00a0news<\/strong> about stress fractures is that stress fractures can be filed off<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

As for the second kind of stress, emotional stress, well that is a\u00a0much bigger beast to tackle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emotional Stress<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We all experience stress in our body every day. Some stresses are healthy and some are not.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Falling in love<\/strong> is a stress on the body but in a very good<\/strong> way.\u00a0Your body produces chemicals that make\u00a0you feel great when you’re in love.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are plenty of other stresses that can take a toll<\/strong> on\u00a0your body too. Divorce, moving to a new home, health issues, surgery, new medications, and school\/job stresses are just a few examples.<\/span><\/p>\n

I often get asked, \u201cwhy have my nails suddenly started peeling<\/strong>?\u201d Since the average nail takes about 4 months to replace itself, I ask, \u201cwhat big thing happened to you 4 months ago?<\/strong>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ninety percent of the time it can be pinpointed to a big personal stress.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why Does Stress Matter?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Our nails are constantly changing.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n

People want to think that they don\u2019t change, but this just isn\u2019t true. <\/span><\/p>\n

Take a look at the nails of a toddler and then the nails of someone over 90 years old. Ridges become far more pronounced as we age<\/strong>. This is because children are in a continual growth mode. <\/span><\/p>\n

As we get older, our digestion declines<\/strong> and it\u2019s harder for the body to absorb all of the nutrients from our food. We also tend to develop more health issues as we age.<\/span><\/p>\n

It took me 18 months to heal from my abdominal surgery in 2014. About 4 months after the surgery, my nails were noticeably thinner and were constantly peeling. They continued to stay that way for well over a year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Because my body was in preservation and healing mode. Since fingernails and toenails are the farthest from\u00a0your core internal organs, fewer nutrients are delivered to the nail matrix.\u00a0This means the quality of nail cell your body creates when stressed seriously declines.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like I mentioned before, some stresses are good. But they can be bad at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n

How?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at getting married. <\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s the joy<\/strong> of being in love, but the thousands of decisions a couple will make for the wedding day can make both of them go a little crazy<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Or how about moving into a new home? <\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s the joy of finding your new living space and feeling like you\u2019re starting a new stage of your life. <\/span><\/p>\n

But, then you have to pack boxes, move all the boxes hoping nothing breaks, try to find immediate living stuff as quickly as possible, finish unpacking and decorating. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sounds exhausting, right? Well, it is. It can take up to a year to finally feel settled in and for your body to feel more relaxed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Work Till You Die?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Did you know that more people have heart attacks on Mondays?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

According to researchers, an “outpouring” of stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, occurs within working people on Mondays. These findings were substantiated in a study of 683 patients, predominantly middle-aged men with implanted defibrillators (pacemakers) and a history of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias (heart attacks). The data led researchers to conclude that Monday is the most stressful day of the week when it comes to risk factors for heart attack. [Source: DrSinatra.com] https:\/\/www.drsinatra.com\/heart-attack-risk-factors-rise-on-mondays<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chronic stress at work can take a toll on your body too. All jobs have stressful tasks. We can\u2019t help that. But we can decide which type of stress it\u2019s going to be.<\/p>\n

If you dread going to work every morning, it\u2019s time to start looking for a new job. Working at a job you hate could just kill you.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Self-Care<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The word disease<\/strong> comes from <\/span>Middle English (in the sense \u2018lack of ease; inconvenience\u2019) and from Old French <\/span>desaise<\/span><\/i> \u2018lack of ease,\u2019 from <\/span>des-<\/span><\/i> (expressing reversal) + <\/span>aise<\/span><\/i> \u2018ease.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

If your body is not at ease, all sorts of problems start happening.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is why it\u2019s so important to do as much self-care as possible. <\/span><\/p>\n

It starts with making sure that you are sleeping<\/strong> enough, making healthy<\/strong> food<\/strong> choices and drinking enough water<\/strong>. The new rule of thumb with water intake is to calculate your body weight and divide it in half. Use this number to determine how many ounces of water your body needs daily.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example; someone who weighs 150 pounds (68 kilos) needs 75 ounces of water (2.21 L). Someone who weighs 300 pounds (138 kilos) needs 150 ounces (4.44 L).<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course,\u00a0as we hear so often from doctors, media, and health experts,\u00a0we all should\u00a0exercise<\/strong>\u00a0regularly, even if it\u2019s just taking a daily walk. <\/span><\/p>\n

And it\u2019s important to find ways to relax<\/strong>. Whether it\u2019s meditating, reading, journaling, drawing or painting our nails, it\u2019s important to find what works for you<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

When\u00a0your body is at ease, all of your bodily functions are able to heal and improve, including making better nail cells.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s what we all want, right?!<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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