How to take care of the skin and nails of the hands and feet?
Every day we take care of the skin on our face, but we often forget about the skin on our hands and feet. The skin of the face and hands are the first to be noticed and beautiful, well-groomed skin and nails of the hands are a sign of good health, beauty and refinement. One of the main problems during the winter season is dry skin on the hands. It is easy to deal with the problem if you remember to follow these simple steps daily.
Nourishment
Regular application of cream after washing the hands keeps the skin hydrated and youthful for longer. The choice of cream is of utmost importance, as poor-quality products can harm the skin more than lack of care and lead to the development of allergic reactions such as redness, dryness, cracking of the skin, formation of wounds and dermatitis. Avoid creams containing alcohol, parabens, perfume and silicone. Choose creams with nourishing ingredients, such as glycerin, which retains water in the skin, hyaluronic acid, coenzyme Q10, retinol, ceramide, polyphenols, cold-pressed natural oils, aloe vera.
Sun protection
It is very important to use creams with a sun protection factor SPF 20-30 in winter and SPF 50 in summer, because the UV rays of the solar spectrum have a proven damaging effect on the DNA of our cells, lead to premature aging of the skin and early formation of hyperpigmentation. more commonly known as “age spots”.
Exfoliating
Exfoliate your hands and feet at least once a week. Suitable for this purpose are exfoliating creams and gels, as well as mechanical means for exfoliating the roughened skin of the feet /files are preferable to pumice stones/.
Manicure and pedicure
Regular visits to a specialist are not mandatory, but the maintenance of a moderate length of nails and the healthy condition and integrity of the skin around them is mandatory. Disturbances in the integrity of the skin and nails, for example broken integrity of the cuticle, as a result of the incorrect and excessive cutting and pushing of the cuticles during manicure and pedicure, can be a gateway for bacterial infection, for example erysipelas after injuries of the skin and toenails or a fungal infection /onychomycosis/ that affects the fingernails and toenails. Onychomycosis occurs more often in the toenails because of the higher humidity and low pH, due to wearing shoes for many hours, wherein the skin does not breathe.
Suitable shoes and gloves
Constant trauma to the nail plate of the feet, due to wearing uncomfortable shoes, leads to tissue growth locally in the form of calluses or overall thickening and roughening of the skin and nails of the feet. This makes deformed nails more likely to become infected, which is the most common cause of onychomycosis, along with walking barefoot in public pools, using other people’s shoes, slippers or toiletries such as scissors, files, nail clippers.
Heavy manual labor and use of chemicals in work and household activities also damage the skin of the hands and nails, so the use of protective gloves is recommended. Wearing gloves during the winter also protects the hands from freezing and the skin from drying out and inflammation.
Hygiene
It is extremely important to keep our hands and feet clean, as poor hygiene can lead to various infections and diseases – local and general. Since soaps have a drying effect on the skin, you should choose ones that are low in alcohol and rich in moisturizing ingredients such as shea butter, olive oil, aloe vera, which help preserve the natural protective water-lipid surface layer.
How to recognize onychomycosis?
Onychomycosis is a chronic disease that leads to the destruction of the nail plate of the hands and feet, under the influence of infectious agents – dematophytes, yeasts. The affected area initially appears as a whitish or yellowish spot located along the outer edge of the nail. Gradually, the process spreads and covers the base of the nail and it turns brown. As the infection progresses, the nail thickens /subungual hyperkeratosis/ and becomes brittle.
If timely treatment is not started, the process can spread and cover the adjacent nails, resulting in total dystrophic onychomycosis with complete destruction of the nail plate.
The treatment is long-term, internal and external, and includes local and systemic antimycotic therapy with various preparations, depending on the exact cause of the infection /Griseofulvin, Terbinafine, Fluconazole, Itraconazole/.
What dermatological procedures can help us have healthy skin and nails?
In case of onychomycosis extremely good results are achieved by laser procedures with Nd: YAG laser (1064nm), which acts directly at the site of infection and destroys the pathogen. With mature and aging skin of the hands, an instant result and visible rejuvenation and nourishment of the skin can be achieved with a hyaluronic filler. Age spots and hyperpigmentation in the hands can be treated with picosecond laser PicoSure, which destroys pigment and visibly evens skin tone.
