What is the nail health circle?

The nail health circle is the "crescent moon" that everyone often talks about. Its scientific name is nail half moon. It is essentially the incomplete keratinized nail plate protein structure naturally formed during the growth of nails. It is not the "accurate health ruler" spread on the Internet at all.

Not long ago, a young girl who just entered college came to the dermatology clinic to register. She said that she only had two crescents on her thumb. A health blogger said that this was "severe Qi and blood deficiency, which may lead to infertility in the future." She was so scared that she cried for several days and could not even eat. After a complete physical examination, there was no problem. It was just that the natural nail matrix was far back and not exposed.

It's quite interesting to say that the saying about crescent moons has been passed down for decades. Many old people get together and compete with each other to see who has more crescent moons on their hands, as if two more crescent moons can extend their lives by ten years. In fact, the size and number of each person's crescents are mostly related to the position of the innate nail matrix and the frequency of daily nail wear. To use an inappropriate analogy, some people have a high hairline and have more of their forehead exposed, while some people have a low hairline and have bangs that completely cover their forehead. They are all inherently different. People who do a lot of physical work and whose nails wear out quickly will also have faster nail growth. The half moon of the nail that is not completely keratinized is more likely to be exposed. For people who often do manicures and whose nails are rarely worn, the half moon will naturally be small or even invisible. This has nothing to do with cold body or kidney deficiency.

Of course, there are indeed two different opinions on the relationship between the crescent moon and health. There has been a popular saying among the people that "the more crescent moons, the healthier, and the smaller the crescent moons, the weaker the body." In fact, this statement regards the changes in the crescent moon that accompany some people's physical problems as a universal standard, which is why many people make jokes about taking supplements of health soup and getting angry. The current mainstream view of dermatology is that attention needs to be paid only when there are drastic changes in the lunula within a short period of time - for example, there were seven or eight lunulae before, and suddenly they shrank to only one or two within a month or two, or only the lunula on the thumb originally appeared, and all the rest suddenly popped up, accompanied by symptoms of panic, sudden weight gain and loss, and easy fatigue, which may be related to abnormal thyroid function and nutritional metabolism problems. At this time, you need to go to the hospital for further examination. The number of lunulae alone has no diagnostic significance.

I am usually chased by my relatives to look at the crescent moon on my hand, and I have to explain it for a long time every time. If I really want to judge my health status, instead of staring at the translucent white mark, it is better to eat well and have a regular schedule, which is worse than anything else.