Nail Technology (Manicuring)
Nail technology covers manicuring, pedicuring, nail structure and disorders, artificial enhancements, and the disinfection rules that separate a compliant salon from a risky one. Exam items often present a client scenario and ask what you may do; the answer is grounded in nail anatomy and in what can and cannot be disinfected.
Nail anatomy
- Plate (visible body), bed (under the plate), matrix (where cells are produced - damage here permanently deforms the nail), lunula (visible half-moon of the matrix), free edge, eponychium (living tissue at the base), cuticle (non-living seal on the plate), hyponychium (seal under the free edge), sidewalls and nail folds.
- Fingernails grow roughly 1/8 inch per month and take four to six months to replace; toenails take nine to twelve months.
Manicure protocol
- Shape with a fine-grit file in one direction, corner to centre; sawing back and forth splits the free edge.
- Soften the cuticle, push it back gently, and trim only hangnails with nippers. The cuticle seals the nail; nipping living tissue invites paronychia.
- Then buff lightly, massage, and apply base coat, two thin colour coats, and top coat.
Disinfection
- Clean implements with soap and water, then immerse in an EPA-registered hospital-grade disinfectant for the full label contact time.
- Porous items - files, buffers, wooden sticks, cotton - cannot be disinfected and must be discarded or given to the client.
- Pedicure basins are scrubbed, then disinfected with a hospital-grade product after every client; screens and jets are cleaned as the label directs.
- Methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer is restricted or prohibited for artificial nails; use ethyl methacrylate (EMA) products as labelled.
Disorders to refer
- Onychomycosis (fungal), paronychia (bacterial redness, pus, swelling), and green discolouration from Pseudomonas are infections: apply no product, refer, and disinfect everything.
- Non-infectious: onycholysis (lifting), onychorrhexis (splitting), Beau's lines (stress grooves), koilonychia (spoon nails), leukonychia (white spots).
Worked example
A client arrives with green-black staining under a lifted acrylic. Reason it out: the discolouration suggests Pseudomonas growing in the moist pocket - an infection, not a stain. Remove the product, do not reapply, refer to a physician, and disinfect all implements with the hospital-grade product.
Traps that cost marks
- Filing the natural nail back and forth.
- Reusing a porous buffer or double-dipping cream.
- Cutting the cuticle instead of pushing it back.