Nail Disorders, Diseases, and Conditions
The exam tests a single decisive skill here: knowing what you may service, what you must refuse, and when to refer. A nail technician identifies and refers; you never diagnose or treat.
Vocabulary the exam uses
A disorder is a condition without infection (Beau's lines, koilonychia, onychorrhexis, leukonychia, onycholysis). A disease involves infection - bacterial, fungal, or viral - and is not serviceable.
Not serviceable - refer
- Onychomycosis (fungal infection): thickened, discolored, crumbling plate.
- Paronychia: red, swollen, painful tissue around the nail, usually bacterial.
- Pseudomonas ("greenies"): green-black discoloration, typically under a lifted enhancement.
- Warts (viral), open lesions, pus, or any inflamed tissue.
- Onychocryptosis (ingrown nail) and onychogryphosis (thickened ram's-horn nail): refer; do not cut into tissue.
- A new dark band or streak (melanonychia) or a changing pigmented spot: refer to a physician.
Serviceable with care
Beau's lines, onychorrhexis, leukonychia, onycholysis (avoid further trauma and keep dry), koilonychia, pterygium, agnails or hangnails, bruised nail, and onychophagy (biting). Do not mask a problem with product; document what you see.
Worked example
A client returns with a green-black patch under a lifted acrylic. Reasoning: the color and the lift point to a bacterial condition thriving in the moisture pocket. The technician does not reapply product, gently removes the enhancement, advises the client to see a physician, disinfects all tools, and does not service the nail until it is cleared.
Traps that cost marks
Assuming every discoloration is fungal, recommending over-the-counter "fungus" products, applying polish over an infected nail to hide it, and servicing red, swollen tissue because the client insists.