Nail and Hand/Arm Care
Anatomy you must know
Nail plate, nail bed, matrix (where the plate is produced), lunula (visible matrix), cuticle (dead tissue on the plate), eponychium (living skin at the base), hyponychium (under the free edge), free edge, and sidewalls. Matrix damage shows up as a growth deformity. Never cut living tissue; push back the cuticle gently after softening it.
Service basics
Sanitize hands, analyze nails and skin, then file in one direction from corner to center, because back-and-forth filing causes splitting. Shapes include square, squoval, oval, round, and almond or pointed. Buff lightly, soak, push the cuticles back, massage the hand and arm with upward strokes toward the elbow, then polish.
Disorders versus diseases
Onychophagy is biting, onychorrhexis is splitting, leukonychia is white spots, and Beau's lines are horizontal depressions. Paronychia (bacterial inflammation) and onychomycosis (fungal) are diseases: refer them and do not service.
Traps
Questions test cutting cuticles (never), filing direction, MMA liquid monomer (prohibited), and servicing a client with a suspected infection (refer instead). Also watch for confusion between lunula and matrix, and between eponychium and cuticle.
Rule of thumb
Red, swollen, painful skin around the nail means no service. Refer to a physician, then clean and disinfect every implement that touched the client.