Removing Stains from Fingernails

The shoes, we have always been told, make the man (or woman). In other words, your footwear can tell others a lot about you and your daily habits. However, when it comes to public scrutiny, your fingernails are just as much under the spotlight. Think back to all the times when you have recoiled from dirty, yellowed, scratched, bitten and jagged fingernails in the hands of an apparently respectable person. Who knows, that person may doing the same when he or she sees your nails, because people often ignore their own fingernails. The problem is, removing stains from fingernails is a delicate operation, because you have to guard against damage to the cuticle and the surrounding skin.

As a general protection against stained fingernails, give treat them with lemon juice at least once a week. The instructions are simple. Squeeze the juice of one lemon on to your fingernails and leave it on for about five to ten minutes. Alternatively, squeeze out the juice from two halves of the lemon and insert your fingertips into the halves. Once the lemon juice has acted on the stains, you ought to be able to rinse away the stains. Remember to moisturize your hands after you dry them, since lemon juice is acidic in nature and can dehydrate the skin.

Fungus Stains

Millions of people are afflicted with some form of fungal infection on some part of the skin. Usually, since our handiest scratching tools are our fingernails, we rarely think twice before scratching the affected areas with our fingernails. As a result, we get stained, dry and chipped nails, itching skin, and blisters. Vicks Vapor Rub is an effective antidote for fungus. Many people also use a homemade remedy of grape seed extract applied three times daily.

Yellow Stains

Yellow stains are most often caused by nicotine and nail polish. The former, of course, is a chemical contained in cigarettes, while a lot of women often use the latter. To nicotine stains, I have no answers, really. All the beauty experts I asked also drew a blank. The only option they suggested was to stop smoking, which gradually allows the stains to grow out of your nails.

For nail polish stains, use the lemon juice treatment mentioned above, and go easy on the painting!

On a more serious level, yellow stains on fingernails are an indicator of certain internal disorders such as diabetes and liver ailments. So if you find that the stain removal methods don't work, make sure you consult a doctor.

Bacteria Stains

Infections caused by bacteria cause green or yellowish-green stains to form on the fingernails. These bacteria grow best in warm and damp environments, and once they form, you have to resort to medical treatment to eradicate the stains. This problem most commonly afflicts those who wear artificial nails, because it often happens that the artificial nail has not been fixed properly and hence there is air and moisture trapped between the artificial and natural nails. One sure way to prevent this is to take care to keep your nails dry and well aired at all times.