Nail Diseases, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Nail Diseases, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

“The nails are dangerous in the wrong hands (pun intended).”

The nails are to women like what claws are to animals.

The sharp fingernails can literally claw the eyes out or cut the skin of the face.

The nails are present at the end of each finger tip or toe tip on the dorsal surface.

The main function of nail is:
1. Protection
2. A firm grip for holding articles
3. The indispensable one of picking up small things.

The normal healthy nail is slight pink in color and the surface is convex from side to side.

It comprises:
1. A strong relatively flexible keratinous nail plate which begins from the nail matrix.
Keratin is the structural material making up the outer layer of human skin.
2. Under the nail plate is a soft tissue called nail bed, the covered part embedded in the skin
3. Between the skin and nail plate there is a nail fold or cuticle.
4. The nail wall (paronychium) is the skin covering the root and sides of the nail.
5. The lunala is the white section at the base of the nails.

Since the body of the nail is transparent the blood reveals through and gives it a pinkish hue.

The nail plate is the largest part of the nail unit.

The nail matrix produces the nail plate.

Any defect to the matrix may cause onychodystrophy of the growing nail plate.

The proximal nail matrix forms the dorsal part of the nail plate while the distal matrix forms the ventral part of the nail plate.

Cells in the stratum germinativum (growing part of skin at the base of the nail or matrix) fuse with cells of the root of the nail and push the older cells away so that the nail seems to be growing.

The dead cells of the nail form the horny part of the nail.

The nail grows at the rate of one tenth of a millimeter daily for finger nails and about half that rate for the toe nails.

While the area of the stratum germinativum or matrix is intact, a nail that is torn off will regenerate.

The growth of nail is affected by disease:
1. Nail shedding
2. Nail biting
3. Malnutrition.

Nail Diseases

Nail disorders make up about 10 percent of all skin conditions.

Nail disorders normally rise throughout life and involve a high number of senior citizens.

Symptoms that could signal nail disorders are color or shape changes, swelling of the skin around the nails, thinning or thickening of the nails, bleeding or discharge, and pain.

Nails often indicate the general state of health.

Alterations in the nail, such as discoloration or thickening, can signal health disorders, such as liver and kidney diseases, heart and lung disorders, anemia and diabetes.
Fungal infections produce about 50% of all nail disorders.

While rare, melanomas can grow under the nail.

Other frequent nail problems are:
1. White spots appear after an injury to the nail.
2. Vertical lines, known as splinter hemorrhages, under the nails that are caused by nail injury or certain drugs or diseases.
3. Bacterial infections, which are most often due to injury, poor skin hygiene, nail biting, finger sucking, or frequent exposure to water.
4. Ingrown toenails, which are caused by improper nail trimming, poor stance, digestive problems, or tight shoes.

A. Onychia is the inflammation of the nail folds of the nail with production of pus and shedding of the nail.
B. Chronic Nail diseases
1. Fungal Infections
a. Candidiasis
b. Onychomycosis
2. Paronychia
3. Melanonychia
4. Distal onycholysis
5. Subungual hematomas
6. Onychocryptosis (Ingrown Toenail)
7. Nail-patella syndrome
8. Nail Injuries and lacerations
9. Psoriatic nail disease

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Nail Diseases
Chapter 2 Nail Fungal Infection
Chapter 3 Ingrown Toe nail
Ch

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Jul 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463420713

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Nail Diseases,

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2020 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Nail Diseases, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat Nail Diseases)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiography account of my journey as a medical student to family doctor on my other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiography account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

My diagnosis and treatment capability has improved tremendously from my continued education.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

The Nail and Its Diseases

Men, like nails, lose their usefulness when they lose their direction and begin to bend.

Walter Savage Landor

The nails are dangerous in the wrong hands (pun intended).

The nails are to women like what claws are to animals.

The sharp fingernails can literally claw the eyes out or cut the skin of the face.

The nails are present at the end of each finger tip or toe tip on the dorsal surface.

The main function of nail is:

1. Protection

2. A firm grip for holding articles

3. The indispensable one of picking up small things.

The normal healthy nail is slight pink in color and the surface is convex from side to side.

It comprises:

1. A strong relatively flexible keratinous nail plate which begins from the nail matrix.

Keratin is the structural material making up the outer layer of human skin.

2. Under the nail plate is a soft tissue called nail bed, the covered part embedded in the skin

3. Between the skin and nail plate there is a nail fold or cuticle.

4. The nail wall (paronychium) is the skin covering the root and sides of the nail.

5. The lunala is the white section at the base of the nails.

Since the body of the nail is transparent the blood reveals through and gives it a pinkish hue.

The nail