Teaching Your Children Healthy Nail Care Habits
Developing Good Hygiene Habits
Keeping your nails clean and healthy is a basic, yet important part of hygiene.
Toenails and fingernails take a beating during the day, and often trap dirt and bacteria that can lead to fungus and sickness. Teaching your children to care for their nails is an important part of developing healthy habits that will stick with them for life.
Here are some of the basics that your child (and you!) should know about caring for nails. Keep your nails healthy!
- Trimming Nails Teaching your children to trim their own nails is an important part of growing up. When your child has reached the age where they are now responsible for their own nail care, you should be sure to teach them about keeping their nails trimmed. The longer the nail, the more at risk a person is to breaking nails which could lead to painful results.
- Washing Washing hands and feet is an important part of personal hygiene. Teaching your children to wash their hands is important – but you should not forget to teach them dry them properly as well. If nails stay wet for too long, infections can start and fungus can grow. Prevent this by washing and drying your hands and feet properly.
- Moisturizing Much like your hands and feet, nails need to be moisturized as well. Applying a small bit of lotion to your nails helps keep them flexible. The dryer your nails, the more prone they are to break. This is especially important when the air is dry, as your nails will become dryer quicker.
- Polish While nail polish can be pretty, it’s important to remember that the use of polish and polish removers can wreak havoc on your nails. Try to keep the amount of polishing and removal to once or twice a month.
- In Public A lot of fungus starts in public areas. Toenail infections and fungus start in public places like swimming pools and showers. To prevent the fungus from transferring to your feet, be sure to teach your children not to go barefoot in public places and to wear foot protection in public swimming pools or showers.
Houston podiatrist Dr. Anthony Lamarra is dedicated to providing Houston residents with the best foot care possible. For more information on foot care and treatment, contact Dr. Lamarra today.