What causes peeling around the nails?

Peeling around the fingernails, commonly known as hangnails, is a very common phenomenon. Generally speaking, if this happens, it means that the body lacks nutrients such as vitamin C. Since hangnails have no impact on your health, there is no need to worry too much. Just eat more vegetables and fruits and make sure to supplement vitamin C. Below, we will introduce to you the causes, inspection methods and relief methods of peeling around fingers!

1. Reasons

Cause: Lack of vitamin C.

1. If the intake is insufficient, such as the pregnant mother's proper nutrition, the child will have appropriate vitamin C reserves at birth. The vitamin C content in umbilical cord blood plasma is 2 to 4 times higher than that in maternal plasma, so infants under 3 months old are less likely to develop the disease. However, if the pregnant mother's diet lacks vitamin C, the newborn may also suffer from scurvy. Normal human milk contains about 40~70 mg/L (4~7 mg/dl) of vitamin C, which can meet the needs of general infants.

2. The need to increase When the metabolic rate increases, the requirement for vitamin C increases. During active growth, the vitamin C content of body tissues drops sharply. Premature infants grow and develop faster, and their vitamin C requirements are relatively greater than normal infants, so they should be supplemented with more.

3. Other factors, such as long-term intake of large amounts of vitamin C, increase its catabolism and renal excretion, thereby reducing plasma vitamin C concentrations. If you suddenly stop taking large amounts of vitamin C, scurvy may occur. If large amounts of vitamin C are used for a long time during pregnancy, the newborn may still suffer from scurvy even if he or she consumes normal amounts of vitamin C every day after birth.

2. Inspection

Vitamin C deficiency can also lead to scurvy. Early symptoms are: bad temper, pale skin, indigestion, weakened resistance, etc. In the late stage, bones and capillaries are obviously damaged. In terms of bones, subperiosteal hemorrhage is the main cause.

1. Feeding history and clinical symptoms: Artificially fed infants do not receive complementary foods containing vitamin C, or the mother's diet lacks fresh vegetables or fruits, or the mother is accustomed to eating only pickled vegetables, etc. The age at which scurvy is most common (3 to 18 months), combined with certain non-specific symptoms and feeding history mentioned above, can provide clues for the early diagnosis of scurvy. If the disease has developed to a certain stage or late stage, it can be diagnosed based on symptoms such as swollen and painful limbs, frog-shaped legs, and bleeding in the gums and submucosal membranes.

2. X-ray examination: X-ray examination of the long bones of the limbs is extremely important for the diagnosis of this disease. X-rays are taken of the knee, ankle, and wrist.

3. Mitigation methods

Prevention: Experts recommend eating more fruits and vegetables and taking some vitamin B6 together.

1. The high vitamin C content in milk is one of the reasons why human breastfeeding is emphasized. The diet of pregnant women and nursing mothers should include foods rich in vitamin C, such as fresh vegetables and fruits, or they can take vitamin C tablets dissolved in water and added sugar orally. The required amount of vitamin C is about 80 to 100 mg or more per day, which can ensure that the fetus and infants get enough ascorbic acid. Zhu Futang (1936) conducted an experiment and found that as long as 0.5 kg of Chinese cabbage and white radish were consumed daily, the concentration of vitamin C in breast milk could reach 60 mg/L (6 mg/dl).

2. Within 2 to 4 weeks after birth, the baby should be supplemented with food rich in vitamin C and digestible by the newborn, such as fresh orange juice, tomato juice, cabbage soup, radish juice, etc., and vegetable puree should be fed at 4 to 5 months. Artificially fed babies should supplement with an appropriate amount of vitamin C every day. The normal daily intake of vitamin C for infants is 30 mg, for young children it is 30-35 mg, for older children it is 40-60 mg, and for premature infants it is 100 mg per day, as recommended by the Chinese Nutrition Society in 1988. When you are sick, you consume more vitamin C and should be given in larger doses.