從指甲看出寶寶健康 Fingernails reflect children’s health
馬偕醫院皮膚科醫師黃景昱表示指甲和頭髮一樣，都是皮膚的附屬器，對然指甲的異常不一定代表身體有問題，但身體的一些狀況，包括一些疾病確實會反映在指甲的形狀、顔色、軟硬度與光澤度等等。1想時刻留意寶寶的健康，不妨看看下面來自皮膚科醫生的建議吧。
指甲有斑點 造成這種情形原因很多，例如常見因為受到碰撞造成外傷，或之前指甲週圍有發炎或有濕疹等等，不過這些因素所造成的指甲斑點，會因為傷害或發炎消失後慢慢恢復正常。
指甲出現橫紋 指甲出現凹陷看起來就會有橫紋，如果是單一指甲有橫紋，表示當下有受到傷害，或指甲過度修剪也會造成。其他包括川崎氏症、感冒發燒、手部週圍有濕疹，以及厲害的甲溝炎，或是小朋友摳指甲等等，也都可能使得指甲出現橫紋。
指甲顏色異常
黃景昱醫師表示，因為疾病引起指甲偏黃，大多發生在年紀大的老人，很少出現在小孩身上，如果寶寶指甲偏黃，主要還是和飲食、藥物較有關連。例如喝太多胡蘿蔔汁、吃太多芒果或木瓜，都有可能因為攝取過多維生素A而使顏色偏黃。
黃色 指甲表面不平整，過於粗糙，看起來會沒有光澤，這表示指甲在生長時連續性不足，造成部分脫落所導致，因為指甲有很多層，如果表面有一兩層無法牢牢黏住，就會呈現無光澤情形。原因有可能是在製造生長板時發生外在傷害或發炎所引起，或是維他命B群不足也會發生。
指甲脆、容易斷裂 指甲質地特別脆，很容易斷裂，可能的原因有：
過度清潔或水份不夠，使得指甲彈性不足而容易斷裂。
[if !supportLists][endif]維生素不足，包括B群、維生素A、D等。
[if !supportLists][endif]微量元素缺乏：例如鈣、鋅、鐵不足，雖然與指甲硬度無關，但缺少這些營養素，可能影響指甲的堅固性
指甲週邊脫皮 寶寶指甲週邊經常會脫皮，有可能是輕微發炎，例如濕疹所引起；或是寶寶常吸手指；而媽咪照顧時過度的清潔或清潔次數太多也會造成脫皮；另外像是不小心碰撞，或異位性皮膚炎發生在手部，也都很容易引起脫皮。
1. 育兒生活7月號(2013), 第278期73頁，熟齡父母的教養挑戰
The physician, Dr. Huang of dermatology in Mackay Hospital shows that both fingernails and hair are appendages. Even though abnormalities of fingernails don’t mean that there must somethings wrong with children’s body, physical condition includes some diseases can be reflected from shapes, colors, hardiness, gloss, etc of fingernails. If you want to take care of your children all the time, please read the suggestions from the doctors of dermatology.
Spots in fingernails
It’s caused by many reasons, for example, the most common one is that injury caused by collision and another one is inflammation or eczema around fingernails and so on. Spots in fingernails caused by these reasons can gradually recover after disappearing of inflammation or eczema.
Striations in fingernails
Sunken fingernails look like striations. Only one fingernail has striations, which shows that the fingernail is injured or over-cutting. There are many other reasons caused striations, such as Kawasaki disease, cold and fever, eczema around hands, severe paronychia, fingernails picking, etc.
Abnormal colors of fingernails
Yellow
The physician, Dr. Huang shows that yellow fingernails caused by diseases mainly occur to the aged and rarely to children. Children have yellow fingernails mainly because of food and medicine, for example, drinking too much carrot juice or eating too many mangos or pawpaws, which makes fingernails to turn yellow because of intake of overmuch Vitamin A.
No gloss of fingernails
Uneven or rough surface of fingernails look like no gloss, which shows that fingernails lack continuity when they grow so that fingernails shed part of nails. There are many layers of fingernails. If first one or two layers cannot cling, the fingernails aren’t glossy. The reasons of no gloss of fingernails are maybe injured or inflamed when producing growth plates or lacking Vitamin B complex.
Crisp fingernails and they break easily There are some reasons as follow:
Fingernails is a lack of elasticity so that they are easily broken because of over cleaning or water deficiency.
Lack of Vitamin including Vitamin B complex, Vitamin A and D, etc.
Lack of microelements: such as calcium, Zn, Fe. There are no relations between there microelements and hardiness of fingernails, but lack of these microelements may influence the sturdiness of fingernails.
Other related skin diseases including psoriasis, onychomycosis, lichen planus, etc, which may cause crisp fingernails.
Peeling around fingernails Peeling around children’s fingernails may be caused by many reasons, such as mild inflammation caused by chronic eczema, always sucking fingers and over cleaning made by mommy. Mindless collision or atopic dermatitis occurring to hands may cause peeling.
