Cuticle Nippers???

[kymmie]

Hi,

Just looking for some advice....at college I was always taught to trim around the cuticle to get rid of the excess cuticle however since getting a job in the salon I have been told by people that work there that they hardly ever use the cuticle nippers and that you shouldnt trim cuticles as it can grow back thicker and can cause infections and bleeding???? Please can someone give me an advice...
Thanks in advance!!
xxx

 

[Kaynine]

Cutting away the eponeychium (sr?) can lead to them problems cutting away the cuticle dose not as the cuticle is just transparent dead skin on the nail plate.
http://www.salongeek.com/health-safety-unatural/40362-anatomy-nail.html Should help if your unsure in anyway.

 

[shedunlop]

You will find that you hardly use them at all. It is better to encourage your client to use oil on a regular basis, as they should. Cutting any skin around the nail will encourage it to harden and dry out even more so try to avoid this. :biggrin:

 

[uniq12u]

What is actually meant by cutting the cuticle is to cut away any dead tissue that is laying on the nail, not the cuticle itself. So after I have pushed back what is laying on the nail I take my nippers and lay them on the nail and gently slide it towards the tissue that was scraped (lightly of course) off the nail and clip that.

 

[kymmie]

Thanks guys!! xx :lol:

 

[mum]

What is actually meant by cutting the cuticle is to cut away any dead tissue that is laying on the nail, not the cuticle itself. So after I have pushed back what is laying on the nail I take my nippers and lay them on the nail and gently slide it towards the tissue that was scraped (lightly of course) off the nail and clip that.

A bit confusing! The non living tissue on the nail plate IS the cuticle. The living skin framing the base of the nail is NOT the cuticle. It is the proximal nail fold and should never be cut.

Have a look at Doug Schoon - Technical articles and information for nail professionals - www.DougSchoon.com At the bottom of the page is 'Where is the cuticle'. Essential reading for all

 

[uniq12u]

I stand somewhat corrected. I was referring to the part of the cuticle that lays close to the eponychium

"It is important to avoid removing cuticle from underneath the nail fold" (from Doug's book). which is not what I was describing.

Just my two cents, but I feel it is confusing to call one thing living and dead!

 

[Morag909]

When i was at college our tutor taught us to always cut the dead skin away, so we thought we had to cut little horse shoe shapes out of each cuticle on each finger. It was like it was compulsary to do so. We then got swapped tutors and they were shocked by this!! Everyone has dif nails and some don't even have dead skin, so it's not necessary to use nippers on every client.

 

[The Geek]

Funny stuff really. Its pretty much impossible to cut the cuticle (which is non living skin). In fact, you can't even see it that well. The reason for calling one living and one non living is because that is what they are. The cuticle is an almost onion like layer of skin that grows out with the natural nail plate and eventually sheds itself. The eponychium (part of the proximal fold) is living and doesn't grow out with the nail. People cut this still all the time unwittingly being a prime cause of paronychia. The other negative side effect of cutting this skin is that it 'scars' over like all cut or torn living tissue. Therefore people that think they are 'cutting cuticles' are actually creating thicker, scarred eponychiums that in turn make them want to cut them even more! All this does is create more opportunities for infection.

HTHs