Dermatologist reveals the three things she would NEVER do to her nails – and it could have you second-guessing your manicures

A dermatologist has revealed the three things she would never do to her nails – and one of them might have you second-guessing your manicures.

The information was shared this week in a new TikTok video by board-certified dermatologist Dr. Lindsey Zubritsky, based in Mississippi.

Dr. Zubritsky, who also goes by the online name @dermguru, often takes to her social media pages, such as Instagram and TikTok, to share various tips, tricks and other wisdom about the skin.

In the clip Posted this week, the dermatologist started by explaining why she would never bite her nails.

“Not only is it super unsanitary, but our fingernails are also a common place to get warts,” explained Dr. Zubritsky out.

“And warts are contagious, so whenever we bite our nails, we can transfer those warts to our mouth, and your mouth might look like this,” she continued, showing a photo of someone’s mouth surrounded by a crop of warts.

Warts are bumps and skin growths that typically appear “when a virus infects the top layer of the skin” and often appear on the hands, according to Association of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Next on Dr. Zubritsky’s list of things she would never do was pick hangnails.

“Doing this can lead to a wound or open skin in the finger or nail, which can allow bacteria to enter the skin, leading to an infection called Paronychia, like this one,” she explained while she showed an example. of what that looks like on the fingernail.

Paronychia can occur when bacteria get near the nail fold and cuticle Cleveland Clinicand can occur not only on the fingernails, but also on the toenails.

The infection can also be caused by irritation from water and other chemicals.

“These are quite painful and sometimes require oral antibiotics to treat,” she admitted.

Last but not least, the dermatologist revealed that she would never get a gel manicure because of the UV lights used to cure the gel.

“Ultimately, I would never get UV gel nails,” the expert explained.

“A study came out showing that these UV dryers can lead to DNA damage and mutations in human cells,” said Dr. Zubritsky, as she stopped. the January 2023 survey in the background of the fragment.

‘That is one of the steps in the development of cancer.’

Speaking to CNN Last year, a dermatologist even compared UV lamps in nail salons to ‘mini tanning beds’.

Dr. However, Zubritsky noted that more studies needed to be done to determine how dangerous gel manicures really can be.

‘More studies are needed to determine how great the health risk is. As a dermatologist, I will not take this risk,” she concluded.

In the comments section of her video, many admitted that they had problems with gel manicures or had even switched to dip powder manicures, which use pigmented powder to paint the nails and don’t require a UV lamp to harden them.

‘I completely agree! I prefer dip over gel for appearance and durability, but also to avoid UV light,” wrote fellow dermatologist Dr. Aleksandra Brown.

Another agreed: ‘This alone made me switch from gelish nails to dip powder nails.’

‘I’ve been doing UV gel nails for about six years…my hands are OUTDATED. I have spots, wrinkles, horrible. My hands look 15 years older than my face,” someone else said.

One user warned: ‘I became allergic to a lot of acrylics after getting UV gel nails. Long story short, it affects my career. Do not do it.’

Others joked that they had only done all the things Dr. Zubritsky had warned that day, as one joked: “How did I do all these things TODAY.”