Learn how to recognize transverse ridges, you need know it to how to care for your clients with this condition.

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Nail Clinic: Beau's Lines
Learn how to recognize transverse ridges, you need know it to how to care for your
clients with this condition.
in 1846 when French physician Joseph Honoré Simon Beau first show horizontal grooves
on the nail, or transverse ridges. Beau’s lines, as they have come to be known, occur
when the nail matrix is injured and the growth of the nail is slowed. This eventually
causes grooves in the surface of the nail plate. concerning finger- and toenails, this state
is commonly caused by an injury such as slamming a finger in the door or dropping a
heavy object on a toe. The horizontal ridges can also be a sign of a systemic disease, a
disease that affects the whole body and not just be an agency or a congenital disease.
Whatever the reason for halting of nail growth or the slowing, it will result in transverse
ridges on the nails, which look like pale bands lying horizontally across the nail plate.
They first appear at the moon (lunula) and then progress with the growth of the nail. In
cases where the ridges are not caused by a systemic illness or congenital disease, Beau’s
lines will grow out with the nail and disappear. Fingernails take approximately nine
months about one millimeter per week to grow out completely, with the middle fingernail
growing most rapidly, and toenails take approximately 18 months to grow out. With this

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in mind, by measuring the distance from the transverse groove to the cuticle, you can
sometimes estimate the date of the injury or illness.
Causes
Beau’s lines are a result of a variety of conditions, ranging from minor to severe. The
most common causes are local injury or exposure to severe cold, both of which decrease
the blood flow to the nail matrix. Any kind of injury to the nail matrix slows cell division
in the matrix, causing transverse ridges to appear. Examples of local traumas include:
Eczema The inflammation in the skin around the nail associated with eczema can prevent
normal cell division in the nail matrix.
Paronychia Inflammation of the tissue adjacent to the nail, usually accompanied by
infection and pus formation.
Onychia Inflammation of the matrix often leading to suppuration or pus formation and
loss of the nail.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome A condition caused by compression of the median nerve in the
carpal tunnel, which can affect nail growth.
Another cause of Beau’s lines is congenital disease. For example,
acrodermatitisenteropathica causes changes in the skin and sometimes skin infections
around the fingernail, which may result in ridges on the nail.
Beau’s lines are also caused by systemic illnesses, which include extreme fevers,
measles, mumps, myocardial infarction and exposure to chemotherapy and radiation.
Yes, this is a long list to remember, but there is good news you don’t need to memorize
all of these causes in order to help your clients.
How To Treat Beau’s Lines
Despite the long list of causes, there are a few things you can do to help a client with
Beau’s lines, and a few things your client can do to help herself. The first step in
preventing this condition from coming back is to refer your client to her doctor. In many
cases, she may have a history of the above conditions. As a nail technician, you are not
able to diagnose or treat her condition, but her doctor will be able to give her instructions
on how to proceed.

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After your client has seen her physician and gets the green light for a nail service, you
then have a couple of options. Offer her a set of enhancements, especially if she considers
the lines unappealing. But do not apply enhancements if the client has yet to see a doctor
to evaluate the cause of the Beau’s lines. You can also provide your client with a natural
nail manicure and polish the nails with her favorite color. The grooves on the nail mean
there isn’t as much nail growth, so you don’t want to file the ridges in an attempt to
smooth the nail, as this will cause further damage by making the nail very thin and
fragile.
Beau’s lines are caused by a variety of conditions but with every set of nails at your
station that seems out-of-the-ordinary, you need to proceed with caution.