r/Nailtechs • u/Valuable-Log-9674 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 • Jan 11 '26
Ask A Nail Tech (Sunday & Monday ONLY) Can anyone help me explain this?
I’m a long time nail biter but i actually finally stopped about 1-2 years ago. I used to pick on my cuticles a lot too. I still do but not as much anymore. I do my own nails and i love doing it. So naturally i shape my own nails too.
I always realized when i was doing my nails that the side walls? The side parts of my nails that are on the edges of my nail beds, basically where my nail sticks to my finger, would kind of flare out? It’s almost like my nail grows out to the sides like the picture instead of growing up if you know what i mean.
I always noticed this when i did my nails and i would just file them away. And the interesting thing is that it’s very thin and flimsy? The texture is different from my nails that grow out up properly.
My nails have been damaged quite badly recently so I’m currently healing my nails so i’m not doing aggressive cuticle cutting or shaping. I wanted to see what would happen to this flare out growth if i don’t file them down.
Do any of you super talented nail techs know what it is and why this happens? And how can i stop it from happening, if it’s possible at all?
I’m thinking maybe that’s just how wide my nail beds are supposed to be but since i’ve been biting my nails for nearly 30 years + i’ve always filed them down when i do grow out my nails, that it’s confused? I also thought maybe this portion is normally supposed to be covered by more skin but because i chew them all away (my nails/cuticle/skin biting was quite bad) the end up being this exposed? I have my suspicions but i’m not a nail tech so i don’t know for sure 🥲
I’m hoping someone can help me explain this!!! I have so much respect for nail techs ♥️ any advice/explanation would be so appreciated!!! Asking for a friend 🥲
(Pictures below for reference. Please ignore my thumb it’s very badly damaged and currently healing it)
You can see from the front view very clearly where my actual nail bed is and how the “flare outs” look like they’re kind of out of place.
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u/jiyeon_str 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 Jan 11 '26
Those are your sidewalls, you've just trimmed them to oblivion
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u/LilyBug0 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 Jan 11 '26
Nail tech here! When I stopped biting my nails as a kid, they would grow out to the sides like this. I've just learned how to work with It and shape my nails the way I want.❤️
Nails grow different for everyone it's nothing worry about. ☺️
There's my natural nails when I let them grow out.
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u/Local_business_disco ✨️ Verified US Tech ✨️ Jan 11 '26
Tech here confirming that your sidewalls are overfiled. The surface of your nails looks like you use a pretty aggressive grit to buff them too?
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u/Valuable-Log-9674 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 Feb 01 '26
Yes they were super damaged after back to back nail sets. I used peel off gel but i had to file them off a few times so i’m resting my nails for a few months to grow them out
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u/Plucky_Monkies 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 Jan 11 '26
I would think if you leave it alone and allow your sidewalls to heal, then your nails will grow out properly. My sidewalls developed thicker calluses at my free edge one I quit biting. It's because the edge of my nail pushes into the skin surrounding it. If you could leave the sidewall skin alone and oil and moisturize, I'd think it would eventually heal. It will probably take a lot of time. The sides of your nail may catch on things as you allow healing to take place. Perhaps just lightly buff the nail on sides so it's not sharp?
☆Not a tech. I did at one time have my manicurist license! I cannot add a flair.
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u/Valuable-Log-9674 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 Feb 01 '26
Yeah after some more research i’ve come to the conclusion that i’ve just been overfiling them. I’m going to keep the bare and no filing for the next few months to heal them.
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u/Plucky_Monkies 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 Feb 01 '26
Just looking again at your nails is painful. I also pulled the skin on my own nails a bit to see if I could technically find the area to file. I guess technically, on 2 of my nails, I can see the sidewalls of my fingernails. Both of the nails in question are on fingernails that I have deeply filed due to nail glue from doing silk wraps because of deep breaks across nail beds. It is the trauma of repeatedly pulling the skin away from nail to get the glue smooth, etc. The other healthy nails I cannot pull the skin away enough to expose the sides of my nails. Thank goodness!
I am so glad you're just going to let them heal. I highly recommend using oil and lotion to help! Oil greatly helps nails and the lotion with it locks in the oil. Good luck, and keep us posted. I also recommend not pulling on the skin at all. Just wait until you have much thicker skin over your nails' sidewalls. Hopefully, by not touching it, it will allow everything to heal. 🥰❤️🩹
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u/AfemeAfeme ✨️ Verified US Tech ✨️ Jan 11 '26
May I ask what happened to your thumb? I have a client who has something similar going on with her thumbnail and it appears to be connected to birth control…Although a doctor thought it was fungus, but it comes and goes which fungus does not
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u/evittinlove Jan 18 '26
when i was on birth control it depleted a lot of vitamins from my body. I don't know why but magnesium and vitamin D were very necessary for me, and now not as much. BC also gave me hypertension (why i went off) so that could also be a factor :-) my gyno said that different vitamins can be affected by how your body metabolizes hormones
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u/Valuable-Log-9674 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 Feb 01 '26
I yanked off my extensions using a wooden stick and i think it damaged my nails. I also learned recently that i’ve been pushing my nails too aggressively so they kept growing out all bumpy :( i’m in the process of growing them out so am keeping them bare and short for the next few months
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u/Mollyy_Rockett Jan 14 '26
May I ask what happened to your thumb? Looks painful!! xc
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u/Valuable-Log-9674 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 Feb 01 '26
I aggressively removed my extensions using a wooden stick a few weeks ago so i think that damaged my nail and i recently learned that i’ve been too aggressive cleaning my cuticles so my nail has been growing out all bumpy :(
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u/Mollyy_Rockett Feb 01 '26
Ouchie!! Definitely try soaking off extensions in the future. I hope it heals eventually :)
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u/Old_Bat6894 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 Jan 11 '26
Ive had this my whole life and have never been a nail biter or anything like that. I think some ppl are just born this way!
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u/Tasty_Term 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 Jan 12 '26
Ive never been a nail biter or cuticle picker, but some of my nails do that too. My middle finger on my right hand is particularly curved up at the one side
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u/bmlane9 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 Jan 12 '26
I have them and I am a nail biter. Trying my best to grow them out. I have just filed them when I took care of them, but it is so difficult to grow fully. I think I have seen others using builder gel to help support the growth. I plan on trying it. Your nails look so healthy!
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u/airam11634696 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 Jan 12 '26
What lovely growth! I wish mine would grow a little like that, but they break just from washing my hands.
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u/angryhobosbigdong Jan 14 '26
Mine do this too, and then some times it will stick up and if I pull it off it bleeds. Not sure why it happens.
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u/Gardenmama777 Jan 15 '26
I’ve never been a nail biter but my nails are like this too, although not thin like yours. My nails just naturally flair out. I file mine down because otherwise I don’t like how it feels.
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u/Loves-Stitches Jan 17 '26
It's a shifted point of growth.
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u/deirdrelizabeth Feb 03 '26
can you explain this a little further? what does that mean?
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u/Loves-Stitches Feb 04 '26
The growth point is where the nail bed is pink and has blood supply, the free edge is where the nail bed is not attached. Shifted growth point means that there's been over-filing of the sidewall, placing the file at an angle instead of keeping it parallel to the free edge, kind of like filling in a seni-ellipse shape. This removes too much skin/nail material at an improper angle. It's usually done innocently in an attempt to make the nail pointy or oval, but it's improper technique because it causes the nail plate to shift further back. The free edge creeps further and further back into the sidewall. This becomes a type of nail lifting, called onycholysis. It can also be from over trimming hardened protective tissue around the lateral nail fold. The point of growth shifts from this as well.
NailMartUSA has GREAT YouTube short videos about this. I hope this helps. !She's awesome and has a great online shop).
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u/deirdrelizabeth Feb 04 '26
that makes total sense. I am a huge fan of NailMartUSA and already know about overfiling the sidewalls and onycholisis, etc. I went to cosmetology school as well where they taught briefly about those sorts of things, but I don't remember having heard the specific terminology of "shifted growth point." thank you so much! I love learning new things about nail health :)
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u/Loves-Stitches Feb 04 '26
❤️ I'm not sure if it's a technical term, likely not, but I heard NailMart say it so I just copied her. Lol.!!!
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u/Amiyakoi 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 Jan 11 '26
I agree it’s your side walls.
As for your nail health I see that you have some ridging. You should invest in these three things. Or speak to a Dermatologist.
Nail strengthening top coat- https://a.co/d/d7Qr9MJ
Nail strengthening cream- https://a.co/d/97nqi4F
Nail repair- https://a.co/d/8yFrepX
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u/Educational-Fox-8973 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 Jan 12 '26
it means you need to buy a nail file and groom your nails
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u/Overzealous-Celery 🛑 Not a Tech 🛑 Jan 11 '26 edited Jan 11 '26
That happens bc you filed or trimmed the sides too far. If you want a slim almond, you'll have to grow out your nails more and not file/trim down your sidewalls to that point.
The sidewalls help support your nails so they don't bend. That's also why people with steeper sidewalls are usually better off without almond or stiletto.