Abstract
Purpose: Nail clipping is a self-care practice with the potential to harm patients with diabetes. Medical staff often recommend that patients use a glass or metal nail file. The former is often recommended in clinical settings without evidence to support the recommendation. Therefore, we herein investigated the effects of glass and metal files on nails.
Methods: The present, quasi-experimental study enrolled six, healthy adult subjects . Two types of glass（①, ②）and metal（③ , ④）file were used. Factors, such as the shape of the nail files, their surface contours, marks left on nails after filing, and filing efficiency, i.e., the number of strokes required to file 1 mm of nail, were assessed. Images of the file parts and file marks on nails were qualitatively evaluated.
Results: The glass file was thick and inflexible whereas the metal file was thin and had a sharp tip. The filed nail was “uniform” only when type ④ was used. Scratch marks on the nails left by ①, ②, and ③ had the appearance of “lines” while those left by ④ had the appearance of “dots.” For types ①, ②, ③, and ④, the number of strokes required to file 1 mm of nail was 36-54, 62-70, 29-38, and 38-50, respectively. No damage to the nails or the surrounding skin was observed.
Discussion: Collectively, the glass and metal files did not differ significantly in terms of the markings or efficiency. However, metal files caused slight skin damage owing to their shape; therefore, caution is required for their use.
