Whether you've spent months growing your beard or are just starting your beard journey – here at Healthwords, we believe in looking after your health AND your facial hair. This article will discuss our best beard maintenance tips and how to care for that wonderful tuft of hair.

If your nails turn up at the sides, in the shape of a spoon, this is known as koilonychia. It may be something that runs in your family, but it can also point to a medical condition. Iron deficiency anemia is the most common of these, so it's worth getting a blood test to check, or topping up your iron levels with supplements to see if this improves your nail condition. Other more unusual medical conditions can occasionally cause koilonychia, so if you have any other symptoms or concerns, you can discuss this with your doctor.

Pregnancy can bring many surprises to your body, and you may not have expected changes to your hair, nails, and skin. Some find their nails become much stronger and longer, while others complain that nails are brittle and break easily. These changes are caused by the changes in hormones in pregnancy, so luckily, they don't last forever and usually revert back to your pre-pregnancy state after delivery. You may notice changes that warrant a trip to the doctor, such as deep grooves that develop on the nails or the nail becoming thickened and lifting from the nail bed (onycholysis).

Head lice are tiny insects that live on human hair and feed on the scalp. They are very common in young school children and their families, and there is no link between head lice and unwashed/dirty hair. The eggs laid by the head lice are what are known as nits. They stick to the hair and hatch after 7 - 10 days. Head lice produce symptoms of an itchy scalp and sometimes a feeling of something moving in your hair. The only way to diagnose them is to find a live head louse (it will look black and the size of a sesame seed) by combing the hair with a head lice detection comb which you can get from the pharmacy. They like to live close to the scalp and cannot survive for very long away from hair. Head lice can be treated at home and should be treated as soon as they have been detected. The best way to treat them is wet combing with a special head lice detection comb. You need to do this every 4 days for 2 weeks to make sure you catch any recently hatched lice (some doctors would advise combing for 3 weeks to be 100% sure you're clear of the critters!). Wash the hair and then apply a generous amount of conditioner (you can also use olive oil). Leave the conditioner in as you brush the hair with a normal hairbrush to get out the knots, and then use the head lice detection comb, combing from the scalp to the end of the tips of the hair. Check each brushstroke for head lice or nits (tiny black insects or white/brown eggs) and wipe or wash them off the comb if you see any. Do this for all sections of the hair. Wash out the conditioner, then comb one more time through. If after 2 - 3 weeks of wet combing, there are still head lice detected, then seek guidance from your pharmacist, who can recommend certain lotions/sprays that can kill the head lice. Some of these need to be repeated or paired with combing to remove the dead lice/eggs. Dry combing can be used to detect head lice in hair but not for treating them.

Hirsutism is the medical term for more hair than women would expect on the face and body. It can be one of the signs of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). For some, it can be embarrassing and unsightly, as it can be dark, thick, coarse and difficult to get rid of. It’s also more likely to be in areas associated with males, such as the cheeks, neck, chin and chest.