Ten Steps To Improving Brittle Nails

Wouldn't it be nice to simply grow long, strong, healthy nails? Far too few of us have that luxury, needing to work at it in order to have enviable fingernails. Some have turned to artificial nails or tips and found them to be problematic causing infections or harming the surface of the nail plate. This can turn into a vicious cycle. After all, who wants to stop wearing them if their natural nails look worse than when they started? Growing great looking nails can be fairly simple if you take the time to consider these 10 steps to improving your brittle nails.

• Decrease water exposure

  Here's your opportunity to ask your spouse or significant other to pitch in with the dishes and housework. Frequent water exposure dehydrates nails and leads to increased brittleness, splits and cracks. Those dishes stacked in the skin and all the dirty diapers take their toll upon your poor weak fingernails (not to mention your hands!). If you can't split the chores, try wearing rubber gloves when you do your cleaning (or latex free/nitrile gloves for those with allergies).

• Take a multivitamin/prenatal vitamin

  Supplementing your diet with essential minerals, vitamins and antioxidants can help grow stronger nails. Not one for routinely taking vitamins, I grew awesome fingernails while I was pregnant dutifully taking my prenatal vitamin. Impruv Dry Skin Care Vitamins or VitaMedica is recommended by dermatologists to help get healthy skin hair and nails from within.

• Go Squoval

  Skip the dragon lady pointy nail shape. Opt instead for the squoval. A gently rounded square, this shape basically adds strength to already weakened nails by using nature's own natural fingernail shape, rather than filing them to a point. Using the right nail file can help prevent leaving tiny rough edges that catch on clothing and tear the nail. Diamancel Diamond Nail File #2 is an excellent file choice. You can also disinfect it so you don't accidentally transfer any nail infections instead of those emery boards that soak up the yeast, fungi and bacteria allowing you to spread them from nail to nail. Make sure you file before you get them wet instead of doing your manicure after you bathe. Wet nails are more fragile than dry ones.

• Moisturize your nail plate and cuticles

  While the nail plate is nonliving keratin (like the hair shaft), dryness allows the surface to crack. Even minute breaks can weaken your nails. And hang nails can develop if the cuticles become dehydrated, too. Hang nails are an invitation to bacterial and yeast infections (aka paronychia) that manifest themselves as hot, red, and excruciatingly painful swollen skin surrounding the nail plate. While you can't truly add in vitamins and nourishment outside of simple moisture into the nail plate, you can do something about the cuticle. Application of Nailtiques Cuticle & Hand Conditioner several times daily can help.

• Hydrate the ends of your nails after you have filed them.

  A simple enough concept. Filing may leave some open space within the keratin layers of your nails. Rubbing some of the moisturizing agent you are using on the rest of the nail plate onto the edges of your nails immediately after filing and washing your hands can help add some protection and seal any openings. It also helps prevent rough edges, acts as a barrier against bacterial/fungal infection.

• Drink your milk!

  Calcium intake is important for strong healthy bones, great hair and hard nails. Let's face it, many of us are not milk enthusiasts (ice cream, yes, milk, no). You can supplement your diet with a very inexpensive alternative; Tums. Tums are known throughout the medical community as the cheapest option to well known promoted calcium supplements. Multivitamins can only contain a limited amount of calcium as the mineral can prevent some of the absorption of the other vitamins and minerals. Make sure you read the label properly and take the recommended amount. Kidney stones are one undesirable consequence of taking too much calcium, so follow your directions!

• Use a nail hardener

  There is nothing defeatist about using a nail hardener. Personally, I couldn't grow any visible white nail until I began using one years ago. As nail hardeners are clear, you can either opt to have that shiny "natural look" or you may apply a colored nail polish on top of your nail hardener. I have recently gone on a hunt for the best nail hardeners on the market. With all the water exposure I get washing my hands frequently combined with all the computer keyboard time, my nails take quite a beating. Nailtiques Formula Fix Number 2 Kit For Fragile Brittle Nails has been highly effective at protecting my nails and allowing for acceptable nail growth. And another criteria for me is that it had to stay on more than 24 hours. I just don't have the time to redo peeling nail hardener daily. You apply just one layer of Nailtiques Formula Fix Number 2 Kit For Fragile Brittle Nails and you may apply an additional layer daily if desired. The protein in this product helps create a highly protective architecture that supports and protects the nail plate.

• Use a non-acetone nail polish remover

  Nothing dries our your nails faster than an acetone nail polish remover. And most of us are using polish remover several times weekly.You may want to try the Nailtiques Non-Acetone Remover.

• Treat any signs of nail infection immediately.

  That yellow discoloration of just the nail plate that starts at the nail tips and starts to extend in toward the cuticle is often a yeast infection of the nail. Thickened, yellow debris under the nail and involving the nail plate is typically a true fungal infection. While they sound similar, they are treated differently; each with their own prescription medications. Consult with your dermatologist and by all means pay attention to your nail grooming habits. File your healthy nails first and then your infected ones with a file you can disinfect, such as Diamancel Diamond Nail File #2. The same goes for using nail clippers. And by all means, do not share nail-grooming tools with others. Not only can you spread the infection to someone else, it's a great way to get infected in the first place.

• Treat any skin concerns of the hands.

  Eczema, psoriasis, lichen planus; all can affect the nail bed where the nail is made. This in turn can result in fragile, rough, pitted fingernails. While it may not be easy, treating the underlying medical concern can markedly improve the overall appearance and strength of your fingernails. Consult with your dermatologist if you see pits, unusual rashes affecting the hands or cuticle area or even brown or black discoloration under the nail.

Compare these 10 steps to healthy nails with your own routine. If it doesn't meet up with your regimen, consider trying something new. Remember, fingernails grow slowly at a rate of 6-12 months from the cuticle to the tip. Be patient and if you have medical concerns related to the health of your nails, see a dermatologist.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this important information. I hope you have found this article informative.

Audrey Kunin, M.D.

(Any topic discussed in this article is not intended as medical advice. If you have a medical concern, please check with your doctor.)

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