Dr. Costi’s tips for healthy nails

• April 16, 2018

When you want to have beautiful nails, it is hard to do so when they start breaking. You try all sort of tricks and tips, but they don’t seem to work, your nails still being brittle and breaking easily. So what can be the cause of all this? Is there something that can be done to stop nails from breaking? If we want to treat the effect, we must know first the cause. So let us take a look at what may be causing nails to break. Once the cause is discovered, the solution to it will be more suitable.

If you have brittle nails, you should know that you are not the only one, because this condition affects very many people, both men and women. Medically called onychorrhexis, it is present in about 20% of people, more common in the case of women, of course. The condition is characterized by nails that break easily, lengthwise, or which seem to peel off, from one corner to the nail to the other. In most cases, nails can become brittle as a person advances in age. So even if you don’t have this type of nails as a young person, you can end up with them at old age. Still, aging is not the only cause that makes nails break. Common causes would be prolonged exposure of the nails to water, detergent or soap, which damages its structure and makes them more fragile. Wearing gloves and using hydrating oils for hands and nails can help in these cases, hydrating the nail and preventing them from damaging.
There are also other causes, considered to be a bit more severe. For instance, fragile nails may indicate malnutrition as the nails lack the proper nutrients needed for them to develop in appropriate conditions. They may also be a sign of hypothyroidism or an endocrine disorder, which ruins the entire balance of your organism. If you notice any abnormal change in the way your nails look, like thickness, color, shape, pain, bleeding, swelling of the skin around the nail or even discharge, it is recommended to see a doctor. These changes may indicate the presence of a more severe illness, which will only be determined by a set of medical tests.

Back to our brittle nails, in the case this is a problem strictly connected to the nails, not reflecting any other disease, the causes can be found in our lifestyle. As mentioned before, keeping the hands in water too often will damage the nails. Also, using nail polish every day, without allowing the nails to breathe, together with the use of nail polish removed, they can as well contribute to the breaking of nails as they will become thinner and more damaged in time. So after you wear nail polish for a couple of days, allow your nails to breathe, without covering them with another layer of nail polish. Keep them clean and use natural oils, like olive oil, to hydrate them. Still, do have in mind that in case you suffer from a dermatologic condition, like psoriasis, fragile nails are just another symptom of it. What you can do is be gentler with your nails and maintain good hygiene of your hands. If time passes and the problem is not getting better, it would be wise to see a doctor after all.

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