Cracked Nails

July 20, 2023

If you have cracked or chipping nails – you aren’t alone!

We are a skincare company. But ultimately, we promote full-body health. In the end, a healthy body and healthy lifestyle will result in maintaining the largest organ of your body…your skin! So sometimes, in our blog posts we stray from skin only to overall health topics.

Typically, skin gets lumped into the trifecta of skin, hair and nails….which leads us to delve into the issue of cracked nails. The reason why this occurred to me in the first place is because I’ve been suffering for the last 3 years from a cracked thumb nail and it refuses to heal.

This sounds innocuous enough, I know, but truly, it is not only annoying but can be extremely painful at times. Example: Putting on clothes and your cracked nail edge catches on the fabric and basically attempts to rip itself off your nail bed. OUCH!

Healthy nails should be smooth, no discoloration, ridges or bumps. Dry brittle nails, ones that crack, peel or split, may be a sign that something more profound is going on.

Possible reasons for cracked nails:

Nutrition Deficiency:

• Nails require a set of specific nutrients and if your body isn’t getting them or processing them correctly, you may see the deficiency in your nail health. Specifically, adequate levels of iron, protein and B vitamins are essential for healthy nails.

Age:

• This is what I was afraid of when researching this post. Sadly, I am just getting old and there is really nothing I can do about it. Increasing age leads to thining nails that are more prone to crack. Women suffer more than men because a drop in the hormone estrogen brought on by menopause can lead to skin dehydration and this can leave your nails more brittle and weak. What do do? Everyone can enhance their nail health by applying hand cream throughout the day, taking extra care to rub the heavy cream into the cuticles. Additionally, you apply a night hand cream right before bed and put on lightweight cotton gloves for overnight. The result will be soft hands and BONUS – hydrated nails that are less likely to crack and peel. Along with specialty night hand creams, you can also use pure Vaseline Petroleum Jelly (the stuff you apply to your lips) applied to damp hands for a less expensive, and just as effective, overnight treatment.

Wet Hands:

• This one resonates with me. Why? Because my family apparently needs to use every single dish in the house on a daily basis. As a result – I do a LOT of dishes. My hands are always wet. This could be the source of my issues – and lucky for me there is a very simple solution – wear rubber gloves while washing dishes. (or have my kids do them!)

Harsh nail products:

• Nail products are notoriously harsh. Just take a quick sniff of your nail polish remover. Add in gel polish that is tough to remove, acrylic glues and dyes and you have a whole host of reasons why your nails may be discolored or cracking. If you are experiencing nail issues caused by nail products, try to avoid products that contain toluene and formaldehyde, two common and drying ingredients in nail products. Thankfully, the nail industry has heard the call and many products are on the market now that still give you that nail glamour without the harsh ingredients.

For the moment, I have found relief (finally) in having a single acrylic nail. My plan is to grow out my natural nail, giving it all the nutrition it needs as the acrylic one is pushed farther to the nail tip…so, needless to say, I’m not polishing it or having it filled…it’s kind of a ‘nail cast’ to protect the cracked portion of the nail so it doesn’t keep hurting! Not so stylish but at least I’m not in pain.