With more people posting pictures of nail arts on Instagram, chances are you want to get in on the trend. But, when your nails are splitting, breaking and brittle, this can get in the way of showing off your new DIY nail art. This is why you should do something about your brittle nails very quickly.
You know how doctors often say that you can tell a lot about a person’s health by merely looking at their skin? Well, turns out there’s another indicator that can offer a cursory insight into your state of health, and those are your nails. Yep, the same finger and toenails.
Brittle nails can often be a sign that there’s something wrong with your health… or not. But you need to be sure of it. For instance, brittle nails can be caused by biological and physiological processes like inadequate moisture or the effects of aging.
Or it can be caused by other conditions such as the inadequate or excess thyroid hormone in the system. Anemia can also cause brittle nails.
Whatever the case, if you don’t like the fact that your nails are brittle, breaking, and/or have ridges, you can always do something about it. In this article, we’ll be providing you with concrete information on how you can easily get rid of brittle nails, thus giving yourself the healthy great looking nails that you deserve.
Some of the topics we’ll be covering here include:
- Understanding Nails – What are Brittle Nails?
- How Do You Know You’ve Got Brittle Nails?
- Why are Your Nails Brittle and Breaking?
- Tips for Strengthening Weak Brittle Nails
- Effective Brittle Nail Treatments –Natural and Conventional
About Brittle Nails
Your nails are actually a product of fused cells called onchocytes. These combined with a certain protein called keratin results in your nail plate. Just because your nails are hard, doesn’t mean that they are dead.
If anything, your nails are alive and highly absorbent –even more than your skin. This is why they get super soft when exposed to fluids for long periods. When they are healthy, they have a consistent clear color without any blotches, and are even without any breaking.
But when they aren’t, they get brittle, broken, split or weakened. Now it doesn’t matter of it’s the finger or toe nails, ether one of them looks unattractive and should be corrected. If you are currently suffering from this and think your situation is unique, think again.
Estimates have showed that roughly 2 out of every 10 persons have brittle nails at every point in time. However, just because it is popular, doesn’t mean you should do something about it.
After all, we want to show off those new nail arts quickly, don’t we. And even if that’s not the goal, people unconsciously judge you by your nails.
It’s not something they pay attention to, it’s just one of those things people notice, and causes them to form a less than pleasant opinion about you –more specifically, your hygiene. And because it’s more common in women, it can negatively impact your otherwise flawless appearance.
Causes Of Brittle Nails And Risk Factors
As mentioned earlier, there are multiple causes of brittle nails. Most of these aren’t serious issues, but there are a few issues that you would need to have checked out by your doctor. Some of the more common causes of brittle nails include:
- Brittle nails caused by vitamin deficiency
- Anemia
- Thyroid conditions – hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. In both instances, there’s a hormonal imbalance that can trigger the condition
- Eating disorders – people with poor eating habits like anorexia or other eating disorders can develop brittle nails
- Protein deficiency – you know how we mentioned earlier that the protein keratin plays an important role in your nails’ growth? Well, not having enough of that protein can result in brittle nails
- May be a side effect of medical treatment – any medical treatment that results in a significant loss proteins can trigger brittle nails condition. Examples of these include chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
- Genetic predisposition – if you have had brittle or weak nails for the longest time, chances are that yours may be genetic. So, find out if your parents had any conditions like that. Studies have shown that parents who have brittle nails are likely to pass it on to their children.
- Prolonged water exposure – nails naturally get soft when exposed to water for a reasonably long time. Leave them in for longer than necessary, and you will soon have a case of brittle, split or broken nails.
- Weather and seasons – It’s interesting to note that changing seasons can cause your nails to become weak or fragile. For instance, you often go from a very warm indoor environment to a very cold outdoor environment. These require your body as a whole to adapt to the varying temperatures. The moisture too does affect your nails, causing them to expand or contract as they see fit. Eventually, this strain can result in broken nails as they become fragile.
- Exposing your nails to chemicals – most people use nail polish removers when they want to change their nail polish. Unfortunately, nail polish removers tend to contain acetone, a chemical that acts as a paint thinner, and one that’s capable of leaving your nails very dry. Prolonged dryness naturally makes the nails hard and inflexible, resulting in them breaking. This effect isn’t just limited to acetone based nail polish removers. Even non-acetone polish removers can cause excessive drying owing to the fact that you have to use more and leave it on for longer.
- Iron deficiency – iron plays a key role in the production of nail cells. So, if your diet is lacking in iron, you might find your nails crumbling and becoming brittle in the process.
- Nail psoriasis which can result in nail discoloration, the separation of the nail from its bed, and nail splitting. It’s usually common in people diagnosed with psoriasis –about 50 percent of all patients. It can be as high as 80 percent in patients with psoriatic arthritis.
- Slower metabolism – a faster metabolism not only helps you burn fat, lose weight, stay healthy and live longer, it can also affect your nails. Research has indicated that people with slower metabolism tend to develop brittle nails, owing to the lack of moisture that those with faster metabolism have. This is even more common in people whose slower metabolism can be linked to a thyroid condition.
- Nail fungus and windburn
- Skin conditions like lichen planus, which can alter the appearance of your nails
Symptoms And Signs Of Brittle Nails – How Do You Know You’ve Got Brittle Nails?
Knowing what to look for will help you accurately determine if your nails have become brittle. With this information, it will be easy to find out what the possible cause could be and help you get treatment on time if the underlying condition is serious.
The signs and symptoms of brittle nails include:
- Tendency to crack, chip or break
- Nails not growing out as well as they should
- Vertical ridges along the nails
- Horizontal lines that look like you took a nail file to your nails
- Uneven, rough nail tips with signs of peeling
Effective Natural And Conventional Brittle Nail Treatments
The approach to treating brittle nails is often a combination of preventive steps as well as adopting a few measures that will help get your nails back in great shape.
If there are no associated medical conditions, you can pretty much reverse the trend by simply adopting a few tips and applying them frequently. The following are the best effective treatment options for brittle nails:
- Moisturize more frequently –this means using good moisturizers. Most hand creams can do this.
- Limit prolonged exposure to water –if you’ll be doing any washing, try to wear gloves. And if you can’t wear gloves, just ensure that your hands aren’t under water for too long. And moisturize as soon as you’re done.
- Limit your use of alcohol based hand disinfectants. These are known to be very drying and will most likely dry out the nails as well as your skin. Use moisturizing soaps like Dove instead.
- Avoid contact with irritants that can affect your nails
- Drink more water to stay hydrated –it’s a simple thing, but hydration plays a key role in staving off and reversing brittle nails. You can also eat more water based fruits like watermelon.
- Apply cuticle oils and creams to your nails frequently. More importantly, keep your hands moisturized.
- Get rid of or avoid all acetone based nail polish removers. Look for gentler, less harsh nail polish removers that work just as effectively. The best are those made from plants.
- Take Biotin supplements –these are the only known nail growing supplements in the market. Just don’t expect an instant recovery or growth. It works over the course 4-6 months. Also add natural sources of biotin like oats, tomatoes, almonds and eggs to your diet.
- Stay away from nail polish for a while. This will help your nails recover and get back in shape.
- Don’t use nail extensions or fake nails for a while.
There you have it… everything you need to know about brittle nails. As you can see, it doesn’t cost a fortune to reverse or prevent it. Just requires a little sacrifice as well as the adoption of certain healthy lifestyle habits. Do everything we’ve suggested in this article, and you can be sure that your nails will be in great shape for the rest of your life.
