Better nail health is at your fingertips

Weak, brittle or frequently splitting fingernails are a common issue for many who love the esthetic

Kathy Austin-Surette was having troubles.

Her nails were peeling and splitting at the ends. It didn’t help she was also a nail biter. The Surettes Island, Yarmouth County, woman finally found a remedy that worked to repair her nails – just in time for spring where she proceeded to ruin them again in the garden. Austin-Surette is not alone. Weak and brittle or splitting nails are a common issue for many.

Jenna Thompson is the owner and lead aesthetician at the Luxe Beauty Bar in Charlottetown, P.E.I. and has worked in the industry for 18 years. She said there are several factors that contribute to nail health. Medical conditions such as having low thyroid, anemia, Raynaud’s syndrome, where fingers and toes often feel numb and cold in response to cold temperatures or stress, poor nutrition and environmental factors are the most common reasons for poor nail condition.

According to Gail Hart, genetics can play a role in whether your nails are strong or weak or whether you have certain conditions that can affect nail health. Hart has been in the beauty industry for 41 years and currently is with O’Keefe Agencies in Mount Pearl, N.L. in aesthetic sales and as an education coordinator.

“A healthy natural nail is very dependent on good blood flow, as the blood carries all the nutrients and oxygen needed,” explained Hart.

Additionally, Hart noted that aging will take a toll.

As we age, nails can become drier, more brittle and ridged.

DIET AND SUPPLEMENTS

Diet can also play a factor in nail health. By improving it, there can be an impact on your nails.

For example, if you are having trouble growing your nails, preventing them from splitting or peeling, Thompson recommended ensuring you are getting enough of the right nutrients, including zinc, protein, vitamin B, and omega 3s.

The nail also needs sulfur, potassium and calcium to help with the hardening and maintenance of nail strength. Many of these nutrients are available in the foods we eat, including seaweed, shellfish, fresh mushrooms, potatoes, bananas and milk, just to name a few.

Myles Pottier of Yarmouth has discovered this to be true.

“Most often, if I have more breaks than usual, I find I should be focusing in on my eating habits and what may be lacking there,” she said.

For Pottier, eating fish and dairy products seem to help the most. But results are gradual. The nails need to grow in stronger to be less brittle, she said.

There are other supplements that can be taken to help promote nail health, said Hart. These include biotin and omega 3s, which are available at the pharmacy. These supplements will help with regrowth, maintain moisture when needed, rebuild keratin and help with flexibility.

CONTRIBUTED

Kaleigh Thibeau of Yarmouth knows this firsthand. She was having an issue with her nails being brittle and chipping a lot. She watched a TikTok describing her skin and nail issues and they recommended trying omega pills.

“I couldn’t believe how fast it worked, but I also wasn’t really eating anything that naturally contained omegas, so it makes sense that I was deficient,” said Thibeau.

Austin-Surette started taking biotin, a vitamin B in gummy form. She has found it great not only for her nails, but also for her hair and skin.

Besides ingesting things to improve nail health, Thompson recommended keeping your hands hydrated with a cuticle oil that is rich with vitamin E, jojoba oil or avocado oil.

Morgen Balletto of Yarmouth uses coconut oil, instead of hand lotion. She said it takes a few weeks before seeing the results, but has less splitting and peeling.

“I just massage it into my cuticles for a few minutes. I think it makes more of an impact on growing nails, so I don’t see a real improvement for a few weeks if I haven’t used it in a while.”

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Wearing gloves when working with chemicals or when having your hands in warm water for long periods of time can also help protect your nails, said Thompson. Hands that are in and out of water more frequently (hairstylists, medical personal, etc.) will often find their nails peel and split more often, as the nails have much porosity and will absorb all the excess moisture, added Hart.

Natalie Bullerwell of Yarmouth County has worked hard to regrow her nails after a lifetime of picking them. She agreed water is bad for nails. To protect them she always keeps them polished and, when they are long enough, she wraps the base coat and topcoat around to the underneath of the nail, so the water can’t soak in from underneath.

Another important point to note, according to Hart, is how you file your nails. Natural nails should only be filed one way, with a gentle file — never see-sawing as this will cause the nail to split.

Pottier agrees. Properly using a nail file, she said, avoids any further cracks from the force of the clippers and allows her to have better control over shape; the rounder, the less chance of snagging.

Some people will say that polish is the only thing that helps to harden their natural nail, said Hart. That is because polishes are made with lots of hardening agents.

People with very soft nails have a hard time keeping regular polish on, no matter what the brand, without it chipping off in a day or so.

This is because of the flexibility in the natural nails and the polish being much harder, so the nails fight against it and it chips the polish off, explained Hart.

Thompson noted that polish marketed as organic is what they call 10-free polishes, meaning it does not contain the 10 most common and controversial chemicals like formaldehyde, toluene or parabens. When shopping, Thompson recommended this type of polish over the others to prevent dehydration, as well as opting for acetone-free nail polish remover.

In the end, though, Thompson said that nail polish and other types of nail services will not fix the problem — only hide it. So, they always recommend taking care of your nail health before applying nail polish, gel polish, gel nails or acrylic nails.

ARTIFICIAL NAILS

Many have found that having artificial nails is a great way to prevent nail biting. For example, Bullerwelll used to pick her nails. To break the habit, she had gel nails for a year. That really kick-started her journey to healthy nails.

Others said that, when they finally decided to go back to their natural nails, the urge to chew them was gone.

But do artificial nails cause damage?

Some artificial nail systems can be very aggressive on the natural nail, but damage occurs most often when a nail technician is rushed for time or lacks the important information about the service they are performing, warned Hart.

And remember, any artificial product — like artificial nails or polish — that covers the natural nail will increase moisture levels in the nail, which makes them softer and more susceptible to peeling, cautioned Hart.

Another aspect to be wary of is clients picking at their artificial product and improperly removing them, continued Hart. All of this can be detrimental to the health of the natural nail.

Make sure to visit a nail tech who is properly educated and certified in the application and removal of these products to keep your nails healthy and to allow you to continue getting these types of services for long periods with no damage, advised Thompson.

Regular maintenance of your manicures, as well as not picking or peeling off your gel polish or nail stickers is key to keeping your nails healthy, she said. When you pick, you take a layer off the natural nail, which causes peeling and thinning.

For a well-manicured look, Hart suggested using hand cream every day, don’t pick at your nails and cuticles and use your nails as jewels, not tools.

If something strange is happening to your nail, check with a certified nail technician or see your doctor.