How To Treat Brittle Nails At Home

Nail care to treat brittle nails is important. Your nails are an extension of your fingers and if they’re not kept well or cared for.

Without proper care, you could end up with cracking or peeling skin on the surface that’s exposed to friction from everyday tasks like cleaning dishes and using household cleaners this is known to be the most common cause of brittle nails.

This happens because water gets trapped beneath their cuticle instead of being absorbed into it as needed.

Beautiful healthy nails are the pride of every woman and man, using good nail polish, and moisturizing your hands can make your hands look groomed and presentable.

But what if your nails are splitting and unsightly? this post will give you tips on how to treat brittle nails at home.

But what if this is not enough? what if you have unsightly brittle and splitting fingernails?

What can you do to strengthen weak nails? Your fingernails define your hands and you should take pride in taking care of them.


Brittle un-cared for nails are not easy to cover up, unlike your face that you can use good makeup to conceal unattractive spots and imperfections.

Hiding bad fingernails is hard, but with a bit of loving care you will soon have fingernails you are proud of.

How To Identify Brittle Nails

It`s not hard to identify and treat dry brittle nails and the first sign you will notice is that they are almost impossible to grow, as soon as they start to grow they break off,  other signs are

• splitting
• tearing or breaking easily
• weak

Cold weather can increase fingernails brittleness so much that your fingernails will be breaking almost for no reason at all.

You might have noticed that in the winter months, growing your fingernails is harder.

Brittle fingernails are more common in women, but this is not to say men are not affected.

What Causes Brittle Finger Nails

There are different reasons for brittle fingernails, lots of contact with water, household detergents, and cold weather, some nail polish can also dry your nails and continuous use make your nails weak.

Overheating in the house and sickness can also cause weak brittle nails, old age is also a known factor in making nails brittle, weak, and splitting.

Harsh chemicals, some present in your cleansers are not friendly to your nails at all and can cause nail problems.

Iron deficiency can also affect your nails and so is the chlorine in swimming pools.

Lack of fatty acids and calcium, low levels of zinc, thyroid problems and low level of iron may also cause brittle nails: read more here.

Another cause of brittle nails is Acryl nails after you have stopped using acryl nails, you`ll find that your natural nails turn weak and brittle as the acryl nails have affected the health of your nails. So try to limit the number of times you use artificial nails.

Before I stop using Acryl nails, I start taking iron supplements to strengthen my nails, I find that this gives me better results when my nails start growing as it helps me reduce nail brittleness lifespan compared to things like using Shea butter on my hands and nails.

How To Treat Brittle Nails With Best Results

Just as there are many causes of brittle nails, there are different things you can do to avoid, treat and improve brittle nails.

Find what works for you as there is no one method fits all here, what works for a friend may not have as good results for you.

Just before getting started, none of these methods will work overnight so have patience.

These are suggestions, try them and find what works best for you as all people are different and all brittle nails are not as a result of the same thing.

• Avoid contact with unnecessary water, and reduce the times you wash your hands.
• Try having shorter nails to reduce breakage.
• Frequently massage olive oil or castor oil.
• Take vitamin supplements.(read an earlier post on benefits of supplements here if you missed it)
• Improve your diet.
• Take biotin supplementation.
• Stop biting at your fingers.
• Reduce your usage of fake nails
• Avoid unnecessary handwashing.
• When it`s cold outside, do put on hand gloves.
• When washing up, do wear  rubber hand gloves
• Take Biotin supplements(with caution)

There are much more ways to treating brittle nails and as said earlier, nothing works in a day, keep taking care of your nails and it will work.

Home Remedies for Brittle Nails

There are ways you can treat brittle nails at home cheaply some of what you need are already readily available in the home. Use any of these one at a time to strengthen weak nails.

Lemon Joice:

• Acidic lemon juice helps strengthen your nails,
• mix the juice of half lemon with olive oil or castor oil then apply to cuticles and nails,
• repeat mornings and nights before bedtime.
• (do not leave lemon juice on too long, 5 minutes are more than enough.

Coconut Oil:

• Coconut oil works great in moisturizing nails and hands and is brilliant cuticle oil.
• mix with freshly squeezed lemon juice then apply to your hands and nails. Although I do not like the strong smell of coconut oil, it works great in treating dry nails.

Tea Tree Oil:

 

• Mix a few drops of tea tree oil with vitamin E oil,
• then rub them into your fingernails to improve nail health.
• At best twice daily. So you can do it in the mornings after showering and then at night before bedtime, this way, you`ll forget less.

Treating Nails Takes Time

Even with the best nail treatment products, do practice patience, nail strengthening products take time before you can see the results you are after.

Dry brittle nail treatment should not be a challenge and most of the items above can be bought at any drug store.

Just do not expect a miracle nail condition will not change overnight, but after a week, you should see changes and your fingernails getting better just by using these home remedies for dry brittle nails. Nail hardeners and nail polishes should also be your friend.

Before starting to use any of the above remedies, do find out if your dry brittle nails may be caused by a medical condition as it`s known that vitamin deficiency or thyroid can make your nails weak.

A healthy diet also means healthy nails this is not only for your nails but for overall health. Read more here

Now to Some Brittle Nails Q&A

Q-What’s the best nail strengthenerA-

there are so many nail-strengthening products to choose from out there, but I`ll share my top 4 favorites.

1. Essie: This is not only a nail strengthener, for stronger nails, but it also hardens the nails stopping them from splitting, chipping, and breaking. This vegan is made ethically and does not contain any animal ingredients. what I like most about Essie’s nail strengthener is that you can use it as a nail polish without the need to add anything else on top.
2. O.P.I-I love O.P.I nail strengthener because you can use it as a stand-alone polish. With calcium and protein, it will help your nails get strong and harder. Use it on Weak and damaged fingernails. It comes in four neutral shades so it`s possible to use on its own.

3. Hard As Hoof-I consider this as the all-in-one when it comes to nail strengthener, it strengthens weak, brittle, breaking, or splitting nails, conditions cuticles, and is an allrounder for all your hands. If you want help with brittle nails then Hard As Hoof is the answer.

You may like: How to do gel nails at home

Q-What vitamins make your nails stronger?

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

-these will moisturize your nails giving them a healthy shine.

Vitamin C-Now you know that you need vitamin C on your skincare products, you also need Vitamin C to avoid dry brittle nails.

Biotin-promotes healthy cell growth: Take Biotin supplements to strengthen your weak, breaking, and brittle nails.

Treating  Brittle Nails At A Glance

• Do not overuse water
• Reduce the use of acrylic and gel nails
• Start taking supplements
• If possible, t have shorter nails, weekly nail trimmings is recommended.
• Keep hydrated.
• Accept that your nail growth will be slow at the beginning.
• Try to reduce the use of hand sanitizers as they dry out your hands and nails.
• If the nails are too weak, try to get gel manicures as you work on restoring your nails.
• Sleep with cotton gloves if possible.

Healthy strong nails are achievable to any of us, you just have to take care of your hands and nails and follow the tips shared above and did I mention you can still use nail polishes as you work on strengthening your dry, breaking brittle fingers?

Just make sure to use nail polish remover without acetone as they are harsh on your nails.

Need more information? leave me a message and will get back to you. Tell me how you manage to get stronger nails.

Would also like to hear how you deal with weak breaking nails, any home remedies you know of that I should try ? all tips are welcome.