There’s a lot more to your nails than meets the eye. Your hands reveal a lot about your health, especially when it comes to your nails. Just like your biggest organ, your skin, your nails can lose moisture, resulting in them looking brittle, weak, and dry. If your nails split, peel, or are simply weak and dry you have brittle nails.
Brittle nails occur for a variety of reasons. Your fingernails and toenails are made up of layers of Keratin a protein that protects epithelial cells (surface tissue) from damage or stress. As we age our bodies produce less keratin, exposure to water and chemicals (like cleaning materials), use of nail polish remover, and wearing nail polish for long periods of time. In many cases, all of these causes can easily happen at the same time.
Get a nail oil or a hand lotion with alpha hydroxy acid or lanolin to add deep moisture to nails and nail bed. If nails are soft and brittle, cut back on the moisturizer. Limit the number of manicures to avoid subjecting nails to the chemicals in nail polish and polish removers. Disclaimer: If these techniques don’t work to strengthen your brittle nails, it is time for you to see a doctor or a dermatologist.
