Our nails are the human equivalent of claws, talons, and hooves. Twenty thousand years ago (give or take a few) our ancestors used their nails, both finger and toe, for the same reasons that modern apes use theirs: tearing bits of food apart, picking bugs out of their hair, gripping, scraping, etc. Thanks to the advent of handy gadgets such as tweezers and back scratchers, our nails aren’t completely necessary any more – we could live without them, theoretically – but they’re still quite useful. Some people say that nails help to protect our digits, but there seems to be more argument that they exist for purposes of manipulation – their use as “tools” – rather than fortification for the ends of our fingers.
Caring For Your Nails
A healthy nail should be smooth, and the nail bed should be pink, indicating a good blood supply.
Proper nail care is important – many common problems, such as breaks, tears, and damaged spots, can be avoided if we take good care of our nails.
Keep them short. Short nails are easier to maintain and less prone to breakage.
If you do keep your nails at a longer length, file them into a blunt, or square, shape rather than an oval; oval-shaped or rounded nails tend to break more easily.
Incorporate a lot of protein, calcium, and vitamin B into your diet. Good sources of vitamin B include animal foods – meats, eggs, and dairy products – and whole grains. A daily multivitamin can help to ensure that you’re getting all the crucial nutrients. Some multivitamin formulas are even made specifically for hair and nail health – if you can’t find one, you can take the following supplements daily in addition to your regular multivitamin:
Calcium citrate – 1,000 mg. or 1,200 mg. if you’re pregnant or post-menopausal.
Biotin – 2,500 mcg. A note about biotin: a Swiss study conducted by G.L. Flörsheim found that people who received a daily dose of biotin for nail weakness experienced a twenty-five percent increase in nail thickness within five to seven months. It’s also known as B7 or vitamin H.
Iron – 60 mg.
Zinc – 50 mg.
Protect your nails from dirt and chemicals by donning a pair of gloves when you do dishes, use cleaning products, or work in the garden. To give them extra protection, stuff a cotton ball or a little wad of fiber-fill into the fingertip of each glove.
Moisturize your hands regularly. Nails are permeable, which means that moisturizer will sink right in just as it does with your skin, so be sure to smooth the lotion onto your nails beds as well as the rest of your hands. For a deep moisturization, slather your hands liberally with a coat of lotion or oil just before you go to bed, then put on a pair of cotton gloves and sleep with them on. Try to find a lotion with a content of at least ten percent urea; the label will indicate the urea content, if any.
Use cuticle cream. Keep a tube in your glove compartment, in your desk at work, wherever you may be likely to have a spare minute to rub some in.
Don’t use your nails as tools. So many of us are guilty of this: opening tabs on soda cans, scratching at stubborn spots while cleaning, etc. Doing these things can really weaken the nail.
Filing the corners or the sides of your nails can weaken them, so only file the tops.
Whenever possible, give your nails a break from polish. Having them polished all the time can be drying; plus, it doesn’t allow them to “breathe” and they can become yellowed.