Nailing Nail Care: Tips for Healthy and Strong Nails

Nails hold varying degrees of significance from individual to individual. Some blatantly ignore them, while others take great care to make them fashionable, and there are also some who just do the bare minimum maintenance required. Wherever you might be on the nail care spectrum, here are some tips to keep your nails healthy.

Keep Them Clean

This is an absolute no-brainer, keep your nails clean. Unless you plan to adopt the barbarian lifestyle, or if you are trying to get into the Guinness World Records for the dirtiest fingernails ever, you should have no reason to not clean your nails.

When doing tasks like gardening, it is common to get some dirt under your fingernails. You can avoid that if you use gardening gloves. But if you can’t use gloves, or if you insist on using your bare hands, then it is best to thoroughly wash your hands and get rid of all traces of dirt from under your fingernails after you are done.

Clean and dry nails are what you always want, because damp and dirty is giving an open invitation to infections.

Trim and Maintain

Trimming:

Keep your nails trimmed, the shorter the better. Shorter nails not only prevent nail breaks and injuries but they also give you a civilized appearance. If you ignored your toenails and now find it hard to cut them down to size, here’s an excellent tip- Soak your feet in warm salt water for 5-10 minutes. Now they should be easier to cut.

Filing:

After you trim your nails it’s best to file them lightly to get a smooth edge. Filing can prevent jagged nails and splintering, it also reduces the chance of you hurting someone with your nails and causing accidental snags. Take care not to file your nails excessively, since it can instead damage your nails.

Moisturizing:

Just like your skin, your nails need moisture too. Lack of moisture can cause your nails to become brittle and weaken them. To prevent this you need to apply moisturizing cream or oil to your nails and cuticles.

Diet:

Your diet too has effects on your nails. If you stay hydrated, your nails will too, this keeps the moisture content in the nails at the required levels, thereby preventing any ill effects due to moisture loss. Consuming food rich in Protein, Biotin, Vitamins A, C, and E, Iron, Zinc, Calcium, Omega-3 Fatty acids, and Silica, all have beneficial effects on your Nails. Conversely, excessive consumption of sugar, alcohol, and caffeine can have detrimental effects.

Protecting Your Nails

Misusing Nails:

There are certain habits that can damage your nails. Bottle openers exist for a reason, you should know where I’m going with this one. Stop trying to pry stuff with your nails, they are very damaging. On a completely unrelated note, don’t use your teeth to do tasks like opening bottles either. It can seem fun to do so but chipping your teeth is not so fun. If you treat your nails like a tool, then expect them to break just like a tool would.

Bad Nail Habits:

If you are a serial nail-biter, please reform that habit or you’ll end up having no nails to bite. Don’t pick your nails either, it is detrimental to your nail health. It is very easy to tell people to get rid of their bad habits. But habits are not something you can change at the drop of a hat. It’s difficult, but not impossible. As long as you want to change something, you can change it, it is hard, but it is worth it.

Nail Tools:

There is one other point that is often ignored in nail care routines- the tools. The nail clippers, files, and whatever other tools you use for nail care have to be taken care of too. Clean them regularly and disinfect them with disinfectants or rubbing alcohol.

Cutting Cuticles:

If you are cutting or getting your cuticles removed, WHY?? What did they ever do to you? If they are on your fingers, then they must serve some purpose, right? If it exists, then there must be some reason for it.

Although the human body has some vestiges, the cuticle isn’t one of them. Cuticles exist to seal the space where the nail meets the skin. Removing it is giving a free pass to all bacteria, fungi, and other pathogens waiting to enter and cause infections. Cuticles also help your nails retain moisture, so think again before cutting or removing them in the future.

Gloves:

Use protective gloves when engaging in any activities that might damage your nails. It wouldn’t hurt to wear gloves if you work around with chemicals for example. Wearing gloves when washing utensils would help too. It’s best to use gloves for any task that requires your hand to get dirty or soaked.

Nail Products and procedures

Chemicals:

There are countless nail care products available on the market, starting from colorful nail polish to products that enhance your nails like nail strengtheners. Then we have the top coats, bottom coats, nail polish removers, cuticle oil, and the list goes on and on.

We cannot outright dismiss any of these products as harmful, because most of them are situational. But if you constantly use any of these, then it’s a completely different story. Because overusing things will definitely not give you a good ending. Take Nail strengtheners for example, they are helpful if you use them when needed, but depending on them completely will only have detrimental effects on your nails.

Using bottom and top coats appropriately with nail polish has positive effects both visually and on your nail health. But always having nail polish on will also weaken your nails. It is best to give your nails some time before applying nail polish again. Constantly switching from one strong polish to another can cause yellowing, and weakening of nails.

It also doesn’t hurt to check the chemical composition of the products you use, as some products have chemicals that are harmful to your nails. Better safe than sorry.

Procedures:

Kicking back and relaxing while someone works on your nails is a splendid experience. Getting Pedicures and Manicures done is a great and relaxing way to keep your nails healthy. But here comes the catch. Make sure the salon you go to is a trustable one with trained and experienced professionals. Look into their hygiene practices, licenses, and the products they use.

While opting for Manicures and Pedicures is taking the right step towards healthy nails, not all procedures are good for your nails. Procedures like Gel manicure is especially hard on your nails, so getting them often is a bad idea. In fact, getting any kind of manicure or pedicure back to back is bad for your nails. As I said earlier, leave your nails alone for a while.

A Professional Touch

If you are too lazy to show your nails some love, or if you are missing the necessary products and tools, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a trained professional to have a look at your nails. In case you have any persisting nail-related problems, it is best to get it checked by a doctor as soon as possible.

Remember, the health of your nails is in your hands.
No Pun intended.