My fingernails are terrible.

June 2, 2016 6:45 AM

For years I had strong fingernails I kept polished all the time, with no ill effects. Then I got cancer, and had chemo. It's been a year since my last treatment but my nails are still really weak, breaking frequently and peeling at the ends. What's the best strategy for getting these suckers to heal?

I have Sally Hansen Miracle Cure, which I used all through chemo and seemed to help preserve them at the time. I'm also taking daily biotin and a multivitamin.

Is it best to leave them alone completely, or should I be regularly using something like the Sally Hansen product above? Any other strategies or ideas?

posted by something something to Health & Fitness (23 answers total)

I have anemia and my nails are and have always been shit. There's nothing that can change the way your nails grow, the actual nail is dead. When my nails are polished, they grow longer, but their still weak, pealing and brittle. Polish chips right off.

I keep them short and buffed and move on with my life.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:54 AM on June 2, 2016

When I took prescription prenatal vitamins (the gelcaps with DHA), my nails were AMAZING. Can you got a doctor to write you a prescription?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:58 AM on June 2, 2016

I started taking daily folic acid...gosh...maybe two years ago? to help with my shitty shit shit nails. About six months in and my nails were growing in so strong I probably could have killed a man with my pinky. I stopped taking it back in December when I started taking a daily multivitamin, and within several months my nails were growing out flaky and soft again, and really slowly. Started back up on it about a month or two ago and my nails have probably grown more since then than they did in the previous four months combined. I'm starting to get the good nails back.

I really only started taking the folic acid on a lark (since I had heard prenatal vitamins are good for nails, and apparently it's the folic acid that's the real contributor to it) but after actually seeing the effects with and without I'm a believer.
posted by phunniemee at 7:01 AM on June 2, 2016

I like cuticle oils- this Sally Hansen Green Tea oil is good. It can be hard to find in stores, but you can probably find it online.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 7:09 AM on June 2, 2016

Loodie Loodie Loodie is my go-to nail care resource. She hasn't updated in ages but there's so much good stuff in the archives.

Nailtiques is my go to strengthener; I use Formula 2, but 2 Plus is the extra-strength version for "problem" nails. This blog, however, mentions that the strengtheners don't work in the long run, and recommends using oil instead.

I'd probably continue to take vitamins, apply oil daily, and keep them short until the damage has grown out.
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:21 AM on June 2, 2016

I tried both biotin and prenatal vitamins, but what really works for me seems to be vitamin D3. I take about 6,000 IU a day. I also try to keep my cuticles healthy and moisturized.

I also tried various brush-on products, but my nails react terribly to any kind of polish-like product.
posted by Squeak Attack at 7:23 AM on June 2, 2016

I also get great results from vitamin D supplementation. (and notice that my nails are better in the summer when I spend a ton of time in the sun and so produce more vitamin D.)
posted by mercredi at 7:40 AM on June 2, 2016

Nail strengtheners work by drying your nails while this technically makes them harder but also more brittle. You want a good cuticle oil massages into your cuticle and onto your nails several times a day, if not every time you wash your hands. Just Jojoba oil is great for this or get any brand that has it as a base.
posted by wwax at 7:40 AM on June 2, 2016

I've had weak flaky nails all my life - it goes with having fine hair, apparently - and I can almost guarantee you that nail strengtheners/hardeners will damage them for reasons already described.

As to whether anything you ingest could improve matters, I lack the expertise to say. I just accept that I have weak shitty fingernails and that's it.

What I do like is a good gel manicure. You will IME need to start with your nails shortened down because longer nails WILL break and crack the gel. Other than that, if you get the right manicurist, you can skin a rhinoceros and that nail color will stay flashy for weeks. Get nail art, too! I like those 3D sculpted roses.

I'm sure the process of soaking the gel off with acetone, and filing it off, will completely massacre your nails, but a) what the eye can't see, the heart can't grieve over and b) it won't affect your new nails growing in, which may yet recover.
posted by tel3path at 8:00 AM on June 2, 2016

Moisturizing them heavily immediately after a shower did wonders for my weak nails, just by preventing them from drying out. The horse I ride used to have very weak hooves (which are basically fingernails) until he started taking a biotin supplement, which completely resolved the problem.
posted by sepviva at 8:09 AM on June 2, 2016

I had the same problem when I started chemo. I wish I could tell you what I did, but they're totally back to their normal hardness now, seven months into chemo, despite me having done nothing.
posted by MsMolly at 8:11 AM on June 2, 2016

I'm a few months behind the OP in terms of chemo schedule, and my nails are also crap.

After following the "Do nothing but moisturize" regimen for a while: To hell with that. It just meant my thumbnails split vertically, and no matter how short I cut them, they'd split more. Using the Sally Hansen stuff you linked to has made them stronger (and has made me like my own nails better.)

This is a stupid, annoying post-chemo problem that I am hoping will go away with time. I'm taking B vitamins, biotin and vitamin D. In the past, biotin has improved my nails; this time, nada.

I currently have a completely wrecked thumbnail from an unfortunate clumsy kitchen accident, but when that grows out, I'm going to start trying the tea bag repair thingie.
posted by purpleclover at 8:36 AM on June 2, 2016

I have also had good luck with biotin and other B vitamins, and vitamin D.

I had great nails, then wrecked them playing roller derby for 10 years (I blame the dust and dryness in our practice space, as well as physical trauma.) And vitamins plus 2 months off of derby has put me right back into the state of "why will they not stop growing?"
posted by pixiecrinkle at 8:57 AM on June 2, 2016

Find yourself a nail salon that uses IBX! It's a real miracle worker. I think the keywords you're looking for, when booking, are 'post-acrylic recovery treatment.' I personally wouldn't recommend getting a gel mani, though. I have tough, hoof-like nails, but even my mega-strong nals feel a bit peely after I've soaked off gel.

Also, keep 'em short and filed at all times. A glass file gives the free edge a really nice, smooth finish. I also find keeping my cuticles moisturised helps with nail strength.
posted by nerdfish at 9:15 AM on June 2, 2016

Bringing a bit of clinical science to the table, one of the reasons nails can get so bad during chemo (in addition to direct action of the drug) is that the drug cocktail can react with sunlight in a damaging way. Studies are limited, but they generally support the idea that using either opaque, light-blocking nail polish or clear polishes that have UV-absorbing additives can help mediate some of the ill effects during chemo. It may be a good measure to do so after treatment, too.

But having said that, we don't have a very full understanding of the pathogenesis that leads to nail damage. There are a lot of overlapping factors at play, and the particulars of your situation make it hard (or impossible) to predict whether you're experiencing signs that may resolve on their own, or with treatment, or maybe not at all. As of a 2009 review article on the subject, there are no effective treatments to reverse nail abnormalities due to transient impairment or arrest of nail matrix mitotic activity. I'd ask my doctor for their assessment.

But, again, the situation should be viewed through the specific drugs you were administered. The article I linked above goes through a list of commonly implicated drugs, and specific effects they're known to cause. There are lots of other case studies out there of specific drugs. For instance, there's a teensy chance that you may have a (maybe subclinical) case of paronychia. I wouldn't hesitate to ask about it (and nail health generally) the next time you see your doc. Paronychia isn't an uncommon adverse effect of some drugs like vemurafenib, for instance.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 9:35 AM on June 2, 2016

I have feeble, soft nails that are prone to both peeling (gross) and breaking. Getting regular gel manicures did seem to armor them against life sufficient that they would eventually grow to a reasonable length, but I wanted to strengthen them from within so I tried a variety of recommended things, including: OPI Nail Envy; an "intensive nail repair" creme (Healthy Hoof); a "calcium topcoat"; biotin; prenatal vitamins; and so on.

To date, the only thing I have discovered that actually seems to be making a difference is rubbing coconut oil into my nails and cuticles daily, or as often as I remember. I did just get a gel manicure so now only the cuticles will absorb the oil - hopefully it will still work.
posted by Aubergine at 9:37 AM on June 2, 2016

What's the best strategy for getting these suckers to heal?

Work on circulatory and lung health. If you have a blood disorder, like diabetes or anemia, manage it as well as possible. Walk more. Improve your diet and nutrition.
posted by Michele in California at 10:10 AM on June 2, 2016

Put Krazy Glue on the ends.
posted by serena15221 at 10:47 AM on June 2, 2016

Try Nailtiques. My naturally weak, peeling nails are permanently stronger over a decade after I used it regularly for about a year.
posted by fozzie_bear at 12:17 PM on June 2, 2016

PS: I am considering Crazy Glue on the ends.
posted by purpleclover at 7:10 PM on June 2, 2016

I've had weak flaky nails all my life - it goes with having fine hair, apparently

I have fine hair and generally no nail issues. Land of contrasts, etc.

That said, when my nails somehow got fried and were separating in layers (I think due to acetone; please don't go for gel polish, which most of the nail polish bloggers I follow agree will fuck your nails up badly in the long run), I found the Nailtiques Formula 2 very helpful. It resolved the flaking and splitting I had, and my nails are back to strong and healthy now.
posted by Lexica at 12:49 AM on June 4, 2016

Anecdotal: I've been doing gel manicures for about a year and a half, and while they do keep my nails from breaking in the immediate term - it seems like the product has made my nails more fragile/dry. I'm going cold turkey on the gel and switching back to regular polish.
posted by getawaysticks at 8:38 AM on June 5, 2016

In the interest of follow up: Since I asked this question two months ago I stopped putting anything on my nails at all, and tried to be better about taking vitamins and keeping my hands moisturized. Leaving them alone made a huge difference; they're healthy and normal again, 15 months after the end of chemo.

I've switched to this natural nail polish remover as well, which actually works as well as the acetone stuff but doesn't feel like it's sucking all the moisture out of my fingernails.
posted by something something at 8:07 AM on August 16, 2016