What can I do about my nail that keeps cracking?

September 9, 2023 3:04 PM

You are not my doctor. In fact, part of my question is "What doctor do I see for this?" The nail on a finger keeps developing a small crack at the very tip. This nail was never perfect - there's always been a groove running down lengthwise. I'm concerned this crack will spread and go all the way down. What can I do to help prevent cracks? Grow fingernail length faster? Is there a professional I need to see? More inside.

The finger is the ring finger on my left hand (non-dominant). My job is being a boring office worker bee. I keep my finger nails trim. I've never gotten a pedicure or nail polish. I wear gloves when washing the dishes or for long period of water exposure. I don't have any hobbies or sports. I don't think there's any impact other than typing (which, I guess I do a lot of.)

The groove started developing when a basketball landed on my finger while my hand was flat on the floor 30 years ago. Bad luck!

What I've done so far is to keep the nail trim, file the cracked area, and put blue tape on top so it doesn't snag when I reach into pockets. One day I trimmed it down as short I was comfortable with, and I had hoped that the groove wouldn't crack once it got longer, but of course it did.

posted by Mushroom12345 to Health & Fitness (14 answers total)

I have a similar thing, where there is a lengthwise ridge on my thumbnail, and a crack develops if the nail gets too long. I keep it trimmed but I find taking a biotin supplement has made my nails stronger and it's not happening as much as it used to.
posted by essexjan at 3:27 PM on September 9, 2023

I came into say Biotin too. My PCP recommended it when my nails were breaking and splitting. I was skeptical, but for a n=1 it seems to be working.
posted by kathrynm at 3:29 PM on September 9, 2023

I have this problem with my right index finger. I have come to realize that it's part of my autoimmune complex of problems (non-osteo arthritis, etc.). Split nails are often considered a symptom indicator of psoriatic arthritis, though obviously that's not the only reason you can get them.

Biotin supplements, short nails, and professional manicures have also helped my nails hold steady/not get worse. If you don't want to go pro on manicures, there are a number of clear nail strengtheners you can use at home that also help the nail when it's trying to split. (I like this colored strengthener personally but YMMV.)
posted by gentlyepigrams at 3:55 PM on September 9, 2023

Dermatologist is who you want for your skin, hair, and nails. Unless it's toenails, and then it might be a derm or it might be a podiatrist.
posted by Lyn Never at 4:16 PM on September 9, 2023

Can you apply a layer of epoxy to prevent the splitting?
posted by H21 at 4:29 PM on September 9, 2023

I see smarter answers than this above, but in the "if it's weird but it works maybe it ain't weird" camp: my smallest toenail wanted to be two separate nails. It'd come out of the matrix (?whatever nails grow out of?) in one piece, but if you even looked at it funny (or caught it on a sock, or on a sandal, or bumped it on .... anything, it'd split into two pieces like on side was going to just peel all the way off.

I tried a zillion things to fix it, but what finally worked was putting the little piece a little over/onto the bigger piece, and literally crazy-gluing the damn thing back together. (I was pretty desperate by this time; it had been going on forever.) The glue was probably like the epoxy suggestion above; it held the pieces together against all bumps until the nail grew all the way out in on piece with no split, and until your question I hadn't thought about that little frustration in a long time.
posted by adekllny at 6:36 PM on September 9, 2023

i keep my right hand thumbnail long (for fingerstyle guitar)...i've occasionally broken that nail right along the quick, about 1/3 of way across the nail...so a kinda big split. i've repaired this split by applying a Tiny amount of superglue directly into the crack (and holding the crack closed whilst it hardens) . then after that bit fully hardens, ive added a little more on the surface to improve the overall bond. this approach has worked for me and allowed the nail to grow out (and eventually that glued bit can be nail-filed off). takes awhile for it to grow out and ive tried to minimize getting that nail wet along the way (and sometimes a re-repair is needed)..but its worked each time and ive been able to get right back to using that nail as a plectrum.
also, Biotin.
posted by The_Auditor at 7:59 PM on September 9, 2023

Try supplements. If that doesn't help, there's this thing called Onyfix. It's technically for ingrown toenails, but it will "probably" work on fingernails too. It's basically like a "retainers for nails". There's this ceramic band they glue to the base of your nail, so it grows together properly. I've seen it on Toe Bro's channel.
posted by kschang at 8:09 PM on September 9, 2023

My old boss had this issue and solved it - on advise of the doctor - by keeping a manicure on her nails. The hard acrylic kind, it kept her nail held together. She always had a short style, which you wouldn’t have pegged as a fake nail and I wouldn’t have known if it hadn’t come up randomly in conversation. She said it would heal but break again randomly so she decided just to keep the manicure on and never had any issues after that.
posted by Bottlecap at 8:29 PM on September 9, 2023

My son had that and anti fungus nail drops nightly for like four months finally got rid of it. Apply at the nail bed where the line is and also at the tip by the crack. It is not expensive and worth a try.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 9:22 PM on September 9, 2023

You can get patches for split nails or simply use nail glue. You may need to file that down some after application but it will make it harder for the split to grow.

Not your particular problem but my nails had a tendency to split for a while and this stuff helped a lot.
posted by koahiatamadl at 1:13 AM on September 10, 2023

The silk/fiber wrap patches are how I keep my Terrible Toenail (same as adekllny but my ring toe instead of littlest) under control. I do have to re-do the process periodically though, clearly I have some kind of nailbed damage that's making it grow like that in perpetuity.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:08 AM on September 10, 2023

IANAD, but I stopped taking Biotin after I was informed by my cardiologist that at supplement levels it can interfere with the blood tests that diagnose a heart attack.

I have several nails that are heavily ridged and split or snag easily. Like others here I use nail glue on actual splits. I also paint my nails with ridge filler to keep the surface more smooth and less prone to splitting.
posted by MagnificentVacuum at 9:31 AM on September 10, 2023

(Side note for adekllny and Lyn Never - like me, you may have accessory toenails! I’ve got them on both my pinkies and one ring toe.)
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 12:55 PM on September 10, 2023