She Nailed It

Once upon a time I had good strong finger nails. They could grow to great lengths and were easy to file and shape.  Then, about 2 or 3 years ago, I suddenly started to have some trouble. I kept breaking them off, for one thing. That was most unusual as I was definitely not abusing them as much as I used to.  Another thing that was happening was that I would get a little divot in them, in the very middle, at the tip of the nail. Then, when I'd try to file them, they would feather.

I tried Biotin.  No luck.  So, when I went for an annual physical, I mentioned this new nail problem to the doctor.  They usually check your nails, right?  Nails are supposed to be a good indicator of certain health problems.  She made it clear to me that, as difficult as it might be to hear, I was just getting older.  I asked her what it was my older body was lacking and causing my nails to be like this.  Apparently it is common and it just happens. At least, that's the answer I got.

Well, a young neighbour became an esthetician and when she heard the problems I was having she said that my nails had just dried out and that they needed to be moisturized .  I'm always using hand cream but I didn't necessarily make sure that I rub it into my nails.  I tend to use Yves Rocher products a lot, so I basically switched from the regular Arnica Essentiel Daily Moisturizing Hand Cream to their 2 in 1 Beautifying Hand & Nail Cream and made sure I rubbed it into the nails as well.

If I think about it, we had switched our heating system from oil to gas shortly before this problem began.  Gas heat is definitely dryer than oil heat, so now I use hand creams more often.  I paid attention and made sure to massage this new cream not only into my hands, but my nails also.  It wasn't long before I noticed a definite improvement.  Nails stopped breaking, and the little divots also stopped.  I still had to file gently and in one direction only, or I'd end up with feathering, but I was quite happy to see an improvement.

Now that the winter is over, and the heat isn't on (as much), my hands are not as dry as they had been during the winter months and I'm not using the hand cream as often as I was.  And guess what.....I've had divots out of the ends again, and the feathering has gotten worse. So, you see, the doctor was wrong to blame this problem on aging alone.  There is something you can do about it.  Moisturize those nails!  My young friend hit the nail on the head with her idea of how to treat the problem.