Nails need a little TLC

Janice Whatcott has always had a complaint about her fingernails.

"My nails will only grow a certain length, and then they get brittle and break," said the Layton woman. "Once they get to a nice length, where I want to polish them, I know they're going to break within a week."

She always figured the problem is genetic, although her nails have improved slightly over the past year.

"I've been trying to eat better, and in general take better care of myself," she said.

Doctors say genetics and eating both play a role.

"Some people can grow 3-foot-long nails ... other people can't grow them out half an inch before breaking and splitting," said Dr. Scott Checketts, a dermatologist with Tanner Clinic in Layton. "It's probably more genetic than anything."

However, skin, hair and nails are representative of general health, so eating well, exercising and sleeping enough make a difference, said Dr. Julie Maughan, who has a dermatology practice in South Ogden.

Maughan and Checketts offer these tips for healthy nails:

• Keep nails dry.
• If too dry, apply moisturizer to nails and cuticles daily.
• "The skin at the base of the nail should be intact," said Checketts. "A lot of women tend to push it back, and that can be damaging to the cuticle. ... That allows bacteria and yeast to get under that little flap of skin, and you can end up with infections."
• Biting and picking at nails and skin can also cause problems.
• Some doctors recommend cutting toenails straight across, instead of down at the corners, to avoid ingrown nails.

"Tenderness at the corners of the toenail, especially the big toenails of preteens, very well could be an indication of the socks being too short," said Dr. Glenn S. Gold, Jr., a podiatrist with Layton's Tanner Clinic, explaining that pressure against the lip of the nail is the cause of many ingrown nails."

• There isn't a single dietary supplement known to grow nails, according to Checketts and Maughan. If you want to try something, Maughan says, some doctors recommend a biotin supplement, and others believe a multivitamin with biotin is acceptable.
• Painting nails is fine, but lacquers, polish removers and acrylic nails can weaken nails over time. If your nails are suffering, leave them natural for a while and see what happens.
• Be patient. It takes almost nine months for fingernails to grow from the beginning to end.