How to Treat a Damaged Fingernail

The fingernail is an often forgotten part of the body when it comes to health. Until something goes wrong they are easy to be taken for granted. While damaged nails can be the symptom of more serious medical conditions or malnutrition, often it is the stresses of everyday life and unintentional mistreatment which causes the damage.

Things You'll Need

• Fingernail clippers
• Emery board
• Vegetable oil
• Nail polish

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Instructions

• 1

  Trim the nails short to prevent further damage. Use an emery board to give the nail a soft curve and smooth any rough edges. If you have a hangnail, make sure you clip it off, instead of pulling it. Pulling a hangnail off will damage the surrounding nail and skin tissue.

• 2

  Soak the nail in vegetable oil. Use a nail polish brush to apply a small amount of oil to the nail and then massage the oil in. This will help restore moisture to the nail, which will strengthen it.

• 3

  Apply a thin layer of nail polish to the nail. This will help hold in moisture and provide a little more support for the damaged nail, as it heals. Remove and reapply the nail polish once a week, until the nail has recovered. Do not use nail polish remover more than once a week and never use remover that contains acetone, as it will dry out the nail and make it brittle.