Causes Of Peeling Nails

Causes Of Peeling Nails

Causes Of Peeling NailsBeautiful, well-groomed nails enhance the beauty of the hands. On the other hand, brittle, chipped, flaky, and peeling nails are not liked by anyone. Peeling of nails is not a genetic disorder. Rather, it is caused by the depletion of natural oils and moisture content from our hands. This can be because of several reasons, such as climate change, dietary issues, intake of medicines in large quantity, psoriasis, fungal infections or other skin conditions, chemical exposure, excessive immersion in water and the wrong kind of nail treatments.

Moisturizing them with necessary oil and creams can help in preventing your fingernails from peeling. In order to follow some other treatment for peeling nails, it is necessary to explore the causes in detail. So, read on to gain information about the major causes of peeling nails.

What Causes Peeling Of Nails

Climate Change
Change in weather conditions causes nail peeling. Cold and dry weather conditions are more responsible for the peeling. It dehydrates the nail plate and causes nails to separate and flake off; hence, resulting in the peeling of nails. To save your nails from this weather, use moisturizer after washing hands, and wear gloves to save your nails from extreme dryness and chill.

Dietary Issues
The lack of essential nutrients, which are important for the formation of nail structure and other parts of the body, causes peeling of nails. Nutrients such as biotin, sulfur and Vitamin B are important to keep our nails healthy. To include them in your diet, you should increase the intake vegetables and fruit. Else, you can opt for Vitamin B and sulfur enriched dietary supplements.

Intake of Medicines
Many medicines have drying effect on the skin and nails. So, at times, the intake of prescribed medicines leads to dryness and peeling of nails. In this condition, one should ask about the side effects of the drug in advance, from the drug vendor or the doctor. In case you have to take those medicines, try to keep your hands and nails moisturized all the time.

Psoriasis & Fungal Infections
Psoriasis and fungal Infections can also result in peeled nails. If you are suffering from the problem, it is recommended that you follow the doctor’s prescription to the letter. Here, application of several anti-fungal ointments can help improve the condition to a great extent.

Chemical Exposure
Most of the people avoid taking any precautions, like wearing gloves, while cleaning their house or household items. However, the chemicals and solvents present in cleaning products can dry out and damage fingernails, in turn leading to peeling. So, it is advisable to wear plastic gloves while doing the daily cores in their house.

Excessive Immersion in Water
Water swells and separates the layers of the nail plate. So, one should avoid soaking hands in water for a long time, since it will lead to nail peeling. Wear gloves whenever possible and moisturize hands at least twice a day. Swimmers who spend more than an hour in the pool should rub olive oil or petroleum jelly into their nails, before entering the pool.

Wrong Nail Treatments
Nail strengtheners and peeling solutions are designed to make our nails bond back together, but most of the time they end up worsening the condition. Most of these treatments contain formaldehyde that can cause drying and irritation of the skin and nails. You should keep away from such products or use the ones that are free of formaldehyde.


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