Thread: Nail biter and Weak nails

I have a idea that can help you to avoid nail bitting. Do manicure, I mean gel on your nail and this would stop you to do nail bitting.

Originally Posted by BreakingDawn

Any nail hardener is just going to temporarily fix your problem. But eventually it stops to work.

#1. Polish (even clear coats) deprive the nail of oxygen, which causes serious damage to the nail
#2. Polish remover is even more damaging
#3. Think of brittle nails like this. You have a piece of rotting wood and you want it to look good so you paint over it. Realistically all you did was hide the problem. You need to cure the problem!
#4. Nail hardeners are thick polished enriched with things like calcium to make them sound good, but they are just a polish.

If you want to rebuild your nails you need biotin. There are tons of biotin supplements out there. Some good and some bad. ELON Matrix Plus includes l-cycteine and silica to help the nail growth as well. And if you have any thinning hair problem take the ELON Matrix 5000. You get stronger nails and hair in just 6 months!

As a licensed nail professional, while I do agree on a few points you make, I have to disagree with a few of your other claims. The first of which is that nail polish can deprive the nail of oxygen. Nails are composed of dead keratin cells. They do not have lungs, therefore they do they exchange oxygen to produce carbon dioxide as our lungs do. Thus, they do not 'breathe' nor do thay have a need to breathe. That is a myth.
Polish remover is damaging only when overused. The problem is typically a drying effect that remover, especially those with acetone can have on your nails. By following a few simple rules, you can cut way down or even eliminate any damge or dryness to your nails from the use of polish removers. First, limit the use of removers to once a week or less. Some women change polish every day or two. In that case, is it any wonder that their nails will become dry and brittle over time? Secondly, by simply adding a very small amount of water to the polish remover (a ratio of 10 parts remover to 1 part water), the possibility of causing dry, brittle nails will be reduced even further since the water will help to replace some of the natural moisture found in our nails which polish removers slowly strips away from us, especially with overuse.
Keeping our nails moisturized is very important in preventing dry, brittle nails.
Use of hand cremes or moisturizing lotions after every time we wash our hands will help immensely in itself. Also, the use of a high quality cuticle oil also helps a lot in keeping nails moisturized and therefore less prone to becoming dry and brittle. Apply a drop or two to each nail and massage it it in your nails for a few seconds. Apply two to three times a day -every day. Using cotton lined rubber gloves while doing dishes or household cleaning that involves the use of harsh chemicals and/or water will also help to preserve nails. Always remember to treat our nails as jewels - not as tools. Don't use them to pop the top of a soda can, to scratch labels off, or other nail damaging activities.

I agree with your point of Biotin supplements. Regular use of Biotin helps nails grow to thicker in most people. It will take an average of 4-6 months to see the results but they have been proven to increase the thickness of nails by an average of about 20% in recent studies. This, of course, helps increase the strength of nails by adding thickness. I disagree that a person has to buy any special type of Biotin, or Boitin with added supplements. Plain, everyday Biotin found in your local drugstore or supermarket - even generic brands are equally effective as much more expensive name brand products. A typical dose is 2,000-3,000mcg/day. Biotin is Biotin. No fancy, expensive brands are needed to get good results from it.

Nail polish: Polish serves as a protective covering for our nails. It does not damage them. If anything, it will help them by protecting them. Even a simple clear coat is better than nothing on our nails at all.

Nail strengtheners are not nail polish. They typically contain chemicals which are useful in hardening the surface of the nail. Good quality strengtheners do what they are intended to do - harden and strengthen nails. It is only when they are overused, or used for an extended period of time that they can have a reverse effect on nails - making them become dry and brittle. This is especially true of strengtheners which contain formaldehyde. The key here is to use them only when needed, then stop using them once your nails have regained their natural strength. The pronlem is that people realize these products really do work. So, after they stop working, they mistakenly believe that using even more strengthener is going to help when in fact it makes the problem worse. Use sparingly, and only as needed. Problem solved!