Riddle me this....fingernails

Ok, now my nails grow nicely, pretty fast too.

I take a liquid multi-vitamin and a liquid mineral suppliment daily.
I also take extra calcium and extra iron.
I use a vitamin E hand lotion.
I eat fairly healthy.
I'm also quite fond of and eat a lot of jell-o.
I do not often wear nail polish.

My fingernails are like paper and bend and tear so easily.
My thumbnails, however, are rock solid.
Why just the fingernails and not the thumbnails?

This is so very frustrating.

Very strange???, do you smoke?

Not sure, but i have the same problem..

I take a 12 vitamin mineral tablet thing daily for hair and nails and it seems to be doing ok?

For me what really works is that if i do my nails every second day and wear nail hardner then it will grow nicely and not bend like paper!

Originally Posted by Miss Mew

Very strange???, do you smoke?

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I'm a light smoker, like one pk every 4 days.

I didn't have this problem when I was a 2pk a day smoker though.

Possibly age/hormone related?

Originally Posted by Arlyn

I'm a light smoker, like one pk every 4 days.

I didn't have this problem when I was a 2pk a day smoker though.

Possibly age/hormone related?

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That is possible it could be a medication you are taken or as you say your age?..the only reason I ask about the smoking is that when I smoked my fingernails were brittle and then when I quit (after about 4 months) they were alot stronger. It may have been just a coincidence?

It is probably one of those great mysteries of life that I will have to contemplate, without really ever knowing the reason.

Luckily I don't keep my nails very long anyway, just long enough to scratch those kitties and of course satisfy an itch.

You know, my mom, my aunt and my grandma have long, hard beautiful fingernails, but mine are so limp and bendable. The worst is when they split! Which they do all the time!! Drives me nuts. Fingernails gross me out so I have a hard time cliping them and keeping them nice looking. I also have pieces of peeling skin in the corners of my nails. Hangnails are they called?

Anyway, I do nothing anymore as far as suppliments for nails go, I used to but it made no difference. I don't know why yours are like this but I sure know how you feel!

Originally Posted by Arlyn

Ok, now my nails grow nicely, pretty fast too.

I take a liquid multi-vitamin and a liquid mineral suppliment daily.
I also take extra calcium and extra iron.
I use a vitamin E hand lotion.
I eat fairly healthy.
I'm also quite fond of and eat a lot of jell-o.
I do not often wear nail polish.

My fingernails are like paper and bend and tear so easily.
My thumbnails, however, are rock solid.
Why just the fingernails and not the thumbnails?

This is so very frustrating.

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That is a good ?. Someone did tell me to take prenatal vitamins even if I wasn't pregnant, but I am not sure I should those where huge LOL.

Originally Posted by momof3rugratz

That is a good ?. Someone did tell me to take prenatal vitamins even if I wasn't pregnant, but I am not sure I should those where huge LOL.

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I may look into that.
I'm a distributor for the suppliments I take, so I'd only have to look through the product catalog.

I'll read up on their spa essentials too, I may discover something there as well.

Originally Posted by Arlyn

I may look into that.
I'm a distributor for the suppliments I take, so I'd only have to look through the product catalog.

I'll read up on their spa essentials too, I may discover something there as well.

Click to expand...

When I was pregnant and took them my nails and hair did great.

Silica is a supplement to strengthen & improve hair,nails, skin and bones..you can purchase it at the health food store in pills or liquid..from what I recall its not a cheap supplement.
I've added some info below that I found on it.

"In the human body, silica is essential for bone formation and the health of connective tissue. Healthy hair, skin, nails and flexible arteries would be impossible without silica. Silica is critical to our well being, but it's difficult to assimilate from a normal diet. Supplementing our silica intake on a regular basis may be extremely beneficial"

"Silica supplementation can increase collagen 1 (one) in growing bones. Everyone at every age will benefit from this kind of bone support. As our bodies age they use increased levels of silica but are not able to replenish it as quickly or as easily as when we were young. Silica supplementation becomes increasingly more critical as we get older. Silica is especially important in keeping skin and hair looking young."

My nails got super hard and my hair started growing pretty obscenely fast when I quit eating meat. I don't take any vitamins. I keep my nails short but when they grow out they're fine. They used to be soft and splitty before, when I was a meatatarian. They've also gotten harder since I started taking the pill. Just a consideration, as you said age / hormones.

Haha, funny story about "the pill" ...

It work so well that I didn't want my boyfriend anywhere NEAR me, ever.
It totally ruined my sex drive.

I quit taking it and it took a long time for that to wear off. Only recently I read that this is one of the side affects. I won't be taking that again any time soon.

What are prenatal vitamins? Maybe that is something to look into since I gave up on everything else...

I can't take the pill anyway.
I've avoided all birth control because of the reactions I've had in the past.
I've simply learned my body and know when is safest (with other precautions of course).

We don't bother with any method now as getting pregnant would be a blessing to us both at this point.

Prenatal pills are vitamins we take while trying to conceive or while pregnant or both in my case.