Supplements for Hair and Nails

26 December 2011 by kathleen.

For the past few years, I’ve had considerable problems with my fingernails splitting horizontally, like the layers were separating.  I used to have thick, tough nails — almost all my life.  I don’t know for sure what caused the change, but I suspect the estrogen was the culprit.

I tried wearing rubber gloves when I washed dishes.  I tried a dozen different nail finishes, and different combinations of those finishes, like hardener on the bottom, then bonder; hardener on top; bonder over bare nails, two coats of polish and a sealer on top.  Et cetera.  You can imagine all the permutations.  Then I tried using a cut-steel nail file instead of an emery board, but that didn’t solve the problem either.

During the months and months I was experimenting, I noticed that Sally Hansen sold not just nail finishes, but nail vitamins as well. I thought it must be a fantasy that a vitamin pill could make any difference.

I can’t remember why — probably I thought of it in desperation — late last year I started taking food supplements for my nails. At first I tried just biotin, but after a few months I saw no change at all. I guessed that maybe biotin by itself wasn’t enough.

I started looking for a different combination of supplements, and I found a reasonably-priced jar at The Vitamin Shoppe. It took at least four months before I saw any change at all. I kept imagining the splitting had stopped, but I wasn’t sure.  Now, after taking the supplement for about six months, I’m sure.   I think it takes months and months because fingernails grow so slowly.

If you’re having problems with your nails, find a supplement for hair, nails, and skin and give it a try. There are dozens of formulations at your local grocery, pharmacy, or health food store. But if you give it a try, please be patient. Stick with just one brand and wait a good long time for the enlived tissue to show itself in the visible nail tissue.

Food supplements aren’t the cure for everything, but they may work when nothing else does.

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