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How to make finger nails stronger?

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Posted 2/16/2023 12:18 AM (GMT 0)
Not a lyme thing...but worth asking.

After 40 my nails had more ridges and can break easier,... since i'm a "hands on" guy - my hands get beat up.

Broke nails close to the "nail bed" hurt, slow down my work and take 1-2 weeks to heal.

taking calcium and mag did nothing for these.

Hey ladies- is there any topical nail vitamins lol?!!!
Posted 2/16/2023 12:53 AM (GMT 0)
Biotin will strengthen nails. It's extremely cheap to buy on its own, and sometimes is included in B complexes.

Any of the "collagen-building" supplements and strategies claim to help with nail strength as well.

I don't know how to get rid of the ridges, though. :-/ My nails look practically like corduroy.
Posted 2/16/2023 4:00 AM (GMT 0)
“I don't know how to get rid of the ridges, though. :-/ My nails look practically like corduroy.”

It’s a sign of aging - at least in my case.
The ridges on my nails started around my mid 50’s.

Edit to add: the ridges on the fingernails on my left side are worse than the nails on my right side.

My Lyme and CO’s symptoms are generally worse on my left side….so it may have also contributed to the ridges.
Posted 2/16/2023 1:35 PM (GMT 0)
I've got the same issues, Astro. I've not had any luck with oral ingestion of various vitamins for the ridging or the breaking/tearing/splitting of my nails. I've not tried topical vitamins.

I'm not sure if this will be of interest, but this company makes topical nail strengthening and hardening products:

https://www.sallyhansen.com/en-us/nail-care

Keep scrolling down and clicking "View More." There are strengtheners and hardeners. I would imagine the latter is the stronger. One actually lists "diamond powder" as an ingredient.

Target and Amazon sell some of their products.
Posted 2/16/2023 1:45 PM (GMT 0)
Mine don’t break, but I have always had unhealthy looking nails. Vertical ridges, jagged and overgrown cuticles, white marks, curled edge on pointer finger nails, horizontal indentation in at least one nail. I don’t have all of those now. Some I had when young.

I have been taking Life Extensions ALA with Biotin. I thought the biotin might help something, but I haven’t noticed any changes.
Posted 2/16/2023 2:49 PM (GMT 0)

astroman said...
Not a lyme thing...but worth asking.

After 40 my nails had more ridges and can break easier,... since i'm a "hands on" guy - my hands get beat up.

Broke nails close to the "nail bed" hurt, slow down my work and take 1-2 weeks to heal.

taking calcium and mag did nothing for these.

Hey ladies- is there any topical nail vitamins lol?!!!

I've had very strong nails my whole life not to mention how long they grew naturally. I've never went to get my nails done or put fake nails, onlyonce and I destroys nails! After years of lyme , bart plus all the vitamin and mineral deficiencies, my nails were like soft and thin and just stopped growing. Since I've taken nutritional yeast flakes and they're full of vitamin b's I've noticed my nails grow quicker and are very hard and thick now and overall stronger. Before my nails would literally snap off and break or also if I washed dishes or showered, my nails would become extremely soft and turn almost clear which is so wield. I have no more nail issues. I also do zinc amd vit d. Selenium is another good one. Just make sure you're getting a good quality vitamin and minerals, most have fillers and all these additives which I found out the hard way. I use Dr. Berg vitamins and they're actually pretty good I must say. I'm not into buying the whole advertiser's crap or name brand but decided to try them. I buy Bob's Red Mill brand for the yeast flakes. You should notice a change in nails after a week or 2 of using them.
Posted 2/16/2023 4:13 PM (GMT 0)
FYI- biotin is contraindicated for those who have Hashimoto’s.
Posted 2/16/2023 4:35 PM (GMT 0)

MargaritaLyme said...
FYI- biotin is contraindicated for those who have Hashimoto’s.

that's a new one to me Margarita - and reasons given or references you could share?
Posted 2/16/2023 4:38 PM (GMT 0)

astroman said...
Not a lyme thing...but worth asking.

After 40 my nails had more ridges and can break easier,... since i'm a "hands on" guy - my hands get beat up.

Broke nails close to the "nail bed" hurt, slow down my work and take 1-2 weeks to heal.

taking calcium and mag did nothing for these.

Hey ladies- is there any topical nail vitamins lol?!!!


I'm almost 100 % sure the ridges on someone's nails means arsenic or some type of heavy metals in the body. I read about this and will share link when I find it.
Posted 2/16/2023 4:41 PM (GMT 0)

astroman said...
Not a lyme thing...but worth asking.

After 40 my nails had more ridges and can break easier,... since i'm a "hands on" guy - my hands get beat up.

Broke nails close to the "nail bed" hurt, slow down my work and take 1-2 weeks to heal.

taking calcium and mag did nothing for these.

Hey ladies- is there any topical nail vitamins lol?!!!


Mees' Lines are a change that occurs in the color of the nail with no palpable ridges, typically described as white bands traversing the nail bed, running parallel to the lunula across the entire nail bed of the individual. This finding is indicative of arsenic , thallium [6], or other heavy metal poisoning. If it's not heavy metals than could be old age as well. Biotin and folate are important vit bs
Posted 2/16/2023 4:46 PM (GMT 0)

MedicalNerd said...


I'm almost 100 % sure the ridges on someone's nails means arsenic or some type of heavy metals in the body. I read about this and will share link when I find it.

i do think it is a lyme and co thing

we know that bartonella in particular causes disruption in the microvasculature and a kind of ischemia-reperfusion injury in various tissues as a result. it also causes micro clots to float around in the blood and lodge in capillaries in tissues and organs.

it makes complete sense that this type of microscopic damage blood supply bringing nutrients in the nail bed would cause visible ridges or patterns in the growth of the nails as cells unable to get the right nutrients to grow the nail properly would slow down their production relative to those around them.

on close infection the nails on my thumbs have an odd almost random pattern of dots or ridges - a bit like a fabric texture

the nails on the fingers have fine vertical lines

its true - many diseases and toxicities can also cause severe ridges in nails- or even the whole nail falling off - but what most of us have here is more just a disturbed pattern of growth
Posted 2/16/2023 5:29 PM (GMT 0)
My nails have been like this for at least 15 years and im in my mid-50's.

Ive had heavy metals testing, conventional and non-insurance covered- im good in that department.

Unfortunately, My body is overly sensitive to daily B vitamins. Ive tried the expensive and cheap ones.

Ive tried both Biotin and collagen supplements in the past , which did not seem to do anything noticeable.

No fungal type stuff in my nails at least.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dude- I'll check out that link.

.

Post Edited (astroman) : 2/16/2023 9:38:49 AM (GMT-8)

Posted 2/16/2023 5:34 PM (GMT 0)

MedicalNerd said...
Mees' Lines are a change that occurs in the color of the nail with no palpable ridges...

FYI: Mees' Lines are not the same as what's being discussed in this thread.
Posted 2/16/2023 6:54 PM (GMT 0)
What is your digestion like?

Low stomach acid can cause those lines, as well.

Also, calcium deficiency can also do that, IIRC.

Post Edited (Hogwild) : 2/16/2023 11:52:25 AM (GMT-8)

Posted 2/16/2023 9:55 PM (GMT 0)
Regarding Viotin and Hashi’s, please reference studies claiming higher doses can affect FT3 and FT4 levels. Please excuse my visual impairment which affects my ability to provide multiple resources and links. I did not realize this was required in posts.
Posted 2/16/2023 10:08 PM (GMT 0)
Horizontal lines/dents in nails are called Beau’s Lines.
Posted 2/16/2023 10:10 PM (GMT 0)
Yes. However, some people (like me) get vertical ridges, and no horizontal ones. I believe that's generally considered a different condition.
Posted 2/17/2023 2:25 AM (GMT 0)
I'm not sure if this is what Astro was referencing, but the longitudinal/vertical ridging is what I'm experiencing:

VIEW IMAGE

This seems to be what Hogwild (that screen name is always funny to me) also mentioned.
Posted 2/17/2023 2:54 AM (GMT 0)

The Dude Abides said...
I'm not sure if this is what Astro was referencing, but the longitudinal/vertical ridging is what I'm experiencing:



This seems to be what Hogwild (that screen name is always funny to me) also mentioned.

Yes,....That photo is exactly what I’m talking about. I would call them longitudinal ridges because they are longitudinal with your “digits”.

And the cracks /breaks seem to stem from those ridges. Kind of like a mini Faultline you might say.
Posted 2/17/2023 3:39 AM (GMT 0)
“ The Dude Abides said...
I'm not sure if this is what Astro was referencing, but the longitudinal/vertical ridging is what I'm experiencing:”

That’s what mine look like
Posted 2/17/2023 2:24 PM (GMT 0)
The photo Dude linked is what mine looks like, too, plus jagged, overgrown cuticles.

Mine aren’t as bad as the photo. The one in the photo looks like the entire nail composition is changed - like the ridges go through the nail. My ridges are milder and more superficial. I can buff them out with a nail buffer.

Old age can make nails look like that, too, but I don’t think anyone here is in their 80’s or 90’s.

Post Edited (WalkingbyFaith) : 2/17/2023 6:27:41 AM (GMT-8)

Posted 2/17/2023 3:24 PM (GMT 0)
I just feel like I’m in my 80s or 90s. And yes, ever since being shelled by one tick bite too many my nails have never been in worse than they are now. At one point I lost complete layers on all of my nails. This seemed to coincide with losing fistfuls of hair. Ahhhh, the joys of TBDs!
Posted 2/17/2023 7:08 PM (GMT 0)

MargaritaLyme said...
Regarding Viotin and Hashi’s, please reference studies claiming higher doses can affect FT3 and FT4 levels. Please excuse my visual impairment which affects my ability to provide multiple resources and links. I did not realize this was required in posts.

not a requirement - just a point of interest for the discussion - i have hashimotos and have done quite a bit of reading around hashimotos and thyroid function as a whole - and never seen that mentioned - hence my interest and my question

biotin is used in the assay that they use to measure many blood test markers - including thyroid levels - so it is known that taking biotin in the days before a test skews the results ( towards higher TSH, FT3 and FT4 i believe )

is that what you were referring too ?
Posted 2/17/2023 10:35 PM (GMT 0)
My sister who has Hashimoto’s, was recently asked prior to a blood draw for a thyroid level test if she was supplementing with biotin. I this alerted us to some sort of connection. I found a few articles indicating biotin can skew results. So perhaps some endos wouldn’t suggest stopping it altogether, but if it does in fact affect results, why would those of us with Hashimoto’s take it? One is left to ponder.
Posted 2/17/2023 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
OK - thansk for clarifying

the way you had written it originally it read as if you were saying that biotin alters levels of thyroid hormones in the blood - but as i understand it - its not actually changing the levels in your blood - only upsetting the test functioning - thereby skewing the results

biotin is low in lots of chronic conditions - possibly because most B vitamins are made in the gut by gut bacteria - and they are often disturbed in chronic illness - also hair and nails are often effected in people with hashimotos( thinning hair/cracking nails ) - and biotin is reported to help strengthen both - so i can certainly see why people might want to take it

i just stop taking it 48hrs before a blood draw to be on the safe side - and then there is no downside
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