Try to prevent prolonged immersion of the hands in water as much as possible. Apply a hand lotion or cream (Resnik Dermatology Hand and Body Lotion are the ones I recommend) immediately after hand washing. Carefully massage the cream into the cuticles and around the finger tips and into the surface of the fingernails.

Protect the hands by consistently wearing gloves in the following situations:

• When you perform any tasks which may traumatize the hands and fingernails -denim or heavy cotton utility gloves, available in all hardware stores.
• When the weather is blustery and clod - warm, lined gloves.
• When the hands are exposed to water, liquid detergents, cleansers, solvents, etc. - Playtex Gloves®. These are available at all supermarkets and drug stores

The greater the length of your nails, the more likely the tips of the nail are to be traumatized by activities of daily living. It is reasonable, therefore, to keep the nails trimmed back somewhat shorter than you otherwise might to prevent injury to the nail tips. It is also helpful to trim back the nails inside of the fissured portions of the tips of the nails until the fissures and splits have had time to mend.

Try to use the pads of the fingers rather than the nail to perform simple tasks. The nails should not be used as “tools.” Sweep small objects (such as coins from a flat surface) with the pads of the fingers rather than picking them up with the nail tips.

Do not “dig” or “probe” beneath the nails with a sharp object such as a nail file. This “strips” the normal connections that exist between the nail plate and the nail bed. This may create a cave-like opening beneath the nail in which debris may readily collect. Nothing more aggressive than a nail brush or an old toothbrush should be used to clean beneath the nails.

Shape and file the nail tips wit a very fine nail file or emery board. Daily filing away of rough edges or irregularities helps to prevent further breakage and/or splitting.

Repair your manicure immediately when the nail surface becomes irregular. Nail polish acts as a splint to protect the tips of the nails from further splitting. Special protective coatings (such as Hard as Nails® containing nylon fibers) are specially strong and durable. It may be useful to apply such a product as a protective coating (“base coat”) beneath your nail polish. Frequent reapplication or repairing of the “top coat” is also of value.

Remember, however, that nail polish removers (especially those which contain acetone) remove from the nail plate the naturally occurring wax and lipid substances which aid the nails in retaining moisture and keep them supple and flexible. Therefore, removing nail polish more often than once or twice a week will tend to make the nails dry and brittle.

Overly vigorous, frequent buffing of te nail surface has an abrasive effect which may, over time, cause a physical thinning and weakening of the nail plate. This creates additional susceptibility to fissuring and splitting of the nail tips. Buffing powders usually contain pumice which is a highly abrasive substance; its frequent use physically thins the nail plate just as would occur if you forcefully sanded the nails with sandpaper.

Overly aggressive pushing back of the cuticles and cutting the cuticles may be very harmful. The cuticles serve a biologically useful purpose in that they produce a “seal” between the skin and the nail plate. This seal prevents bacteria and yeast from growing in the cave-like space between the skin and the nail plate. When this seal is broken through aggressive pushing back of the cuticles, the result is a warm, moist space in which bacteria and yeast organisms may multiply to produce infection. Also, the matrix (growing part of the nail) may be damaged by manipulation of the cuticles producing a permanent groove in the nail.

Routine trimming or clipping of dry, brittle nails may foster splitting and fissuring of the nail tips. It is very helpful to perform any necessary trimming immediately after a bath so that the nails will be very soft and supple and easily cut without fracturing the tips.

The use of acrylic nails or “glue-on” nails is perfectly acceptable so long as the nails to which they are applied are perfectly healthy to begin with. The problems that they create are largely the result of applying them over nails which are unhealthy or infected. If a long artificial nail is attached over a partially detached nail, the “torquing-up” effect of the long attached nail can produce a further separation of the nail plate from the nail bed. If the nail or adjacent tissues are infected with staph germs, yeast, or fungus, the artificial nail may produce a warm, enclosed “incubator” in which the infection may worsen and spread. paragraph