Your fingernails say a lot about you. Neatly trimmed and well-maintained nails hint that you take care of yourself. Nails bitten to the core signal that you may be anxious and stressed. But split and cracked nails mean your nails need a little attention — otherwise, they may catch somebody else’s.

When your nails start to crack and split, it’s natural to point the finger at something in your life. You may think you need to eat more gelatin or take iron supplements, but neither of these is to blame — cracking, splitting nails typically result from repeated exposure to water over long periods of time. Baths, showers, dishwashing and swimming can all break down the cells that hold your nails together, and so does frequent use of nail polish and nail polish remover.

But you can repair the damage. Before you call the salon to schedule an emergency manicure session, take a good look at your nails. If they’re dry and cracking, it’s going to take time and patience to repair them. Fingernails grow slowly at a rate of about 0.08 to 0.12 inches (2 to 3 millimeters) per month. Because it takes your nails three to six months to grow from cuticle to tip, you’ll have to maintain treatments and preventions for a while.

Before you do anything with those cracked nails, you need to gently clip excess parts that could catch on something and cause tears that go deeper into the nail bed. Then you need to figure out what’s making your nails crack and split. Keep reading to what causes cracked nails and how to treat them.

Moisturizing Cracked Nails
Cracked nails are dry nails. Exposure to water breaks down the glue-like keratin that strengthens and holds together the top layer of your nail — too much of the abrasive chemicals in nail polish remover can also have this effect. To counter the dryness, you need to keep your nails moisturized.

Moisturizing your nails is simple. Whenever you use hand lotion or moisturizer, just take an extra moment to rub it in and around your nails. You should use moisturizer after washing your hands, taking a bath, doing dishes or using nail polish remover. If you forget during the day, apply a small amount of moisturizer to your nails and cuticles before you go to bed at night. This simple step will go a long way toward healing your damaged nails.

Of course, not all moisturizers are created equal. So many lotions, creams and other moisturizing products populate the shelves of your local drug store that you may wonder which is best for your nails.

Look for moisturizers that contain the following ingredients:

Proteins, such as collagen and keratin, strengthen cells in the nail plate, making the nail more resistant to splitting and cracking.
Occlusives, such as petrolatum, lanolin and mineral oil, slow the rate of moisture loss from your nails, preventing dryness.
Humectants trap moisture in the nail plate to prevent drying and cracking. Common humectants include urea, lactic acid, glycerin, propylene glycol, alpha hydroxy acids and phospholipids.
You may have to spend a few minutes reading lotion labels, but the time will be well spent. A moisturizer that contains a protein, an occlusive and a humectant will give your nails the moisture they need to prevent and treat dry, cracked nails.

Continue reading to learn about other preventive tips and home remedies that will keep your nails looking and feeling healthy.

Home Remedies for Cracked Nails

Living with cracked nails can be frustrating and sometimes even painful, but there are some simple steps you can take at home to prevent, repair and minimize damage to your nails:

Watch the water. If you expose your nails to a lot of water over the course of the day, you may want to invest in a pair of cotton-lined rubber gloves or disposable plastic gloves. You should especially consider wearing gloves when washing dishes or cleaning with chemicals.
Go easy on the chemicals. Harsh soaps and chemicals can dry out your nails, making them split and crack. If you use a lot of chemicals and soaps, be sure to wear those gloves while doing so.
Switch it up. You can’t avoid soap all the time, so you may want to use a different soap. Mild soaps that contain moisturizers are gentler not only on your nails, but also on your hands.
Limit the remover. Nail polish remover, especially varieties that contain acetone, can be drying to fingernails. Try not to use nail polish remover more than once every other week and look for removers that don’t contain acetone.
Trim your nails. Nails that are ragged and chipped are more likely to catch and split. Keep fingernails short, cut straight cut across the top, and gently file the sides to a rounded shape.

The shoes that look good may not be the ones that feel good, and choosing style over comfort can sometimes cause pain. Ingrown toenails are one of the most common side effects of picking footwear that doesn’t really fit your feet.

An ingrown nail curves down and into the surrounding skin as it grows, causing the skin to grow over the nail. Although fingernails can also become ingrown, toenails, especially the big toe, are more susceptible to this condition.

Ill-fitting shoes are one of the main causes of ingrown toenails. Other common causes include cutting your toenails incorrectly, injuring your toe or heredity. If you were born with nails that are too large for your toes or nails that naturally curve, you may be more at risk of developing ingrown toenails. You can work to prevent ingrown toenails by trimming your nails correctly and wearing shoes that give your toes more room. You should also trim your nails regularly, cutting them straight across the top and rounding the edges, to prevent them from growing too long.

Symptoms of ingrown nails include redness, swelling, pain and sometimes pus drainage. You can usually treat an ingrown nail on your own, but your doctor can also perform simple surgical procedures to treat recurrent ingrown nails. If an ingrown nail is left untreated for too long, it can become infected and require antibiotics, so it’s best to take steps to remedy an ingrown nail as soon as possible.

If you opted for the stylish instead of the sensible shoes and now have an ingrown nail, you can begin treatment immediately. Read on to learn how to treat an ingrown nail.

Treating an ingrown nail requires time, patience and a few tools, but you can take care of most ingrown nails at home. If the nail isn’t infected, one of the most common and effective home remedies is to take a cotton ball or some waxed dental floss and place it under the nail. This separates the nail from the skin into which it’s growing. You can use a bandage or medical tape to keep the cotton or floss in place.

To help the healing process and relieve any pain or discomfort, soak the finger or toe with the ingrown nail in warm water a few times a day. When not soaking the nail, keep the area clean and dry. You can also take over-the-counter pain relievers, such as ibuprofen, to alleviate any pain. While the nail heals, wear comfortable shoes that give your toes room to move — wearing constricting or ill-fitting shoes not only causes ingrown nails, but also makes them worse. If weather and activity permits, wearing open-toed sandals may be more comfortable than close-toed shoes.

If these home remedies don’t help — or if the ingrown nail becomes infected or becomes a recurring problem, talk to your doctor about treatment options. Your doctor can discuss simple surgical procedures for removing the nail or part of the nail — never try to remove your toenail without consulting a physician. A doctor will typically remove the nail only partially. Removing the entire nail may enable it to grow back in the same distorted shape, but partial nail removal will prevent the ingrown part of the nail from coming back. The surgery generally can be done as an outpatient procedure with a local anesthetic.

Choosing one of these treatment options should help prevent your ingrown nail from becoming infected. However, if your nail is already infected, keep reading to learn how to treat it.

Treating Infected Ingrown Nails

It seems unlikely that you wouldn’t notice an ingrown toenail, but it can happen. People with diabetes or circulation problems are especially likely to overlook an ingrown nail, while others may wait too long to begin treatment. If this happens, the nail can become infected.

An ingrown nail can become infected in a few different ways. First, the overgrowth of the tissue onto the nail can permanently damage the tissue and cause infection. Second, an untreated ingrown toenail may begin to infect the bone that lies beneath it, which can lead to a serious bone infection. An infected ingrown nail is warm, red and swollen, and it may drain pus.

If you’re worried that your ingrown nail is infected, talk to your doctor. A physician can prescribe topical or oral antibiotics to fight the infection. At home, you can soak your toes in soapy water or salt water and then apply an antiseptic and a sterile bandage. If you have recurrent ingrown nails and infections, you may want to consider having the nail or part of the nail surgically removed.