Fingernail Problems

[Fae Oonagh]

Fingernail Remedies
If you're having problems with breaking, splitting and thin nails, you may need to supplement your diet with a B-complex vitamin and zinc sulfate (follow the directions on the bottle for the dosage), along with garlic-raw and/or supplements. Be sure to consult your doctor first!

The following remedies for strengthening fingernails can help if they're used in addition to a well-balanced diet.

Daily, soak your fingers for 10 minutes in anyone of these oils...
Warm olive oil
Warm sesame-seed oil
Warm wheat germ oil
As you wipe off the oil, give your nails a mini-massage from top to bottom.

If your nails are very brittle, use a juice extractor to juice parsnip-enough for ½ cup at a time. Drink parsnip juice at least once a day. Be patient for results-give it a couple of weeks or more.
While tapping your nails on a table can be very annoying to people around you, it is very good for your nails. The more you tap, the faster they will grow. Which is good because you may need long nails to defend yourself from those annoyed people around you.
Stained Nails

Want natural, healthy-looking, pinkish nails? Gaby Nigai, co-owner of Ellegee Nail Salon in New York City, offers some helpful advice.

Stop using colored nail polish directly on the nail. Instead, wear a protein-based coat under nail polish to protect your nails from the polish's color pigments, which cause staining and oxidation.
To get rid of polish stains, toss two denture­cleansing tablets into ¼ cup of water. Soak your fingertips in the solution for about 15 minutes. If your nails are not as stain-free as you had hoped, gently brush them with a nailbrush. Rinse and dry.
Put tooth-whitening paste on a toothbrush and gently distribute the paste on your nails. Leave it on for about 15 minutes; brush as you rinse off the paste. Then dry.
NOTE: It may take several tries, day after day, before the stains are completely gone. But keep working at it-your appearance is worth it!

Nicotine Nails

If your nails are cigarette stained, we'll tell you how to bleach them back to normal-as long as you promise to stop smoking, okay?
Now then, to remove the stains, rub half a lemon over your nails. Then remove the lemon's pulp and, with the remaining rind, concentrate on one nail at a time, rubbing each one until it looks nice and pink.

NOTE: If you have citrus juice on your skin and you go in the sun, your skin may become permanently discolored. Be sure to completely wash off the lemon juice before you go outdoors.

Finger Sores (Whitlows)

When you have a painful inflammation around your fingernail, soak it in hot water. Then heat a lemon in the oven, cut a narrow opening in the middle and sprinkle salt in it. Take the infected finger and stick it in the lemon. After an initial sting, the pain should disappear within minutes.