Your concern
Nails that split
Onychoschizia: they peel in layers, and the cause is almost always water, not a deficiency.
Nails that peel in thin layers at the free edge, break before reaching a useful length and stay dull: a very common picture, especially in women, and almost always attributed to a vitamin deficiency.
In most cases it is not. The main cause is the alternation between wet and dry: water enters between the lamellae making up the plate, makes them swell, and drying makes them shrink. Repeated dozens of times a day, this cycle separates the layers. Detergents, solvents and nail-polish removers accelerate the process.
This completely changes what to do. Before buying a supplement it is worth looking at the hands: anyone who washes dishes without gloves, works with water, or frequently uses remover already has the explanation. That said, when the brittleness has appeared recently, also involves the hair, or comes with other symptoms, then a targeted check — iron status, thyroid function — makes sense, and that is an assessment made at a visit rather than at a pharmacy counter.
Look at how many times a day you wet them
This is the commonest explanation and the least sought, because it is not what supplements promise. The nail plate is made of stacked layers: water entering and then evaporating makes them work in opposite directions, and repetition separates them. That is why the picture is so common in people who often wash their hands or dishes without gloves. The most effective measure is also the dullest — gloves when in water, less remover — but it is the one that changes the result, while a supplement taken without a documented deficiency almost always does nothing.
How it shows
- Peeling in layers at the free edge of the nail
- Breaking before reaching a useful length
- Dull surface with longitudinal ridging
- Worsening in people who work with water
- Worsening after frequent use of nail-polish remover
- Sometimes associated with brittle hair
How we proceed
- 1Visit: appearance of the nails, sites, review of habits
- 2Distinction between water-related brittleness and other causes
- 3Targeted tests where the history justifies them, not as routine
- 4Protective measures and review of products used
- 5Later review, allowing for regrowth times
Available treatments
- Dermatology visit
- Targeted tests if indicated
- Protective measures
- Scheduled follow-up
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Frequently asked questions
Do nail and hair supplements work?+
They work if there is a deficiency to correct, and in that case correction should be based on a measurement, not an assumption. Taken blindly when values are normal, in most cases they do not change the brittleness, because the cause is mechanical rather than nutritional. The sensible sequence is therefore the opposite of the usual one: first understand why, then supplement if needed.
Are vertical ridges a problem?+
Fine longitudinal ridges become more evident with age and in the vast majority of cases indicate nothing: they are a physiological change in the surface of the plate. Transverse grooves are different — they cross the nail from side to side and can correspond to an event that temporarily interrupted growth: those are worth having examined.
Does polish protect or damage?+
Traditional polish can act as a barrier and to some extent limit water entry. The problem is less the polish than repeated removal with solvent, which dehydrates the plate, and the surface-filing used for semi-permanent applications. In practice: fewer application and removal cycles, not necessarily no polish at all.
Related reading
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