Brittle Nails, “Strong” Nails, and What Healthy Really Means

Winter is often when people start noticing changes in their nails.

They split more easily. They feel harder. They break suddenly instead of wearing down slowly. Many people describe this as their nails being “strong but fragile,” which sounds contradictory until you look a little closer.

Recently, I was doing my mother’s manicure for the first time in years. She’s in the later stages of congestive heart failure. She weighs under one hundred pounds, on oxygen 24/7, and yet, while I was shaping her nails, she proudly pointed out how strong her nails were. And honestly, on the surface, she wasn’t wrong. They were hard. Very hard.

But they were also brittle.

What healthy nails actually look like

A healthy nail is:

• Smooth

• Even in thickness

• Slightly flexible / Able to bend under pressure without cracking or snapping

Why nails become brittle

Brittleness is often caused by dehydration, not weakness.

Normal Aging:  As we age, our bodies produce less and less of the natural hydrating oils that protect our skin and nails from dehydration.  If you have a tendency toward dry skin to begin with, it means you will probably have dry nails sooner rather than later.

Overexposure to chemicals (including water- H2O): excessive hand washing, cleaning.. without protective gloves can contribute to brittleness.

Nail hardeners:  Ironically, these products often make things worse.  For the first week after you start using them, you might see some improvement, but in time the alcohols and other solvents in them tend to remove oils from the nails and make the dryness worse.

Reframing the goal

Healthy nails are not about being unbreakable. They’re about being resilient. They should be able to live in the real world. Wash dishes. Experience cold weather. Bump into things. Grow out without shattering at the free edge. That’s what we work toward.

Where this gets deep

When something cannot bend, it does not adapt. It holds until it breaks. What looks strong on the surface is often fragile underneath. Healthy nails, like healthy bodies and healthy people, need a little give. They need moisture. They need flexibility. They need the ability to respond rather than resist. That’s not weakness. That’s resilience.

DRINK MORE WATER AND OIL YOUR CUTICLES