Sometimes the toenails crack in the absence of any pathology. Such injuries can cause a lot of discomfort to the patient. This is usually accompanied by unpleasant sensations.
Causes
A large number of people are trying to find out why the nail on the big toe is cracking. The thing is that pathology is quite common. The nail consists of several layers of keratin. They are all connected to each other. But if there is a negative impact, the connection becomes less dense. In this case, a distance is detected between the layers. As a result, small cracks appear. Over time, they become more and more. Often, toenails crack along, and this is the most difficult case.
The causes of such phenomena lie in the mechanical effect, weak immunity, infections, fungus. Also, if a person wears uncomfortable shoes, he risks suffering from the cracking of large toenails. Most often, it is long nails that suffer.
Mechanical impact
Due to the slightest blow, bruise, they are damaged most of all. The reason for such phenomena is sometimes an illiterate pedicure. The aggressive effect of household chemicals also often leads to harm to the health of nails. Due to sudden changes in temperature, the plates also lose their strength. Some varnishes contain harmful substances, they can also serve as an answer to the question of why the toenails crack. The habit of nibbling also reduces the quality of the plates. Features of some music professions in which fingers are involved increase the risk of encountering such symptoms.
Weak immunity and menu
The decrease in the quality of the plates can be directly related to the lack of a number of vitamins in the body. We are talking about vitamins A, D, B, E. Due to dehydration, a person can also suffer in this way.
Another reason why toenails crack is hormonal disruption. Most often, pregnant women and adolescents suffer from such factors. Fungus and infection in the legs can also cause cracks. The deformation features tell a lot about the causes of damage. Sometimes the toenails crack due to the presence of an infection in the body, due to some diseases.
Longitudinal cracks
Such deformations, as a rule, are a consequence of onychorexis. This is a disease that occurs due to metabolic disorders, insufficient nutrition of the plates. Fungi - psoriasis, eczema are also able to provoke longitudinal deformities. Infectious diseases, disorders in the hematopoietic process are often manifested in this symptom. If the nails on the big toe crack longitudinally, this may indicate psychological disorders in the patient. It is worth paying attention to the depth of damage. After all, if it turns out to be very large, this is an occasion to immediately contact a specialist.
On the nails of the thumb
Very often, the plates are damaged precisely on the thumbs. If this phenomenon occurs on the hand, it must be borne in mind that this is probably due to the special role of the thumb when grabbing. As a rule, this area more often than others suffers from mechanical stress. Thumbnails grow slower than others. Moreover, damage here often indicates that the body has a lack of iron and calcium.
In the medicine of the East, it is believed that the thumbs are responsible for the respiratory system. In cases where the toenails crack on the toes, oriental doctors advise to check the respiratory system.
Repairs
It will not be difficult to cope with plate deformations at home. All that will need to be used is a transparent varnish, a napkin, a nail file. You need to use a nail file to go over the damaged plate, then brush off the dust. Apply a layer of clear varnish, allow it to dry. Having spread the napkin over the nail, apply the varnish on top again and leave it to dry. After this, it is recommended to contact specialists if this method is useless. In cases where toenails crack and blood is visible, self-medication is not worth it. This is an indication for a serious examination.
The child has
In children, the body is not yet formed, and therefore it is most vulnerable to infections of any nature. Often they suffer from fungal and infectious diseases. If the child has a cracked toenail, it is recommended to examine the body for the presence of fungus. He could get infected in kindergarten, pool, in the family. In addition, the fungus appears when wearing shoes made of non-natural materials. This may be evidence of a lack of vitamins in the body. Probably the time has come to buy more loose shoes that will breathe.
As a rule, if a child plays football, he may also encounter such negative phenomena. Usually children do not restrain their emotional impulses and often bite off their plates on their own, taking out the anger.
In advanced cases, such deformations are simply not treated, and for a person for a lifetime the plates remain with an irregular shape. They can begin to grow into the skin.
Treatment and prevention
In any case, if the toenails crack, you should pay attention to your own diet. After all, strong plates are unlikely to create such problems. So, it's time to strengthen them from the inside.
For this purpose, it is often necessary to include foods rich in calcium in the diet. We are talking about dairy products, seafood. It is necessary to observe a drinking regimen, drink mineral courses. It is important to consult a specialist to obtain the best prescriptions suitable for a particular organism.
It is worth consuming vitamins A, B, C, E, D. When using household chemicals, it is necessary to protect the plates with gloves. Shoes should be comfortable. In addition, in winter, do not allow hypothermia of the legs. Once a day, salt baths are recommended for feet. This will allow the nails to be saturated with marine minerals. This is done simply. It is enough to dissolve the salt in warm water - about 70 degrees, and then dip your feet here and keep them in it for at least 10 minutes. After the procedure, the legs are lubricated with a moisturizing composition.
Pedicure should be done only by trusted professionals. It is worth making sure that the disinfection of tools is carried out directly at the client.
You do not need to pass personal hygiene items to anyone, for example, a nail file, tweezers. The same requirement applies to combs, caps. Infection with a fungus begins imperceptibly, but subsequently this ailment creates a lot of trouble. And strong plate cracks, provoked by him, can knock a person out of his usual lifestyle for several weeks. He will also create a risk for his loved ones.
First steps
If the toenails crack, it is not recommended to do the diagnosis yourself. You will need to involve a professional in the process. It is he who will carry out all the necessary analyzes and report the exact cause of what happened.
Indeed, otherwise, a situation may arise when the plate cracked due to the action of the fungus, and a person treats it as a surface damaged by mechanical action. As a result, the fungus simply corrodes the plate from the inside, the disease flourishes, and with time it becomes more difficult to get rid of it. The fungus subsequently passes to neighboring fingers. And the treatment will be protracted. It will begin only after contacting a doctor.
Also, lichen can settle in the nails, which will provoke a lot of damage to the plates. Both fungus and lichen entail stratification of nails. For this reason, these diseases often go unnoticed - a person begins to suspect that there are simply not enough vitamins in his body. However, diseases develop without additional symptoms. They can be treated for a long time, and are able to return at any time.
If the plates turned out to be brittle, this indicates that there are disorders in the body associated with the activity of the thyroid gland. It is also a symptom of anemia. Sometimes the nails crack across, and this indicates a nervous strain, endocrine disorders. For example, kidney disease, diabetes, syphilis, anemia provoke just such phenomena. Separation of nails is also a symptom of gonorrhea, skin diseases.
Relevance
At the moment, there is official information that more and more people are cracking toenails. Cases of such complaints to doctors are becoming more frequent. And the fact is that people are treated independently until the moment when the destruction is already very strong. There are a lot of medicines aimed at strengthening nails. And sometimes patients are independently engaged in their selection, in case of failure, thinking that simply a tool did not suit them. But the reasons often lie in the wrong self-diagnosis.
When such patients finally come to the clinic, the disease manages to reach the advanced stage. And in this case, the concerns will already be somewhat different. To completely get rid of the fungus, you will need to spend at least several months on treatment. Sometimes therapy takes years. Regular processing of shoes and nails is important; additional procedures are often necessary.
The next negative aspect of independent diagnosis and treatment is the fact that all this time a person simply spreads the disease further, without realizing it. He infects his relatives, people in the pools. For this reason, it is important to consider what consequences sometimes ignore a doctor.
Prevention
To prevent the appearance of the fungus, it is recommended to drink a vitamin complex. Especially it is worth paying attention to people with reduced immunity. It is important to follow the rules for nail care.
If there are cracks, it is recommended to treat them with pharmacy drugs - Radevit, D-Panthenol and a number of others. For deep damage, there are separate groups of funds.
Nails become stronger if olive oil is rubbed into them on a regular basis. It is also recommended to add lemon juice to this. A very useful tool will be a cuticle cream. It is worth stocking up with special cream formulations for rubbing into plates. For a long time to solve the problems with toenails cracking, allows a special procedure - sealing. Spend it at the appropriate specialists.