How To Fix A Broken Natural Nail

Having to fix a cracked natural nail can be somewhat annoying, especially when the nail broke in the middle. But what do you do in such situations? Do you wait for it to get healed (if it’s something more serious) or do you probably trim them off?

Well, you don’t have to cut or get them trimmed down because I’m going to be revealing to you how to fix a cracked natural nail.

What Are Broken Nails?

According to health-line, our nails might split, snag, or tear due to nutrient deficiency, and stress which can be physical or accidental.

Split or broken nails can be painful, especially when the nail broke in the middle or a split from a fractured nail bed.

Whichever the case may be, there are various ways you can adopt to repair a split nail down the middle, vertical nail split, nail split horizontally, and worst of all, split nail bed. Before we go into the various ways how to fix a broken natural nail at home, let’s quickly look at some of the causes of split nails.

What Causes Nails To Split Or Break?

There are a lot of reasons why people get their nails broken. One of the obvious reasons why we may experience splits or tear in our nails is a result of;

1. Using harsh chemicals.
2. Overexposure to moisture.
3. Using Nails as a tool.
4. Excessive buffing of nails.
5. Weather condition.

1. Using harsh chemicals

Every now and then, We toss Acetone over our nails without paying much attention to the impending damage it can cause to the health of our nails.

Acetone which happens to be a liquid solvent for removing nail polish contains harsh chemicals that can weaken our nail plates and cause them to split every now and then. See what Huffpost.com is saying about Acetone.

2. Overexposure to moisture

If you’re that type whose nature of the job allows your nails to remain always submerged in water, then your nails are likely going to split now and then.

Overexposure can make the skin and nails to be weak and brittle. When this happens, the nails are bound to bend, split or break. Here’s what happens each time your nails spend too much time in the water. The molecules in the water strip the moisture out of your nails and make them weak.

3. Using Nails as tools

Using your Nails as a tool to get things done such as using them to scratch through the silver panel at the back of a drug box, using them to peel oranges, or merely using them to pick at your teeth can make them brittle and eventually cause them to break.

4. Excessive buffing of nails

Excessive buffering now and then can as well cause them to split or tear. Buffering back and forth and not in one direction weakens the strength of our nails and eventually causes them to break.

5. Weather condition

Since it is usually cold during the winter, there are varying changes in humidity as well, which might cause our nails to split. This is because, during winter, our nail plate becomes dehydrated, leaving the whole surface prone to peeling.

Can A Broken Nail Heal Itself?

Yes, a broken nail can heal itself. And that’s only when you protect the split using either a tea bag or a base coat. By so doing, your nails will grow out with the split after which you can then trim the parts with a tear.

4 Ways to Fix a Broken Nail

Fixing or mending split nails doesn’t take much of your time, and it’s simply not that expensive. In other words, it’s something anyone can afford and you don’t have to spend a fortune.

What’s, even more, interesting is the fact that you don’t have to file those nails out entirely and the items needed to mend those nails are readily available at home.

Fixing broken nails with tissue paper and teabag is one tool that has saved many and their importance to the life of someone who just broke a nail cannot be overemphasized. Below are a few of the numerous ways or methods to fix split or broken fingernails.

1. With Tea Bag

A tea bag is indeed a lifesaver as far as fixing broken nails is concerned. To correct or repair a broken nail using a teabag, be sure that your nails are plain (that is without polish). If they are polishes on them, be sure to wipe them off with Acetone polish remover.

• Steps to take to on how to fix a broken natural nail at home using teabag;
• To fix broken nails with a teabag, Be sure your hands are thoroughly washed with warm water or soap to remove any oily stains on those nails.
• After that, Pat dry with a clean towel. Be sure your nails are clean, Polish-free, and ready to go.
• Then, cut open the tea bag with scissors or any sharp objects (just like in the below photo) and empty the tea leaves in it.
• The tea bag should be cut to the exact length and width of the tear or split nails. Cutting them in the shape of a rectangle is most preferable.
• Then cover the surface where the split occurs with a nail glue after wish the cut teabag should be slightly placed on the spot where there’s nail glue. This can be done using a tweezer or a tiny pair of scissors.
• When the teabag had been successfully placed, allow it to dry. You can add one or two more nail glue to make it stick very well.
• With the help of a buffer, gently file out the rough edges on the nails.
• Finally, you can now decide to apply any polish or nail art of your choice; the choice is entirely yours.

2. With A Nail Coat

This method of repairing a broken nail is quite similar to the teabag method; the only difference is, it employs the use of a base coat instead of glue. ( A base coat is a transparent or clear polish applied on bare nails before adding your preferred nail polish. Applying a base coat to nails prevents stains on nails)

Steps to take  to repair a cracked natural nail with a nail coat;

1. As usual, be sure your hands are washed and free from any polish.
2. They should be wiped and allowed to dry completely after which a base coat should be applied to the area where there is a tear or split.
3. The base coat should be allowed to dry for some minutes before rolling in another bead of base coat.
4. After a while, buff gently using a nail buffer to smoothen the surface and also to remove the excess base coat.
5. You may decide to apply color polish after that or just any nail art you deemed fit.

3. With Tissue Paper

As we’ve earlier stated, tissue paper can as well be used to fix or repair split nails in the absence of teabag. The steps to take to achieve this are pretty much the same as the teabag procedures above.

4. Repair Split Nails With Acrylics

This method can be applied to a minor split that doesn’t in any way have any physical damage to the nail bed. Like it is with every other method if you are not satisfied with the steps mentioned above, or are probably in a hurry, you can consider fixing fake nails.

Fake nails are readily available in any cosmetic or beauty shop, and they come in various sizes. If they are not in various shapes and sizes, they can be filed quickly to any desired shape of your choice using a nail buffer of a suitable grit level.

Steps To Take

1. As usual, hands should be kept clean and Polish-free.
2. Apply nail glue on the surface of your nails.
3. Then gently place the acrylic nails over your nails, and apply little pressure on them to stick very well to your natural nails.
4. Buffer using a nail buffer to remove any excesses before coating.
5. You can decide to coat them with colored Polish or just let them look the way they were.

How to Stop Nail From Breaking Further

1. Moisturise nails and skin around the cuticle with moisturizers such as cuticle oil, coconut oil, olive oil, or Shea butter.
2. Keep nails free from moisture. Overexposure to nails at this point should be avoided.
3. Avoid using a harsh chemical like Acetone nail polish that can strip your nails of their natural look.
4. Avoid or refrain from biting your nails. If you’re into chewing your nails, you need to stop doing so now.
5. In the case of weaker nails, taking biotin supplements should make them stronger.
6. Eat food rich in vitamins. Vegetables are an excellent food to consider because they contain the necessary vitamins that your nails need to grow healthy.
7. Lastly, Exercise regularly. Regular exercise enables blood to flow to all paths of our body.

Can a Nail Salons Fix a Broken Natural Nail?

Yes,  nail salons can fix a broken natural nail. Nail technicians in nail salons not only know how to make your nails beautiful, but they can also fix even the worst tear ever at a pocket-friendly price. The only reason we recommend that you do it yourself is to save some cash, but if you feel you can’t, then a visit to a certified salon isn’t a bad idea.

How Long Does A Broken Nail Take To Heal?

Well, we can’t tell precisely the time it will take for a broken nail to heal entirely and that’s because not all nail tears are the same. For example, a break, located very close to the nail beds, may take a longer time to heal than a tear just after the nail beds. To put this in perspective, typical damage may take somewhat between 2 – 4 weeks to heal.

How Do You Stop A Broken Nail From Hurting?

It’s pretty simple, especially if the tear cuts across your nail beds. Here’s what to do. First, soak the nails in cold water for 10 – 15 minutes to ease the pain after which, apply some antifungal cream to prevent infection followed by covering the surface with a bandage.

Wrapping Up

If you’ve been following us from the beginning of this post up to this point, you would have read that fixing a cracked natural nail at home doesn’t cost much.

What’s more interesting to know is the fact that this treatment can be done at home with almost anything ranging from teabag to base coat and most surprisingly, tissue papers.

Now that you know just the right methods to adopt as to fixing a broken natural nail when next you had a broken or split fingernail, it is wise also to learn ways to prevent them from occurring.

Read also:

• How to stop biting nails