How To Prevent Hangnails

Hate hangnails? There isn’t one person on this planet that enjoys these small pieces of skin that decide to attach right along to the side of the base of our nail. When this happens, we are forced to pick and scratch at this tiny little area of skin, potentially causing pain and damaging the nail bed in the process. Is there any way to say “goodbye” to hangnails for good?

What are Hangnails?

Hangnails can be described as your nails having excess skin attached to the nail. The skin has partially detached from the nail, but not entirely, leaving us picking and pulling and scratching away at it to get rid of it. The cause of hangnails is almost always dried-out cuticles. If the cuticle (the area of skin surrounding the top of the nail bed) becomes dry, then a hangnail is almost sure to develop.

How to Prevent Hangnails

Hangnails are almost always a result of the cuticles on our fingers drying out, so it’s essential to keep the cuticles well hydrated and moisturized every day. You can use specific cuticle oil or cuticle cream to help keep the skin supple, or you can take special care to rub the lotion or hand cream into your cuticles whenever it is applied every day.

Next, rather than pick and pick and pick at the hangnail that you see, simply snip it off with a pair of scissors. You should use manicure scissors so that you can get a close and controlled cut of the area. Once you snip off that hangnail, take care to moisturize the cuticle area with hydrating hand cream or petroleum jelly. Resist all temptation to continue to pick at the hangnail area after you have cut it off. You should notice all traces of the hangnail gone within a few short days.

At night, you should always take some time to massage some moisturizing product into your cuticles. This can sometimes be as simple as using lip balm or petroleum jelly. Petroleum jelly is the better option, as the fats contained within this jelly easily penetrate the skin and hydrate it. The jelly portion of it helps form a film that is protective and seals in the moisture. You can also massage a vitamin E oil into your cuticles to help keep your cuticles hydrated, thus preventing any future hangnails.

Another key factor to preventing hangnails is to stop yourself whenever you have the urge to pick and bite at your nails. This type of behavior damages the nails to the point where hangnails are inevitable.

There are specific products out there that are to be massaged into the cuticle region to help prevent hangnails, but these are hardly necessary. Using a simple hydrating product on your hand and cuticles will work wonders. If you have an intense hangnail problem, then using a medicated cuticle ointment or cream may be in order.