Those pesky little buggers that ruin our photos, annoy us to the point of insanity, and leave our fingers stinging from everything we touch. Yuck. Hangnails aren’t just an annoyance for nail bloggers or a pain for everyone else though; they’re dangerous. Everyday your hands come into contact with MILLIONS of bacteria, no matter how many times you wash your hands. And open cuts on your fingers are a very easy way to get sick or worse! So what can you do?
The number one rule with hangnails is NEVER EVER pull one. The best way to get rid of it is to nip it with your cuticle nippers at an upward angle and then apply cuticle oil to help moisturize the area.
These are the hang nails you get generally towards the top of your nail, which tear down the sides and seem to never end if you pull them. They’re relatively easy to prevent but it takes a bit of time to see the results. This type of hangnail is caused by not pushing enough of your cuticle. When you push cuticles, you want to be sure you’re including the entire nail plate, even deep into the sidewalls of your nails. I’ll be doing a follow-up cuticle carepost to address this particular issue but for now, you get the idea. This is actually cuticle which grows up the sides of your nail, if not pushed back. When it reaches the free edge, it has nowhere to go so it just sort of peels back. To take care of this simply nip the base of it while trying not to further loosen it from the nail plate. Then be sure to push the cuticles on the sides of your nails when you do your regular routine.
This type of hangnail is basically a little flap of dead skin which can occur anywhere around the base of your nail. It includes hangnails which are caused when your live cuticle splits and peels off or bleeds. These are caused by lack of moisture AND improper care of cuticles. When pushing the cuticles, be sure you’re not applying too much pressure. If you press too hard you can loosen the seal on your nail and cause the cuticle to “flap” up. If you do this you will expose your nail to bacteria and the flap will dry out and crack. Nipping the cuticles in a ragged or uneven pattern can also cause this to happen. To prevent this type of hangnails, keep the cuticles and the skin around your nails well moisturized and use just enough pressure to move the cuticle, not enough to do yourself harm.
Hangnails are actually caused by improper cuticle care!
Many people think that lack of moisture causes hangnails and while that is sometimes the case, it’s more often improper care that causes them. Aggressive pushing, improper cutting techniques, or lack of care causes your cuticles to split, tear and grow up the nail plate.