Germaphobes, beware!
Waterless hand sanitizers can wreak havoc on your skin and fingernails, especially in these dry winter months. North Carolina dermatologist Dr. Zoe Draelos explains that fingernails need a certain amount of water content to allow the keratin protein to bend and flex when pushed. The alcohol in waterless hand sanitizers strip the nails of moisture, leaving them brittle and dry. Hand sanitizer isn’t the only culprit, though: heavily fragranced hand lotions can have the same effect.
In order to avoid nailbed brittleness, Dr. Draelos recommends using fingernail lotions that contain urea and lactic acid, which soften nails and encourage water retention. But be careful – using too much of these ingredients could actually exacerbate the problem, so be stingy when applying. Other suggestions include minimizing waterless hand sanitizer usage, wearing gloves when using cleaning products, avoiding soaking your nails, wearing protective nailpolish, and avoiding super smelly hand lotions.
Good luck to you and your digits!
[Image via AP Images.]
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