How to fix a broken nail at home

Many women carefully look after their nails, spend weeks to grow them, to make them beautiful. But often at the most inopportune moment one of the nails breaks, after which it must be cut off, shortening the length on the other fingers. The manicure turns out to be irrevocably ruined, as well as the mood. Indeed, to grow marigolds again, you will have to spend at least a month. However, reporters learned that there are several methods to fix a broken nail and save a manicure for at least one evening, or even several days. In this article, you will learn why the nail plates break, how to prevent this problem, how to restore the integrity of the broken element at home.

Reasons why nails break

Even if you carefully care for the nails, they can break, the cause of this phenomenon can be several factors individually or in combination:

1. Lack of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. The condition of the nails directly depends on the quality of nutrition and the completeness of the diet. To keep your nails strong, and you do not have to constantly face the need to fix one of them, be sure to consume fruits and vegetables, fresh juices, dairy products, cereals and lean meat.

2. Insufficient use of pure water. Dehydration of the body, which occurs if you drink less than 1.5-2 lira of water per day, leads to increased dryness and fragility of tissues.

3. Lack of physical activity. This is an indirect cause of nail breakage, but it needs to be mentioned nonetheless. The fact is that in people who move little, metabolic processes slow down and the quality of blood circulation deteriorates. As a result, tissues and organs suffer, including the nail plates, which do not receive enough oxygen and nutrients.

4. Errors when performing manicure. If you deliberately file the edges in such a way that they have right angles, the nails can cling to objects around you, to clothes. In this case, the need to fix a broken nail can arise quite often.

5. Constant mechanical effect on the marigold. If you work with your hands frequently, such as gardening, your nails may worsen from contact with hard objects.

6. Regular exposure to chemicals. If the nails are often in contact with household chemicals, detergents, their structure may deteriorate, there is increased dryness, brittleness, and stratification.

7. Excessive exposure to moisture. If hands are in constant contact with water, they become weak and brittle.

8. Bad habits. If you smoke, or often drink alcoholic beverages, this greatly affects the state of various body tissues. A broken nail that needs to be repaired is a constant problem for people who cannot give up the habit of chewing on the nail plates.

9. Diseases, including diseases of the internal organs (thyroid, liver, kidneys), skin infections, psoriasis, lead to a deterioration in the health of the marigolds.

10. The use of low-quality care or decorative cosmetics is one of the main reasons for frequent nail breakage. If in the composition of drugs that you use regularly there are harmful components, the nails weaken, the degree of their resistance to the effects of various negative factors, both external and internal, decreases. For example, if a woman regularly does a manicure with gel polish or shellac, in between procedures she repeatedly encounters such a nuisance as a broken nail. Indeed, to remove a persistent polymer decorative coating, acetone or other agents that are no less harmful to nails are often used.

Broken nail plate – types of damage

In order to understand how to fix a broken nail correctly and without causing even greater damage to health, you need to find out what types of 'breakage' are, how severe tissue trauma can be:

1. The edge of the nail has broken, that is, the part that protrudes forward and which can be cut or filed. This is the easiest type of injury and does not cause pain, as there is no injury to the bed.

2. The nail broke at the very edge, where it was bound to the soft tissue. This type of injury causes pain and discomfort, but in some cases it is still possible to fix a broken element.

3. Nail injury with damage to the bed. A very painful type of injury, in which the nail will most likely not be repaired.

4. Trauma to the nail plate with its separation from the bed, damage to soft tissues. In this situation, you need to think not about how to fix a broken nail, but about how to provide first aid and reduce pain. You may have to see a doctor; you should forget about a beautiful manicure with long nails until you are fully recovered.

5. Also, the possibility of restoring a broken nail depends on where the plate is cracked, on the size of the fracture, and the length of the nails. Look carefully at the damaged element, or rather at its free edge. If it is broken by more than one third of its entire length, then the result of the repair will be short-lived; it will be possible to restore the beauty of the manicure for just a couple of days. If the breakdown has led to the fact that less than one third of the length of the nail is separated, then the effect of resuscitation measures can last much longer.

What it takes to fix a broken nail

In order to carry out the recovery procedure efficiently and quickly, you need to prepare a set of materials and tools:

1. Disinfectant. It can be a pharmacy product or alcohol.

2. Dehydrator – this tool will remove excess moisture from the surface of the damaged nail plate, so that the glue and the artificial tip of the nail will hold on tightly.

3. A special fabric that can effectively repair a broken nail at home. It can be natural material, for example, silk or linen, as well as artificial – fiberglass. The fabric can be purchased in tape, cut. There are also sets of individual designs that match the sizes of the nails. If you don't have the time or opportunity to buy fabric, you can use a regular tea bag. We will also talk about this method of restoring the integrity of broken nail plates.

4. Special glue for repairing nail plates. In extreme cases, you can use a drug of the type 'Moment'.

5. Cotton buds and discs.

6. Manicure scissors or nippers for shortening the length of the nail plates.

7. Nail file and buffs (files for surface polishing).

If your marigolds break often, it is recommended to always keep the necessary materials and tools at hand, so to speak, 'on alert'.

How to fix a broken nail with a regular egg

If the free edge of the nail does not come off completely, but just cracked, a raw chicken or quail egg will help to fix it. Preparation for the procedure should be carried out using the standard method – remove varnish, wash hands, disinfect, polish the surface of the nail. After that, we act in this way:

1. Gently break the egg, separate the white from the yolk.

2. There is a thin film on the inside of the egg shell, you need to pick it up and carefully separate it.

3. Using tweezers, place the film on the surface of the nail plate so that the film covers it completely, including the area where the nail is cracked.

4. Wait until the film is completely dry, then cut it so that it does not go beyond the contours of the nail shape.

5. You can apply a thin layer of chicken protein on top of the film, but you do not need to do this to keep the varnish better.

6. Cover the restored element with a transparent varnish, then colored varnish.

How to fix a broken nail in the most economical way

Let's say the nail is broken at the most inopportune moment, there is no time to buy fabrics, there is no specialized glue. This means that you need to use what you always have at home – a tea bag, PVA glue, some kind of alcohol-containing liquid (alcohol, cognac, cologne, etc.). As well as a nail file and buff – if you regularly do manicure, you definitely have such accessories.

Broken nail repair process:

1. Wash your hands, treat the surface of the nail plates with a disinfectant.

2. File away the broken edge with a nail file to remove sharp edges.

3. Polish the surface of the nail plate so that it becomes slightly rough.

4. Wash your hands again, dry them, treat your nails with dehydrate if you have this drug.

5. Cut open the tea bag and cut a piece out of it that exactly matches the shape of the nail as it was before the injury.

6. Take a cotton swab, dip it in glue, apply the product to the entire surface of the improvised patch, let it dry a little. Also, a thin layer of glue must be applied to the very surface of the nail.

7. Apply the artificial element to the natural one, wait until the glue is completely dry and the free edge of the 'patch' hardens.

8. If necessary, if the fracture is too large, you can make not one, but several patches, applying them one on top of the other after the previous layer has completely dried.

9. Cover the surface of the nail plate with a transparent and then colored varnish so that the manicure on all fingers looks the same.

10. After completing the procedure, you do not need to try the resuscitated nail for strength. Also, you cannot wet your hands or at least the finger on which the nail was damaged.

11. In addition to the tea bag, you can use filter paper, paper tape.

How to fix a nail plate using tips

Tipsa is a special nail-like patch that is used to repair a damaged element if the fracture goes deep inside. All tips have a large margin of length, so you can easily adjust it to the shape of natural nails with a file.

The process of restoring the nail plate using nail tips:

1. Cleaning the surface from old varnish, polishing all sharp corners and irregularities.

2. Degreasing the marigold and the inside of the tips.

3. Applying glue to the surface of the nail plate and the inside of the tips.

4. Fixation of tips on the surface of the damaged element. At this stage, you need to wait a little for the glue to dry well.

5. Formation of the correct outline of the outer edge of the tip – it must match the shape of the rest of the nails.

6. Implementation of decorative coating.

We use the extension method

This method is suitable for those girls whose nails are broken at or close to the point of growth. You can fix the nail in this way if you have gel polish and a special lamp for its polymerization.

How to restore the length of the nail with a large fracture using extensions:

1. Clean the plate from varnish, file its edge, if it protrudes, disinfect, dry.

2. Apply the primer you use before your gel polish manicure.

3. Apply a base preparation that ensures the strength and durability of the polymer coating and extended nails, cure it under the light of a UV lamp.

4. Put a special pad on your finger, over which the free edge of the nail is extended to the desired length. Foil can be used instead of an overlay if it is not at hand. Wrap it around the tip of your finger and it becomes an excellent 'base' on which you can shape the contours of the free edge of the artificial nail plate.

5. Apply gel polish, trying to give the coating a shape as close as possible to the shape of the other nails on your hand.

6. Dry the first coat under the lamp.

7. Apply one or two more layers of coverage so that the extended marigold is really strong and does not break as well as natural.

8. Apply a top product.

If you fix a broken nail in this way, the manicure can last for one or two weeks. If you carry out the procedure not at home, but in the salon (or visit a private master), you can count on a better result than in the case when the extension is performed independently.

How to fix a cracked nail with nail polish

Ordinary manicure varnish can come in handy in order to restore the integrity of the nail in case it does not break off, but just cracks. This often happens after a short-term mechanical impact, for example, if you hit your hand hard on a hard surface. If the crack is not fastened, then the free edge of the marigold will collapse more and more, as a result, it will catch on to something and come off completely. And varnish, which can be quickly purchased at the nearest store, will stop the damage process, at least until more drastic measures are taken. Therefore, this method is suitable if the trouble happened outside the home and urgent measures need to be taken.

What to Buy – First Aid Kit:

1. Nail polish remover (if you have a decorative manicure).

2. Varnish of any color. Even if your nails are covered with varnish, for example, yellow, and you can buy only blue, you can use it. Just instead of painting one broken nail, paint a few on both hands. Now such a multi-colored manicure is in fashion, no one will guess that you are using two different shades from hopelessness.

3. Buff for polishing.

4. Cotton buds and discs.

This set is enough to quickly, but for a short time, hide the crack and prevent it from growing, finally ruining the manicure, especially if the rest of the nails are even, long and beautiful.

How to fix a cracked nail:

1. Remove old decorative coat using nail polish remover.

2. Connect the edges of the crack by dripping varnish between them, wait until the cosmetic product is completely dry.

3. Excess varnish squeezed out when joining the edges of the crack must have appeared on the surface of the nail. Polish them carefully with a buff.

4. Cover the nail with several layers of varnish, if the length allows, apply one layer on the inner surface of the free edge to ensure the strengthening of the damaged plate both above and below.

At this point, the resuscitation measures can be considered over, a cracked nail will not spoil the appearance of the hands, it will not cling to everything and make puffs.

Using a dedicated recovery kit

An ambulance for a broken nail can be provided using a special repair kit. For example, Nail Rescue Kit Easily Repairs Cracked & Broken Nails from the American company Orly, popular among modern women of fashion.

The set, which allows you to properly repair a broken nail, includes:

1. Specialized safe glue for Orly Brush-On Nail Glue with a gel consistency, very convenient to use, as it does not spread. The bottle is equipped with a brush, which allows you to apply the drug in a very thin layer.

2. Orly Nail Repair Powder.

3. Block buff for surface grinding Orly buffer.

4. A set for correcting the shape of the nail plate is used in this way:

5. Varnish, dirt and sweat secretions are removed from the marigold. For this, you can use a conventional decorative stripper based on acetone or other similar substance.

6. With a brush, an adhesive is applied to the damaged area.

7. The nail is gently dipped into a jar of powder. It resembles the smallest white dust, has no odor, does not cause tissue irritation, and is hypoallergenic. The jar with powder is equipped with a tightly screwed lid, so the product will not crumble and will not absorb moisture from the air, it will be perfectly preserved until the next use.

8. To smooth the surface of the nail plate and give it a shine, you need to use a sanding block. The side with the highest stiffness is applied first, then the softer side. You need to grind the nail with soft, but vigorous movements, first in one, then in both directions.

After using this kit, the damaged nail will look as good as new for at least five to seven days.

With glue and special fabric

One of the surest ways to fix a broken nail is to reinforce it with tissue. Most common users as well as nail artists prefer to use special silk that is already cut by the manufacturer to the size and shape of the nails.

Repair sequence using fabric strips:

1. A crack or crack in the nail must be prepared by cleaning it with a buff. Movements are made from the cuticle area to the outer edge of the nail. This treatment also allows you to remove shine and remove the thinnest keratin layer in order to improve the quality of the traction of all layers. Next, you need to disinfect the surface using alcohol, a pharmaceutical preparation or a nail polish remover based on acetone.

2. Cut off the right amount of silk to bond the damaged nail. There is an adhesive layer on the back of the strip, so the material can be fixed in place of the break without much effort.

3. Apply glue to the fracture site and the entire surface of the plate, wait until it is completely dry. If the drug comes into contact with the skin, it can be gently removed using the sharp edge of a wooden toothpick. If you have a specialty nail repair powder, apply a small amount of this product to the glue layer until it cures.

4. When all layers of the applied products are dry, you need to polish the nail, giving it a natural shine.

The advantage of this method is that silk, glue and powder are completely invisible on the nail. You may not even cover the platinum with colored varnish; only you will know that the repair was made. However, using varnish will prolong the result. Without a decorative coating, the marigold will remain intact for two to three days, and with several layers of varnish – seven to ten days.

How to fix a broken nail without harming your health – safety rules

Manicure experts recommend following a few tips that will save you from common mistakes that often arise during the process of repairing broken nails:

1. You should try to fix a broken nail immediately after the problem has arisen. Especially if the damage is at the crack stage. It is easier to restore the integrity of the nail plate at an early stage, until the crack has grown, the fracture has not increased, and the edge of the nail has not completely separated.

2. If you use glue, then it must be either a specialized tool, or PVA, or a rubber (rubber, silicone) -based preparation. It is not recommended to use other types of adhesives, as aggressive chemicals in their composition can corrode the natural nail plate.

3. If a broken nail causes a wound, care must be taken to ensure that no glue, acetone, or other chemicals get onto the damaged tissue. Otherwise, severe pain, chemical burns, irritation and inflammation of the tissues may occur, which will take a long time to heal.

In order for the result of the restoration to please you as long as possible, you need to try to protect your nails from any negative impact – mechanical, temperature, etc.

How to prevent future nail breakage

Fixing a broken nail is much more difficult than preventing such a problem from occurring. Following these simple rules will reduce the chances that a broken nail will ruin your mood and disrupt your plans again:

1. Do a manicure, use a nail file, do not leave sharp corners or chips on the edges of your nails.

2. Perform procedures that promote the health of the nail plates. Baths, vegetable oils, specialized preparations, used once or twice a week, will help make the marigolds less brittle and stronger.

3. Drink plenty of clean water, normalize your diet, give up bad habits, and increase your physical activity. A healthy lifestyle will definitely affect the condition of your marigolds.

4. Cleaning, washing dishes, housework and gardening should be done with rubber gloves so that your hands do not come into contact with chemicals that can potentially damage the nail plates.

5. Do not use marigolds to tear off or pick out anything (open packages, jars, bottles), protect them from any mechanical stress.

6. Use care and decorative cosmetics for nails with a safe, predominantly natural composition. It is advisable to completely abandon drugs that contain acetone or formaldehyde. The tools and accessories used must be of high quality, sharp edges well sharpened.

7. If you often do not only hygienic, but also decorative manicure, do not forget to give your nails time to rest and recover. Especially if you are a fan of acrylic, shellac, gel polish coatings.

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