How to Treat Damaged Toenails at Home

There are many factors as to why your toenails can become damaged. Some of the top reasons are trauma, fungal, and ingrown toenails. They can be an eyesore and above that painful, no one wants that. So in this post, we want to help you treat damaged toenails at home.

There are many home remedies, that we will share with you to also prevent damage toenails at home.

What are the signs of damaged toenails?

These are some of the common signs of a damaged toenail:

• Discoloration from yellow, green, purple, and sometimes even black
• Nail peeling, brittleness, splitting, and breaking easily
• The nail is separated from the nail bed
• Foul odor or bleeding
• Swelling, pain or inflammation

If you are experiencing any of these you can first check with a medical personnel to see how serious it is. Some of these conditions are not easily treated at home, such as fungus or ingrown nails, and may need prescription medication.

How to Treat Damaged Toenails at Home?

Depending on the extent of the damage you could treat them at home. Home remedies are some of the most effective ways.

• Start off by soaking your feet in water. This can help soften and clean your nails and also reduce pain. Try adding some salt, vinegar, baking soda even tea tree oil to the water for some extra benefits. Try doing this three to four times daily for the best result.
• Apply moisturizer or nail oil to reduce dryness and cracking. Moisturizing your nails will nourish and help protect your nails. You can opt to use more specific creams and oils but if you have natural oils they are great substitutes. Apply this at any time throughout the day especially especially after soaking your feet. This is a good follow-up routine to keep your nails nourished and moisturized.
• Trim your nails and file them carefully and regularly. This could help to prevent future damage. If you notice parts of your nails are unattached you should gently clip it away with clean sharp clippers. Avoid making the cut too deep to prevent ingrown or bleeding nails.
• If your nail is really damaged you should consider covering it up with a sterile gauze pad or a nonstick bandage. Use an antibiotic cream/ointment to prevent infection.
• If you are experiencing swelling use painkillers, to help reduce inflammation and discomfort.

Home Remedies toe Treatments

• Olive oil and lemon juice: Olive oil can be used to penetrate the cuticles this helps to strengthen and repair them. Lemon juice helps remove stains making them brighter and slowly peeling off damaged nails. Keep doing this for a few weeks once a day for 10 minutes.
• Using baking soda and hydrogen peroxide can help clean and whiten your nails as well. Mix 1tablespoon of baking soda with 1tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide and let it sit for a while. Use your toothbrush in the mixture to gently scrub each nail until the yellow is gone. Try doing this one or two times a week.
• Our last tip is tee tree oil, which is a natural antiseptic and antifungal agent that can help treat fungus and prevent infection. Apply a few drops to the affected nail and massage it, let it sit for a few minutes at least 10. After you are done wash it off with warm water, repeat this twice daily until needed.

Can you use coconut oil instead of olive oil? Yes, you can use coconut oil to treat damaged toenails. Coconut oil has similar benefits as olive oil and in addition to all that it has antibacterial and antifungal properties.

Those are some natural remedies that you can treat yourself at home. However if in any case this is more affected you should see a doctor.

How to prevent damaged toenails in the future?

To prevent damage nails from further or future damage you should also follow these tips:

• Wear comfortable shoes with the right sizing to prevent friction and pressure off your toes. It’s a good idea to wear open-toe footwear more often to allow air circulation and moisture control. So avoid shoes that are too loose, too tight, or too high.
• We encourage toe manicures but with a damaged nail it’s best to avoid nail polish. This will help prevent more damage to your natural nails you need to allow them to breathe. Avoid using acrylic, gel polish, or remover. If you have to use nail polish choose a product fortified with vitamins.