Medical Questions » Nails Questions » Question No. 711
| Question: | I wish to inquire why my fingernails are so extremely soft, and keep breaking off, flaking and splitting. Will my bones be similarly affected? Could diet be the problem? |
| Answer: | Fortunately for you, there is no direct link between most cases of nail softening and bone softening (osteoporosis). If you had a severe lack of calcium in your diet, which is very unusual in Australia, it is possible that you could have a rare condition called osteomalacia in which osteoporosis and soft nails occur, but it is far more likely that your nail problems are due to your choice in parents, and hormones.
Soft nails are usually caused by a genetic tendency, changes in sex hormone levels at menopause, alcoholism and sometimes persistent infections of the nail bed by a fungus or bacteria.
A diet high in calcium is always a good idea, and may help your problem slightly, but nail-hardening lacquer is probably your best tteatment. The fact that so many nail-hatdening products are available in the chemist and beauty shops will give you some idea of how common this problem has become.
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