Tough but brittle nails – an age thing?

Last few months I’ve noticed my finger and toe nails seem to be getting tougher to cut*, but also more prone to splitting or chipping, weirdly.

Is it age thing? Am I doomed to be on the lookout for a chiropodist for the rest of my life?

(Yes, I cut them after a soak to make it easier)

The big toe I broke a few years back has a nail like this. Have to be careful clipping it as it’s brittle and I end up with some broken nail sticking in my toe. Causing agro again. 

could be but could also be fungal nail infection but unlikely if its all of them.

Do you take vit D?  I found my nails grew much faster and better after I started taking it,  they were a bit ridged and flaky before ( some of my toe nails)

It’s a sign of some nutritional deficiencies for sure. Especially iron. You do not want to be anaemic, so I’d say book a non-urgent gp appt/call. They’ll likely book you for a blood test. Been feeling tired and low energy by any chance? That would chime with anaemia. Anyway, stop listening to me, pop into the docs.

Are they the same length as Flo Jo used to sport? Paint them red and put some glitter on them.

Soaked the problem toe and got the tool kit (chiropody one) and ran a couple of the various tools round the edge of the nail and found a couple of tiny sharp slivers of nail which were stabbing my toe. Oh the relief.

Glad to hear you’ve got an improvement fossy, lol. But that’s 1 toe with an obvious explanation. MoCash has a systemic issue affecting all toes. It’s gonna be a dietary/nutritional thing I bet, usually dead easy for a GP to diagnose with a blood test and treat within weeks. Speaking from experience here. If it is nutritional/iron levels, You might be surprised when the treatment doesn’t fix only your toe but things you hadn’t realised were broken.

Nutrition related most likely and or fungal growth. Either way imbibing a big a splosh of apple cider vinegar in water a day is never a bad thing. Definitely helped with a manky big toe nail I had. Lidl and Aldi both do an organic ACV with ‘The Mother’ for a couple of quid.

Either way imbibing a big a splosh of apple cider vinegar in water a day is never a bad thing.

I thought plants were poison?

Is it age thing? Am I doomed to be on the lookout for a chiropodist for the rest of my life?

I have a fungal infection that’s made mine like this. Tried everything else, gave up, now have to sand them down and paint antifungal goo on them once or twice a week for the next ~12 months at least.