Have any of you noticed a correlation between the condition of your hair vs nails?

[MinderMutsig]

I'm a nail nerd and pretty active on a forum about nails. Just like with hair there are different types of nails that each require their own special treatment.

I wonder if there is a correlation between both since hair and nails are basically made of the same material. I.e. people with dry brittle nails that break easily also have hair that breaks and splits easily and people with soft and flexible nails that bend easily and are more prone to tearing instead of breaking have hair that is resilient too.

For nails the first category does best with treatments that contain more protein and add moisture while the second category needs a treatment that removes excess moisture so the nails harden and they usually react badly to protein.

There is of course a third category who's nails don't need special treatment and who's nails do great with just the occasional rubbing with hand cream or cuticle cream.

Nailwise I fall in the third category and I'm starting to think that maybe I should treat my hair the same way. Take care of the scalp and roots without over moisturizing or drying it to much (C-COW-C works for me), give the hair the occasional 'rubbing' with a moisturizer like a drop of oil and other than that just leave it be.

Did any of you notice a correlation between the condition and the needs of their hair vs the condition and the needs of their nails?

[Kyaatje]

didn't think about it, but it sounds so very logical :-)

[emma907]

Hmm. interesting.. i've always had long-ish hair really, but my nails never grow without any help ie strengthening nail polish... then again i've always had more manual jobs where my hands are always going things, getting wet and thing like that, so maybe there is a correlation but i've never had the chance to notice....

[MinderMutsig]

It does right? Doesn't mean it really makes sense though. lol

It occurred to me while reading the honey and cinnamon threads. I know people with staining from nail polish pigments are often looking for non-damaging ways to whiten their nails so I thought I'd give a honey,cinnamon and possibly hand cream mix a chance. My nails don't really stain that bad but it might help others.

But then I realized my hair also doesn't take dye that well either and started wondering if nails and hair are similar in other aspect too.

[Kathie]

My nails grow pretty fast... I'm not sure about my hair, its at flip length any addition of length is just hidden in the flip. Anyways, my nails become long pretty fast (I wish it would take the same amount of time for my hair to become 'long')

[girlcat36]

Both my hair and nails are dry, brittle, thin and hard to grow.

[Crackaleen]

I haven't noticed much of a correlation personally. My nails used to be very thin and prone to flaking. They improved immensely when I completely stopped using nail polishes and removers of any kind. They're now resilient and very rarely break. I don't do anything to them beyond cutting/shaping every couple of weeks and pushing back my cuticles.

My hair, on the other hand, is definitely prone to breakage. I have a halo of flyaways all along my hairline. My hair has always been like this and has continued to be like this despite attempts at diet change, the addition of biotin and other supplements, and a huge change in how I physically treat my hair as well as what I put on it. :shrug:

[Angeletti]

My hair is usually a little slower than average, not quite 1/2" a month and I have noticed that my nails are slow at growing too. I think that is where the similarities stop though, my hair usually can withstand a lot while my nails constantly break and aren't very durable.

[Roseate]

I definitely have better hair than nails. My hair is thick and coarse, doesn't get split ends and can stand up to very rough treatment easily. My nails are sensitive and prone to peel and chip.

Both hair and nails do like oils more than protein, and both grow on the slow end of average.

[spidermom]

For me, no. It often seems that if my nails are growing fast, my hair isn't growing at all.

[MNoelH]

I believe it. I have the kind of nails that grow very long and are really tough as nails. I find that I let them grow way too long because it's fun to see just how long they'll get. Eventually I will twist them in a purse strap or mis-grab a car door handle and one will break. This almost always leads to another breaking due to the imbalance of that hand (at least that's what it seems like). When two have broken, I'll always cut the others back and start over. I don't polish my nails or oil them or even do much of anything with my cuticles (I think I push them back with my other nails when I'm bored) and only get an American manicure (which lasts over a month) maybe twice a year.*

I'm new to LHC, but I've never done much of anything special to my hair. Santa usually leaves some VO5 hot oil treatments in my stocking... that's about the extent of doing more than shampooing and conditioning with the cheapest stuff I can find. Yet, my hair is quite healthy and about waist length, rarely splits (I trim an average o f once a year), and only breaks when I brush it too roughly after a ride with the top down on my car.


*Note: I have a problem with some manicurists sawing my nails at the bed which weakens the nail as it grows out and causes them to break. I've convinced myself that it's a conspiracy to try and force me to get fake nails and increase their revenue. Once a manicurist does that, that shop is dead to me.

[christine1989]

I never knew that nails had classifications like hair! I thought they were all the same. My nails (like my hair) grow pretty fast however I think my nails grow much faster than average. They are average thickness as is my hair but they also break off eaisly if I am not careful (unlike my hair which never breaks). Strangely, many people report better nail health with biotin but my nais did not respond to it at all. My hair on the other hand responds well to it.

[Delila]

I'm not sure what to think.

I bit my nails for most of my life, but about two and a half years ago, I realized that my nails were too tough to bite. I got a glass nail file and started playing with polish and haven't looked back since.

Is the difference in my nails related to the seemingly permanent changes I have made in my haircare over the last four or five years? (i.e., shampooing only the scalp with cleansers that don't irritate my scalp, using lots of conditioner on my length, no blowdryer)

It's hard to say if there's a correlation.

The changes I've noticed in my nails might well be due to some other factor like hormones or my (increasing) age.

All I know for sure is that I've had a blast playing with nail polishes.

Some brands of polish seem to actually cause peeling for me and others don't. Acetone removers do the job of removing polish effectively, while I find non-acetone ones are too drying for me.

[angelfell]

I take Biotin which I have noticed helped my nails to grow faster, and my eyebrow hairs to grow in quicker/thicker; I'm just waiting for the scalp hair result :p. I do believe there is a correlation and, when I used to grow my nails long before even taking Biotin or anything, I'd go to the salon to get them filed and they would stare at me astonished and say, "these aren't fake? they're so strong!". So, if that's the case, I hope my hair is the same way :p.

[Buddaphlyy]

I don't, nor have I ever believed hair and nail growth are related.

[swivelhop]

I just cut the nails every other day and treat with nothing. They are flexible but strong. I didn't know nails could tear. Nothing short of slamming them in a car door has broken them before.

[Dvips]

Not for me, I'm afraid.

[rosek]

Both my nails and hair are very strong. We actually had an excursion when I was in high school to a materials testing lab, and we got to test the strength of our hair. Mine was 4x stronger than the other 10 people who were tested. I very rarely have broken nails. Maybe everything is just a little more elastic than normal?

[iris]

My nails are much tougher than my hair. My nails are very thick and strong, and grow a bit faster than average (a mm a week). My hair strands are just medium thickness, it grows with the average growth rate (or a bit slower really), and it splits and breaks at about an average rate, too - not too bad, but my hair is certainly less resilient, relatively speaking, than my nails.

[torrilin]

If I want my nails to stay short enough to be comfortable, I need to trim them pretty aggressively. Call it about once a week, maybe twice. Over the last few months, they've gotten a lot sturdier... not sure why, but my guess would be greater vegetable variety from our CSA share.

My hair is the same as ever, but if the veggies have produced a change, it'd only be on 3-4" of hair so far (and that's a generous estimate). It wouldn't really show up on a head of BSL length hair until I have more like 2 years of growth.

[mariika]

For me, no. It often seems that if my nails are growing fast, my hair isn't growing at all.
EXACTLY! And my feet nails used to grow real fast, now they are about the same rate as hand nails but they all grow pretty fast while my hair is a real slow grower.

I know there should be a correlation as even vitamin complexes are usually for nails and hair. But I don't really see it. My nails react to stress while my hair doesn't. My nails have frequently switching periods of good and bad shape while my hair is more or less the same all the time.

[pepperminttea]

Now that I think about it, sort of, yes. Both have about average growth rate, and my nails tend to peel easily, and break with rough treatment; and my hair does love to split if I even think about treating it roughly. Although my nails never tend to get super-long; I think the longest I've gotten a fingernail is 2mm past fingertip, though it's easier with thumbnails as they're so much stronger. Once I break a few, I trim them all to even things up; same with my hair's hemline really.

[DifferentLex]

uh i don't know, my nails grow really really fast (i like extremly short nails) so i have to cut them twice a week and they are really hard, don't peal or chip (used to love running my nails on the blackboard in highschool), my hair grows about .85 inch a month, although i've noticed that i have vertical ridged nails and it's a sign of low iron so maybe that's why i've been shedding like crazy.

[jojo]

my nails grow quick but flake as I have to wash my hands a million times a day as a nurse, my hair has got to the length where i dont notice growth but its fine and prone to breaking. Ive wondered this myself before, since taking my vits i do notice my hair and nails retain length more though, so yes there is a correlation in regards to my nails and hair!

[Xi]

Absolutely no correlation for me -- my hair is thin, fragile, and EXTREMELY slow-growing (I get about 2 inches a year), but my nails are strong (they never break or tear!) and EXTREMELY fast-growing. It is super annoying, as I want long hair and short nails. One of the little jokes my genes like to play on me, I guess...:rolleyes:

[FrannyG]

Not at all. While my nails and hair both grow quickly, my nails are soft and break, bend and tear very easily. My hair is shiny and reasonably strong, compared with how fine it is.

I'd say that my hair has always been in much better shape than my nails have ever been (except when I've done damage to my hair).

[dolphin]

I feel like my nails grow much faster than my hair. Is it possible that the nutrients that should be going towards hair and nails are just going to my nails? (starting to get paranoid...:p)

[Captain Nikki]

My nails grow at an average speed i think & they are quite strong, very rarely break, split etc. My hair on the other hand is incredibly slow growing (i get about 6cm of growth a year) & it's fine, thin & breaks very easily.

[Ligeia_13]

Without supplements, my hair is pretty strong and my nails are pathetic weaklings. But my hair grows slow and the nails fast. Odd.

[YepLilly]

Supplements are often made to help both, hair and nails, at the same time, so I guess there might be a correlation.

That said, I'm always puzzled. My nails are usually very strong, while my hair is (nowadays) on the weaker side. So, who knows! :p

[NightOwl26]

No correlation for me either.

My hair grows slower than average, it's fine and fragile.

My nails on the other hand grow fast, thick, and strong. I do my own mani/pedis and people think I have fake nails.

I fear that my hair supplements are going straight to my nails! My nails are strong w/o supplements too though. It's gotta be hereditary.

[pixiedust]

I was JUST thinking about posting a topic like this ! :couch:

I'm not sure. My hair grows in fast and thick, but sheds everywhere all the time. The hair themselves are very fine, shiny, and pretty indestructable (without heat damage or any other damage of course. heat destroys the ends of them like nobody's business!) In fact, when I used to try to rip through it with a brush, it'd hurt like hell because it'd just catch shed hairs and the brush would get all tangled and stuck in my hair, despite bleach damage (highlights). :shrug:

I've been an extreme nail biter ever since I've had teeth, but over the past year I've attempted to grow them out a few times. When I do, they're practically bulletproof, they grow pretty quickly and people assume they're fake. However, the only time I can manage to grow them is if I ignore them almost entirely. I can file them weekly, push back my cuticles weekly, and paint them weekly. Any more manipulation than that, and they will not grow. PERIOID. Even with growth promoting base/top coats.

Also, when I'm growing my nails out, my hair tends to look worse and shed more. I'm not sure If this is due to the fact that I'm paying more attention to my nails and less attention to my hair, because my nails are longer and I don't realize that I'm being too harsh when washing my hair, or possibly a nail fungus issue (which would be weird because I use neem and tea tree religiously, usually nail biters tend to have more nail fungus issues than non biters, and my nails usually look nice/healthy while long, but not ruling out the possibility). I was also wondering if it had something to do with the psychological aspect of nail biting, and that maybe because I'm not biting my nails, I end up over manipulating my hair. :thud: I don't want to rule anything out here.

Does anybody else notice this issue in their personal experience ? I would love it if anybody had any advice, experience, suggestions, connections or possible solutions for this. :waving:

(By the way, if I'm changing the topic too much or if anybody thinks I should just pst my own thread on this subject, please feel free to let me know/pm me. thanks !)

[CariadA]

My nails are strong but not brittle and grow very quickly.

My hair is thing, fine and easily damaged. It also grows quickly, though.

So I don't know if there is a correlation. My nails are in better condition than my hair.

[oktobergoud]

I have to say that since I take supplements (for hair as well), my nails are getting longer and stronger! I hope my hair grows better and stronger as well :)

[snuflan]

My nails are brittle, but grow fast, and my hair is brittle but grows slow :(

[Seishin]

I took a hair,skin and nail supplement last year for about three months..(i finished a three month supply and just never got around to buying more) It did nothing for my hair, but for the first time in my life I had strong long nails. My hair has been shedding for the past year and my nails have been soft and often 'peel'. So for me there is a direct correlation. I'm just taking biotin and an iron supplement nowadays so time will tell.....

[pastel]

My hair and nails have both been thin and weak my whole life. I also have thin skin that is easily damaged. I am trying to improve my health in general and I'm going to start taking supplements and focus on foods that will improve the condition of my skin, hair and nails. I'd like to have longer nails, but I do a lot of cleaning around the house and my hands are always getting wet, which I think weakens them. It's also very dry in my climate. I'd like to at least get the ridges out of my nails - hopefully when I do that I will see some improvement in the strength of my hair.

[redcelticcurls]

I've often said that I'm a very active keratin factory.

My hair tends to be coarse and had a hard time with ingredients that thicken up the strands. I have plenty of my own protein.

My nails are very thick, very hard, and don't break often. When they do, it's one if those team related low breaks. I clip them with toenail clippers.

I also have keratosis pilaris on my arms and thighs.

I am well keratined.