Natural Health

Q. I am 41 years old and have always had extremely poor quality fingernails — they are very small, dry, brittle with slow growth.

There is also a ‘split’ through several of the nails. The skin all around the nails is dry and cracked. I have a good quality diet and have recently upped my intake of good quality fish oil. I don’t drink or smoke and exercise by walking most days. The skin on my hands is also very dry and cracked. I use commercial hand creams but, regardless of their price and claims, they provide no relief. With the current cold weather I find that the skin on my hands is so parched and tight it is uncomfortable.

My hands spend a large amount of time in soapy water as I am constantly washing up — I have four small children. Rubber gloves seem to make no difference. Please could you provide some advice of any supplements I could add to my diet to assist healthy skin and nail growth. The quality of my hair is good although it is quite grey. I took Solgar’s Hair, Skin & Nail tablets but they had a no effect.