If you want to prevent ridges on fingernails, you may be able to do so by moisturizing your fingernails properly ever day and making sure that you are taking in adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals. Fingernail ridges are usually a sign of aging or dry skin, and aging usually makes dry skin more of a problem. Sometimes fingernail ridges are present because of vitamin deficiencies, and you may notice that if you start taking a daily multi-vitamin your fingernail ridges will begin to disappear as your nails grow out. If you have fingernail ridges that go horizontally across your nails rather than vertically, you may need to see your doctor because this could indicate a slightly more serious health problem.
To prevent ridges on fingernails by moisturizing, you can begin by covering your nails and hands in some type of hand salve or lotion. Cuticle cream might also be beneficial to use for preventing ridges on fingernails. To get the maximum benefit of moisturization, you should probably repeat the process at least three times per day. You might also consider going to sleep with gloves on your hands after you have applied lotion to your fingernails to ensure that the lotion gets completely absorbed by your skin. After a few weeks or possibly sooner, you may begin to notice that your fingernail ridges are diminishing as your nails grow out.
If moisturization does not seem to help prevent ridges on fingernails, you might need to take a closer look at the vitamins and minerals you are getting in each day. People who are vitamin deficient often experience problems with fingernail ridges. If you aren't already doing so, try taking a daily multi-vitamin for a while to see if that doesn't help prevent your ridges. There is also a chance that you may be deficient in one particular vitamin not included in the multi-vitamin you are taking. If you are not seeing results in your nail ridges after making sure you're getting in all the vitamins you need, you should probably see your doctor to check you for other nutrition deficiencies.
Ridges on fingernails that go from left to right rather than up and down usually indicate some type of health problem. It is not uncommon for people to notice ridges such as these after having surgery or going through some type of major medical trauma. Horizontal ridges are also occasionally caused by nutrition deficiencies just as vertical ridges are. To find out for sure what is causing your horizontal fingernail ridges, you should probably see your doctor.