Do you look at the color of your nails to check if you are healthy? Many people would not do this, but if you want to check your health, starting with your nails can be ideal. If you have yellow nails in your fingers and toes, this indicates that you may have a problem.
Some chronic medical conditions can affect the color of your nails. If you have yellow nails, you may have to get yourself checked for the following conditions:
- Lung Disease – When there is not enough oxygen in your body, this can cause your fingernails to turn yellow.
- Diabetes
- Kidney Disease
- Vitamin Deficiency
- Thyroid Disease
- Liver Disease
- Psoriasis
People who have the medical conditions mentioned above usually have yellow nails, but it is not usually the first symptom that they notice about their condition. While these diseases may be serious, these are not the most common causes of yellow nails.
More Common Causes of Yellow Nails
These are the more common reasons why you may have yellow nails right now:
- Fungal Infection – Your hands and your feet contact various surfaces every day. Your hands and feet may become accessed by bacteria. When you are also exposed to moisture, the fungus may thrive better. If you are not sure if fungal infection is the cause, look for other symptoms. After some time, you will notice that your nails do not smell good. Your nails may also start to flake off.
- Smoking – Do you know that smoking can lead to yellow fingernails? This is because your nails are always exposed to smoke, so this can lead to discoloration later on. To stop this, you may have to quit smoking, but this can be a hard and tedious task, especially since you cannot quit smoking.
- Use of Nail Polish – Depending on the nail polish you use, you may be depriving your fingernails of being exposed to oxygen, giving your fingernails a yellow tinge. You will notice this after you remove your nail polish that has been on your nails for a long time.
11 Best Natural Home Remedies for Yellow Nails
Now that you know the common reasons why you may have yellow nails, it only fits that you would seek to have healthier-looking nails again. To achieve this, you can do some home remedies that will truly improve the condition of your nails.
Hydrogen Peroxide
You can do different things with hydrogen peroxide, but this also has the ability to whiten your fingernails after it has been stained. There are different types of hydrogen peroxide available, so make sure to choose one that contains 3 percent hydrogen peroxide so that it will not be too strong for your fingernails.
- Pour a few tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide into a bowl of water.
- Mix thoroughly.
- Soak your nails in the solution for a few minutes.
- Scrub your nails with a toothbrush.
- Rinse your nails again with pure water.
- This can be done once a week until you see that your nails have returned to their usual color.
Read:15 Amazing Benefits and Uses of Hydrogen Peroxide in Your Home
Whitening Toothpaste
Toothpaste right now is not only meant for the teeth. They are also used for a wide variety of home remedies that you can surely benefit from. You can expect that since this is effective for the teeth, it can also be effective in getting rid of the yellowish stains found on your fingernails.
- Apply a coat of whitening toothpaste on your fingernails.
- Leave on your nails for about 5 – 10 minutes.
- Use a nail brush to scrub your nails.
- Dip cotton balls in warm water.
- Use the cotton balls to remove the toothpaste from your nails.
Tea Tree Oil
There are a lot of conditions that make use of tea tree oil as a home remedy. Your yellow fingernails can be one of the conditions that the use of tea tree oil can fix. This can be helpful if your yellow fingernails are caused by fungus because tea tree oil has effective anti-fungal properties. It also has anti-microbial properties that can help protect your fingernails further.
- You can use a dropper to apply a drop of tea tree oil on your yellowing fingernails.
- Leave on the nails for a few minutes.
- Rinse off the tea tree oil with water.
- You have to do this twice every day so that you can see obvious results.
Read: Health Benefits of Tea Tree Essential Oil
Baking Soda
What are the things that you normally use baking soda for? You can probably state many uses for baking soda, but you may not be aware that this can also be used for nails. Baking soda has exfoliating and bleaching properties that can help get rid of the stains from the nails.
- Mix baking soda with hydrogen peroxide.
- Apply the mixture that you have created on your nails with the use of q tips.
- Leave on the nails for a few minutes.
- Rinse with water.
- You may have to do this once a month or every 3 weeks, depending on the condition of your nails.
Apple Cider Vinegar
If you would check out many home remedy lists, one of the things you will find is Apple Cider Vinegar. This is known to be very useful, and one of the things that it can be used for is to get rid of your yellowed fingernails. If any nail infection causes a change in the color of your nails, you can expect that ACV will come through to get rid of the infection and bring back the natural color of your nails.
- Mix a cup of ACV with water.
- Soak your nails in a solution for about 15 – 20 minutes.
- Pat dry your nails after soaking.
- This has to be done 3 times a day for a whole month so that you can get rid of the discoloration of your nails and, at the same time, get rid of the infection that has caused your nails to turn yellow in the first place.
Lemon
Do you know that lemon can lighten the color of your nails or toenails the same way that it can lighten your hair or your skin? This is the main reason why you can use it to get rid of the yellow tinge of your nails.
- Cut a lemon in half.
- Rub the essence of the lemon on nails.
- Do this from 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Do not wash your hands or your feet immediately. Allow the nails to absorb the juice of the lemon for about 10 minutes.
- Apply moisturizer on your hands.
Take note that putting lemon on your nails can dry out the skin around the area.
Glycerine
Do you know that glycerine is good not only for your skin but for your nails as well? You may be familiar with glycerine, as this can moisturize your skin, but your nails can also benefit from it. Expect that your nails will become lighter and shinier when you use glycerine as a home remedy.
- You need to mix glycerine with fresh lemon juice. Make sure that the ratio is 1:1.
- Mix well and place on the affected nails and toenails.
- Leave the mixture on your nails for about 10 – 15 minutes.
- Wash off the mixture with warm water.
- Do not scrub your nails, as this will remove the glycerine residue.
Please note that it is okay to have glycerine residue on your nails, as this will keep your nails shinier and healthier.
Read: Incredible Skin Benefits of Glycerine and How to Use it
Denture Cleaning Tablets
You already know what denture cleaning tablets are for, but you should not underestimate what other things they can do. It can effectively get rid of the yellow stain on your nails. Denture cleaning tablets contain citric acid and bicarbonate. These are highly effective in removing unwanted stains.
- Use 2 or 3 denture cleaning tablets on the warm water.
- Place your yellowed nails on the water for about 15 minutes.
- Dry your nails with the use of a clean towel.
- Apply moisturizer on your hands as denture cleaning tablets can dry out your hands.
- Do this three times a week until the stain is removed.
Listerine
Let us add another item on the list that is normally used for the teeth. Listerine is another thing you can use to get rid of stains on your nails. This can be most effective for yellowed nails brought about by fungal infection. Listerine contains some ingredients that can be effective in getting rid of stains on your nails. Active ingredients are thymol, eucalyptol, and menthol.
- You have to prepare a bowl that contains Listerine. Please do not add anything to it.
- Soak your nails in the solution for 30 minutes.
- You have to do this every day for a whole week.
- Stop doing it for the week after.
- Resume doing this every day again for the next week.
Some people report that the skin around their nails may have a greenish tinge afterward but do not worry because this will disappear after some time.
Juniper Berries
These are highly effective in curing your yellowed nails that may be due to fungus infection. Juniper berries have disinfectant properties that can help improve the color of your nails immediately.
- You need to crush juniper berries before you place them in water.
- Soak your nails on the mixture for about 15 minutes.
- Rinse your nails with lukewarm water.
- You need to apply moisturizer on your nails afterward because they may be a bit dry because of the berries.
Orange Peel
We normally dispose of the orange peel at the soonest possible time because we assume that it cannot be used for anything, but it seems that orange peel can be highly useful in getting rid of the yellow stains from your nails. This is because the orange peel contains a high amount of Vitamin C.
- Fresh orange peel can be used on the nails about 2 – 3 times a day. Make sure that you will rub thoroughly.
- Do this for a few weeks until you get the desired results.
How to Prevent Yellow Nails
You are now familiar with the treatments that you can do to prevent yellow nails. It will be wise to know how you can prevent the yellowing of your nails in the first place.
- If you are going to apply nail polish on your nails, make sure that you will apply a base coat first. The base coat can be useful in preventing the nail polish from coming in contact with your nails.
- Avoid using dark nail polish. There are different colors of nail polish available, but dark nail polish can stain the nails the most.
- Make sure that you will take breaks from using nail polish on your nails from time to time. Your nails will feel free as they are exposed to oxygen. They will look healthier as well.
- Do not wear shoes or socks that are wet. When the area is moist, expect that fungi will grow on your nails. Ensure that you are only using clean shoes and socks to prevent bacteria from growing on your nails and in other portions of your feet.
- You can also use a buffer if you want to remove the portion of your stained yellow nails. Healthier nails may be revealed underneath.
Contacting Your Doctor
If you have tried all of the home remedies mentioned above or you have tried your best to prevent your nails from getting stained to no avail, you may want to get yourself checked by your doctor.
You have to watch out for other symptoms that may be related to other health conditions. Your doctor will guide you in finding a remedy for your disease. If you do not have any health conditions but can not get rid of your stained nails, your doctor may recommend a more effective remedy.
