Stop Hangnails for Good: Here's How - AI Podcast

Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health

Briana Mercola

Health & Fitness, Health, Alternative Health

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2025

⏱️ 6 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Story at-a-glance

Biting or picking at your nails and cuticles creates small tears in your skin that often lead to hangnails — tiny but painful skin flaps that could become infected
Hangnails hurt because the skin near your nails contains dense nerve endings and blood vessels, making this area especially sensitive to trauma, inflammation, or infection
Common triggers for hangnails include dry air, frequent handwashing, harsh soaps, chemical exposure, and chlorinated water — factors that damage and dry out the nail bed
Habits like thumb-sucking, cuticle cutting, and soaking your hands in water often increase the risk of skin tearing, especially if your skin is already dehydrated or your nails are brittle
Preventing hangnails is simple — Moisturize regularly, avoid biting or tearing skin, use safe grooming practices, and protect your hands with gloves when exposed to water or chemicals

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. Stay informed with quick, easy-to-listen
0:06.1	summaries of our latest articles, perfect for when you're on the go. No reading required. Subscribe
0:11.2	for free at Mercola.com for the latest health insights.
0:14.2	That sudden sting at your fingertip, so sharp it stops you mid-task, comes from a ragged sliver of skin only
0:22.3	millimeters wide. Why does something so small hurt so intensely? And how can you make sure it never
0:28.3	happens again? Welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. I'm Ethan Foster, joined by Alara
0:34.9	Sky, and today we're tackling hangnails, their causes, their risks,
0:40.2	and the straightforward habits that keep your hands pain free.
0:43.7	Thanks, Ethan.
0:44.9	Hangnails seem trivial until they throb or snag on fabric, turning every touch into discomfort.
0:51.1	By the end of this episode, you'll understand exactly why hang nails form, how they
0:55.9	escalate into infection, and simple steps drawn directly from Dr. Merkel's guidance to prevent
1:02.2	them.
1:03.2	Let's define the problem. A hangnail isn't part of the nail plate. It's torn skin peeling
1:08.4	up beside the nail fold. That skin is packed with nerve endings and blood vessels, so even a tiny flap sends a loud pain signal the second it's disturbed. Absolutely. Think of the nail fold as prime real estate for sensory nerves. When that tissue tears, inflammation sets in quickly, and any movement, grabbing a zipper, typing, washing your
1:29.4	hands, pushes on exposed nerve fibers, triggering sharp discomfort out of proportion to the
1:34.8	tear's size. Pain is the symptom. Dryness is often the root. Cold air, frequent hand
1:41.1	washing, alcohol-based sanitizers, harsh soaps, and time-inclorinated pools,
1:47.0	all strip moisture from your nail folds. The drier that skin, the easier it cracks,
1:53.0	producing those notorious flaps.
1:55.0	Habits amplify the damage.
1:57.0	Nail biting or cuticle picking might feel stress- relieving in the moment, but leaves microcuts
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 22 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Briana Mercola, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Briana Mercola and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.