Keratex on human nails...

[Queenbee]

Would you? Have you used keratex on your nails?

Mine have gone really crappy and flakey with the weather and I made it worse by using false nails the other day because I had an interview. So am stupidly considering Keratex...


On a scale of 1-10 how stupid am I? Please tell me I'm not the only one who has considered this.

 

[Cadfael&Coffee]

a girl on my old yard swears by the stuff

 

[Queenbee]

a girl on my old yard swears by the stuff

Thank god, I thought I had gone totally barking I will get the brush out in a bit

 

[WelshD]

As a teen I used to rub cornucrecine in to my nail beds and wear gloves to bed, had the best nails ever!

 

[Queenbee]

Thank god, I thought I had gone totally barking I will get the brush out in a bit

sorry typo error, should have read:

Thank god, I thought I had gone totally neighing

 

[misterjinglejay]

Oh good idea - doh, hadn't thought of that.

 

[Erin]

The Hoof Hardener?

It contains Formalin, a form of Formaldehyde which can kill you.

 

[Queenbee]

well, lets hope I'm here tomorrow then cause I've already done it good job I don't bite my nails don't suppose it will hurt once a week

 

[Erin]

...

How can formaldehyde affect my health?

Low levels of formaldehyde can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and skin. It is possible that people with asthma may be more sensitive to the effects of inhaled formaldehyde.

Drinking large amounts of formaldehyde can cause severe pain, vomiting, coma, and possible death.

Inhalation (Breathing): Formaldehyde is highly irritating to the upper respiratory tract and eyes. Concentrations of 0.5 to 2.0 ppm may irritate the eyes, nose, and throat of some individuals. Concentrations of 3 to 5 ppm also cause tearing of the eyes and are intolerable to some persons. Concentrations of 10 to 20 ppm cause difficulty in breathing, burning of the nose and throat, cough, and heavy tearing of the eyes, and 25 to 30 ppm causes severe respiratory tract injury leading to pulmonary edema and pneumonitis. A concentration of 100 ppm is immediately dangerous to life and health. Deaths from accidental exposure to high concentrations of formaldehyde have been reported.

Skin (Dermal): Formalin is a severe skin irritant and a sensitizer. Contact with formalin causes white discoloration, smarting, drying, cracking, and scaling. Prolonged and repeated contact can cause numbness and a hardening or tanning of the skin. Previously exposed persons may react to future exposure with an allergic eczematous dermatitis or hives.

Eye Contact: Formaldehyde solutions splashed in the eye can cause injuries ranging from transient discomfort to severe, permanent corneal clouding and loss of vision. The severity of the effect depends on the concentration of formaldehyde in the solution and whether or not the eyes are flushed with water immediately after the accident.

 

[lauraandjack]

I find Neatsfoot oil is very good for nails!

 

[Queenbee]

...

OK, so, good job I didn't put it on my skin, don't bite my nails and don't poke my eyes.

 

[joelb]

You should go to bed wearing marigolds tonight . Try megatek if you want something more pleasant. Been using it on my horse for 6 months and my nails are growing like nothing on earth. If I don’t clip them weekly they impact my use of the keyboard. Use it on my hair too and can only go 4 weeks without doing my roots.

 

[Starry_eyes]

I've been using a nail hardening treatment for the last couple of weeks, just looked and it says 'contains formaldehyde' on the bottle! So perhaps it cant be that bad for you?? Slightly concerned now tho!

 

[QUICKFIRE]

I have a form of psoriosis which gets under my nails and make them very thin and soft, and they split verticaly down the nail, doctor has prescribed a calcium tablet for my bones that are also lacking calcium and since taking them have have become a little better, I never thought of putting Keratex on them, but might try cornucrecine though.

 

[Queenbee]

well, I'm still alive peeps and nice to know (I think) that formaldehyde is as standard in these things for both horses and us humans. I only plan to use it twice a week so have only used it once so far.

Puts a whole new slant on the saying:

I would rather die than have tatty looking nails'

don;t you think?

 

[Circe]

I wish I could get hold of some for my horse, but they have made it impossible to buy because of the formaldehyde. :-(
I'm taking biotin for my nails & that has made a difference.
Kx

 

[Queenbee]

I wish I could get hold of some for my horse, but they have made it impossible to buy because of the formaldehyde. :-(
I'm taking biotin for my nails & that has made a difference.
Kx

I'll sell you a bottle for £500 only been used a couple of times



Really, It's been such a long time since I bought it, is it really that hard to get hold of now?

 

[tallyho!]

Better things than formaldehyde for nails and hooves.

You're obviously not eating enough calcium and minerals. Porridge or muesli is very good for nails & eating brazil nuts & almonds is very good for skin. Almond oil is really good for nails.

That supplement you get from boots (hair skin & nails I think its called) actually works.

If you're into homeopathy, calc carb or calc flour one a day for two weeks will sort it out no probs.

However, if your nails and skins are really really bad i.e. flaky, itchy skin and pitted nails then you may have psoriasis. You need medical attention as it's an auto-immune disease.

 

[Circe]

Queenbee. Only in Australia :-(
And only recently I think.
My farrier recommended I use it a couple of months ago & that's when I found out it's impossible to get here. Apparrently it needs to be licensed as a veterinary product ( because of the formaldehyde).
Kx

 

[Queenbee]

Better things than formaldehyde for nails and hooves.

You're obviously not eating enough calcium and minerals. Porridge or muesli is very good for nails & eating brazil nuts & almonds is very good for skin. Almond oil is really good for nails.

That supplement you get from boots (hair skin & nails I think its called) actually works.

If you're into homeopathy, calc carb or calc flour one a day for two weeks will sort it out no probs.

However, if your nails and skins are really really bad i.e. flaky, itchy skin and pitted nails then you may have psoriasis. You need medical attention as it's an auto-immune disease.

TH, to be honest my nails have never been fantastic, but they have got far better over time, I do have family history of psoriasis but for me, I haven't had it in years, and when I did have it It was a small patch (about the size of a 50p piece) that was 20 years ago. I eat a very balanced and healthy diet and am not deficient, in anything, I am pretty confident in that. My nails do this every year, my skin and nails just hate this weather and dry out. I have to bathe my hands and face in body butter to stop it feeling yuck and dry thats just the way it has been. My nails and skin weren't too bad but then I have used false nails a la supergule three times in the past 8 weeks, plus mucking out etc has just hammered them. Although I will be massaging oil into them too, but for a short while I just want to focus on strengthening the mess that is there, while I am helping to fix what is now growing through

 

[Queenbee]

Queenbee. Only in Australia :-(
And only recently I think.
My farrier recommended I use it a couple of months ago & that's when I found out it's impossible to get here. Apparrently it needs to be licensed as a veterinary product ( because of the formaldehyde).
Kx

Thats not great Its fantastic stuff, and lasts ages, most farriers rave about it, I swear by it for just helping toughen eb's up on occastion. So you can't get it through your vets either at the moment? We can just buy it over the counter here!

 

[fburton]

It contains Formalin, a form of Formaldehyde which can kill you.

Formalin is simply a solution of formaldehye (a gas) in water. Whether it causes harm depends on dose and exposure time. It's definitely not something you want to get in your eyes, inhale the fumes of, or swallow. While squirting a small amount of 5% formalin into a pony's hooves to kill thrush (an extremely effective treatment), some 'ricocheted' into my eye. Instant stinging, and I quickly washed my eye out with copious amounts of water from the yard tap. It didn't kill me, make me go blind, or seem to have any lingering effects. I think I was lucky to be in the position to wash it out almost immediately. Anyway, it's nasty stuff at those kind of strengths, but sub-1% it's probably harmless enough to get on your hands for short periods of time. Personally, I would avoid any form of long term exposure, whether environmental or through skin or nail contact from some kind of product.

ETA: I have just read up on Keratex Hoof Hardener on their website and see that it contains another compound that slows down the cross-linking/protein denaturing action of the formalin, effectively making it less reactive and hence less toxic. Whether it is reasonable to assume that every product that is safe for horses is also safe for humans is another matter. I can think of several medicines are used on horses that would be very unpleasant and unsafe for a human to take!

 

[tallyho!]

TH, to be honest my nails have never been fantastic, but they have got far better over time, I do have family history of psoriasis but for me, I haven't had it in years, and when I did have it It was a small patch (about the size of a 50p piece) that was 20 years ago. I eat a very balanced and healthy diet and am not deficient, in anything, I am pretty confident in that. My nails do this every year, my skin and nails just hate this weather and dry out. I have to bathe my hands and face in body butter to stop it feeling yuck and dry thats just the way it has been. My nails and skin weren't too bad but then I have used false nails a la supergule three times in the past 8 weeks, plus mucking out etc has just hammered them. Although I will be massaging oil into them too, but for a short while I just want to focus on strengthening the mess that is there, while I am helping to fix what is now growing through

I'm so sorry, I know how you feel and I wasn't meaning to be preachy or anything. I know now you know what you're doing so sorry if you thought that never like to see us ladies resorting to toxic stuff to remedy our bad bits ... like nails!

Hope you have fab nails soon!

 

[LegOn]

Garlic!! Great stuff for nails!

Take a garlic supplement and get a garlic crusher and crush up a few cloves of garlic and put them into a bottle of clear nailpolish so you get a garlic nail varnish infusion and paint directly onto your nails!!

Smells really strong when it goes on first but after than I didnt notice it! And it really helps keep your nails from splitting and cracking!

I'm tempted by Keratex aswell since its did amazing things for my horses hooves!!

 

[LStarr]

I think if you read the material safety data sheets for the ingredients in lots of things (including make-up; nail varnish remover; anything we use to clean our houses; petrol; teabag dust, chewing gum, whatever) you will see a long list of scary looking words and phrases. Too much of anything ...etc. I mean if you have too much water it's bad, too much air it's bad, too much food it's bad. Anything you use that you can buy today, as long as you use it according to the label/instructions, will be approved and safe and OK... there are a lot of scare stories about lol! (remember eggs? beef? baby food? chinese takeaway?) I always just think that if you use it according to the label it must be OK! I have heard of people using all sorts on their nails.. nost nail hardeners have got formaldehyde in and are on sale in supermarkets and pharmacies very readily. It's even in fake eyelash glue! It's really nothing to worry about. The nail hardeners on sale in supermarkets etc are for humans though not horses so there might be a difference?

 

[Circe]

Queenbee. I've got to ring the vet tomorrow about an unrelated matter, so will ask if they can supply it.
I was given the impression though that keratex wasn't going to go to the expense of getting it licensed as a vet product... I guess the market in Australia would be very small compared with Europe.
Maybe I should try some of the human nail hardeners ! Lol.
Or we could start a black market trade in hoof hardener !
Kx

 

[fburton]

I always just think that if you use it according to the label it must be OK! I have heard of people using all sorts on their nails.. nost nail hardeners have got formaldehyde in and are on sale in supermarkets and pharmacies very readily. It's even in fake eyelash glue! It's really nothing to worry about.

I think you're right - as long as people read the label and use the stuff as recommended, the chances of anything bad happening are negligible.

The nail hardeners on sale in supermarkets etc are for humans though not horses so there might be a difference?

There might indeed.

Regrettably, despite instructions and warnings, people still misuse chemicals. New 'scare stories' appear regularly in the news media. Today we have the report of a link between certain solvents (degreasing agents and dry-cleaning chemicals) and Parkinson's. In this case there was a roughly 40 year interval between exposure and appearance of symptoms.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8889022/Parkinsons-link-to-cleaning-chemical.html

 

[DougalJ]

Well I have never heard of these for uses on human nails. I use Keratex Powder so that is always under my nails! As for Neatsfoot Oil thats another new one on me!