My fingernails and toenails were horrible during treatment. Lost both big toenails and it took forever for them to grow back - over a year. I'm a little over a year out of treatment of 8 months of chemo, surgery, 6 weeks of radiation and a year of hercepton. I had ridges, split nails and brittle nails forever. They always looked like I bit them down to nubs. I also had terrible peeling around them. I tried Hair, Skin & Nails and calcium but it didn't seem to help. One winter night I was putting Carmex (from a jar) on my lips (as I always do at bedtime) and decided to try it on my nails too. It has worked miracles. I rub it in every night and the peeling has stopped, my nails aren't brittle anymore, I do still have small ridges but they are getting better and my nails are actually growing. It's nice to give myself manicures again. I've been doing this consistently for about 4 months now.

While I was undergoing chemo they put my hands and feet in to frozen gloves and socks. I was told it was to prevent/minimize nail damage and or loss. Worked for me.

Ladies we are more prone to fungal infections for years post treatment. If your nails are still a mess years after treatment it’s a sign there are underlying issues. Chemo really messes up so many things in our body. Our gut microbes, vitamin absorption, it can trigger other auto immune disorders, hormone unbalances, etc. see an ND or an internist that also believes in naturopathic treatments. You need to get checked for vitamin deficiencies, hormone imbalances, and you probably have toxic overload and should start a dose antioxidant protocol. Are bodies are like books they really do tell us everything we need to know. We just need to realize certain things are signs of imbalances and not the “new normal”.

My chemo finished 2 1/2 yrs ago and my nails returned to normal after constant splitting, tearing and some falling off. But then every few months they start getting those ridges on them. I can see them starting to change. One of my practitioners told me that the number of ridges corresponds to the number of rounds of Adriamycin that you got. (Lovely.) I'd like to know after all these years being done with chemo what the mechanisms are that cause this to continue. And will it ever end? I have no idea. It is not a huge issue of course. But it is disturbing that the toxic drugs that we were given continue to cause reactions in our bodies.

I finished chemo in 2007 and still have issues with my nails.