Katherine, thanks for stopping by. Unfortunately, once the matrix has been damaged, it’s permanent. I have noticed that if the weird nail growth is caused by the pressure of writing a lot, that when I stopped writing so much (and did more typing), my nail growth on the side of that middle finger improved. The pressure of holding a pen or pencil for several hours will have an effect on the nail cells being created in that portion of the matrix. Hope that helps! ~Ana

Thank you for addressing this issue.
But if I may, I have one question.
You mentioned that the matrix is damaged and the pressure damages the qrowing nail cells.
Can it go back to normal?
My nail on my left middle finger grows diagonally and has done so for many years now.
Will it go back to what it was supposed to be, once I stop doing things that cause this (aka school) ?

I will keep up my regimen until I am able to order and receive your Pure Oil. I just thought there were more people like me with the same problem 🙂

Thanks so much for your information. I am always on your site soaking up vital and interesting info!

Carol Jenckes

But all this time I’ve thought my proximal fold is permanently lifted from my middle finger. I’ve been using Pure Nail Oil for a while now (just got to where I had to refill my first set of pens) and OMG there’s actually IMPROVEMENT! It’s not actually down against the nail bed yet, but it’s close, and it’s soft, and unless you look closely you can’t even really tell! I’m ridiculously excited about this! I’ve hated this ‘deformity’ all my life! 🙂

Jen, thank you for stopping by. If you can, you may want to figure out how much of that side you can gently file off, to minimize the peeling. Make sure you are using a high quality, jojoba based nail oil to keep your nails stronger and more flexible. When they are dry and brittle, the break more often. It’s also very important to keep polish on to provide temporary added strength.

That nail only grows on one side and then once it gets a bit longer it peels or breaks. Then I realize it looks awful with that diagonal, jagged cut and end up cutting it short. Then that irritates me because I hate the feeling of short nails and I proceed to peeling and biting and that one nail without even realizing it. I wish it would just go away!

I was pretty excited when I figured this out…yeah, geeky me. And yep, the matrix gets affected in some way. That side of my middle right fingernail really wants to curl in. It just behaves differently. I bet most people are annoyed with that writing hand fingernail.~Ana