Treatment of Delaminated and Weak Nails Using a Commercial Cosmetic Fluoride (Abstract)
Francis W. Busch
Dermatology Online Journal 7(2): 21I

An independent clinical testing laboratory recruited twenty-two healthy subjects with weak or delaminated nails. Each subject applied a .5% solution of Ammonium Hexafluorophosphate in alcohol twice daily over a period of thirty days.

Nails were individually photographed and measured for strength prior to treatment and remeasured and photographed weekly. Additional 150 subjects were recruited and tested in groups of 10 in like manner using in house testing facilities. Technicians applied the test product in some of the in house panels while self-application was allowed in others. The strength test is conducted by positioning nail over a specially designed mandrel and bent using a force gauge. A photographic protocol was developed keeping conditions constant. Delamination is evaluated comparing photographs prior to treatment with those over time.

Results: The strength of the nail increased 50% to 100%. Technician application tended to develop stronger nails than the self-application group. Delaminated nails grew out with less separation in all groups even when the problem had persisted for several years.

Acknowledgments: Fredric Ortoli Photography, Harrison Research Laboratories, Inc.,

© 2001 Dermatology Online Journal