Reader Tip: Fake Fingernail Glue for Finger Cracks
By Chuck Cage
Sean M. writes: “I get cracks in my thumbs from working and have tried many things in the past to alleviate them: adhesive bandages and Triple Antibiotic, expensive hand creme, lots of regular hand cream, etc. I’ve finally found my cure – fake fingernail glue. Yup, the stuff women might use to glue fake fingernails on is the ticket. The best way to use it is to put on triple antibiotic (like Neosporin) and cover it with an adhesive bandage for a couple hours. Wash well with soap and dry thoroughly. Simply put a drop on the crack and wait the couple seconds it takes to dry. I used to use regular cynocrylate glue but it stings a little bit. The fingernail glue doesn’t sting at all.”
I’ve heard of drummers and guitarists using this technique as well, though I’ve always been loathe to expose open wounds to this type of adhesive. But hey, I’ve seen others use it.
March 16th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
I’ve heard of using superglue to close wounds, would that work as well?
March 16th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
This remind me of this product:
[link]
It is a medical version of superglue, apparently there is an ingredient in superglue that you should not put on open wounds. I have used it very successfully on paper cuts and cuts in weird places that band aids don’t fit.
March 17th, 2007 at 8:40 am
I have used SuperGlue before but it stings. I was simply putting up with the sting and discovered this stuff by accident when I ran out of regular glue.
I’ve never seen that BandAid product. I’ll look for it at the pharmacy, good find.
March 17th, 2007 at 8:57 am
I have sworn by superglue, particularly on places like finger pads where you simply cannot get a band aid to stay.
March 19th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Medical glue is easily purchased at any drug store. As a matter of fact, I’ve seen several products labeled specifically as skin crack repair glue. I would not use general super glue as you don’t know what’s in there.
The medical grade is sterile and safe for skin use.
March 21st, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Super Glue IS medical glue. Or at least that was how it was invented. I think it was intended as battle field stitches. That’s why it glues your fingers together so nicely
April 21st, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Thank you soo much! I’ve trying different products for ages without any real results… And the pain these cracks can cause is very irritating. I own a restaurant and my hands are constantly in contact with water and some pretty heavy duty cleaning products. I’d finally started using glue but my wife lost it and keeps buying me these expensive hand creams. Great tip!.
November 8th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
[...] I stumbled on the ToolMonger a couple weeks ago and I think I’m in love with these guys (not that way). They typically write tool reviews, cheap tool finds (think Harbor Freight), shop/garage tips, and daily tool/guy related TV listings. The writing style is very friendly and conversational. I could do without the TV listings. I get all excited when I see a new post from them in my feed reader, but when I see it’s the TV listings, I get bummed–that’s what I’ve got Tivo for–I don’t need TV listings anymore. Turns out they’ve been around since April 11, 2006–two days after my first “For the Love of Tools” post, hmm…maybe I gave them the idea. Probably not. Tags: For the Love of Tools, Tools [...]
April 27th, 2008 at 10:39 am
To correct Chris, super glue is not medical glue and it was not invented for such a purpose. I will explain. Superglue is ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate, and Medical glue such as Dermabond or Traumaseal is 2-octyl cyanoacrylate or n-butyl-cyanoacrylate. Chris is correct that they are both a form of cyanoacrylate, but their chemical properties vary and are best suited for their intended applications. Superglue can be used in a pinch but it is more toxic, is known to cause heat, irritation, drying out of the skin, it is more brittle, is not manufactured to be steril, is not FDA approved, and it is less suited to allow a wound to heal than the medical grade glues. Personally, knowing all of this, I would use it on a fingernail or a superficial papercut, but I would spend the money on Medical grade glues for a serious wound. On a furthur note, Cyanoacrylate was discovered by Harry Coover at Eastman Kodak during World War II when searching for a way to make plastic gun-sight lenses. It did not solve this problem, since it stuck to all the apparatus used to handle it. It was first marketed to industry as well as consumers in February 1955 as a product called “Flash Glue”. It was not until a decade later that superglue was studied as a possible medical use.