Why You Should Never Rip Off Your Hangnail | The Times Of India

Sign In

TOI

Go toTOIEtimes

• home
• lifestyle
• relationship
• Health+
• style
• visual stories
• trending
• parenting
• Senior Living
• the arts
• soul search
• beauty
• books
• recipes
• food news
• travel
• home & garden
• events
• spotlight
• videos

• health news
• fitness
• diet
• mental health
• coronavirus
• alternative therapies
• weight loss
• videos
• diseases
• yoga

• News
• lifestyle
• health-fitness
• photo-stories
• Why you should never rip off your hangnail

TrendingHappy New Year 2026 WishesNew Year Quotes2026 New Year MessagesHappy New Year WishesMost Ordered Dishes 2025Inspirational QuotesOptical illusionGeoffrey ChaucerDale CarnegieToni MorrisonHappy New Year 2026 WishesNew Year Quotes2026 New Year MessagesHappy New Year WishesMost Ordered Dishes 2025Inspirational QuotesOptical illusionGeoffrey ChaucerDale CarnegieToni MorrisonHappy New Year 2026 WishesNew Year Quotes2026 New Year MessagesHappy New Year WishesMost Ordered Dishes 2025Inspirational QuotesOptical illusionGeoffrey ChaucerDale CarnegieToni MorrisonWhy you should never rip off your hangnailTNN / Updated: Mar 15, 2018, 11:07 ISTShareAA+Text Size

• Small
• Medium
• Large

Follow us

1/7

Never rip off your hangnail

NEVER RIP OFF YOUR HANGNAIL: Though hangnails are very tiny things but they can hurt like hell. Hangnails are annoying too at the same time as they keep tucking in every little thing you touch. Though many people do not notice a hangnail until it has grown fully, they can feel the roughness around the nail or pain due to the inflammation. Hangnails happen to everyone some time or the other and they are particularly bad in winter. But do you know you should never rip off a hangnail? Here’s why you should not do and how you can treat it instead.

2/7

​What are hangnails?

WHAT ARE HANGNAILS? Hangnails are not a part of nails at all. They are made of skin cells that form small tag like projections near the nail. When the skin separates from the surface but still remains attached to the base, hangnail is formed. People who have dry skin get them more frequently. Dryness makes your skin more vulnerable to damage, which leads to skin separation.

3/7

​The reason why they hurt

THE REASON WHY THEY HURT: The simple reason why they hurt is their location. Hangnails are at end of the nail. There are many blood vessels and nerve ending in this area making this area sensitive.

4/7

​Inflammation

INFLMMATION: Hangnails can cause inflammation which causes pain and irritation. If your hangnail is inflamed, not only will it pain but it will also cause swelling and redness around the nail.

5/7

​Infection

INFECTION: The temptation to rip off the hangnail is common. But one should not do so. Ripping off hangnail leaves the tissues inflamed which hurts like hell. Not only it causes inflammation but also makes your finger prone to infection.

Pulling off the hangnail tears some of the normal skin surface which actually keeps out the bacteria. Doing so can also develop an infection in the surrounding skin.

6/7

​How to treat a hangnail

HOW TO TREAT A HANGNAIL: Dip your hands in warm water to soften your skin. Now sanitize the nail cutter with rubbing alcohol and then cut the hangnail close to the normal skin level. Now, moisturise the area with a lotion with less level of alcohol in it. Moisturizing is important as it protects the skin from drying and lowers the likelihood of hangnails happening again.

7/7

​If it’s already inflamed

IF IT'S ALREADY INFLAMED: If your hangnail is already inflamed and swelled then treat the hangnail with ice and maybe, you can put an antibiotic ointment too. If you feel the pain is spreading then it may be an infection which needs an immediate medical attention.

Follow Us On Social Media

Photostories

• 1
• 2
• 3

lifestyle videos

32:03

32:03

27:30

13:05

16:34

04:34

06:37

03:19

04:48

07:18

08:08

06:47

03:20

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4

More Videos

Featured In lifestyle

MORE FROM ETIMES

life & styleHot ShowerEstee WilliamsBackward Walking BenefitsVitamin DeficienciesKidney TransplantLiving and entertainmentETimesTravel DestinationsCricbuzz.comTVLifestyleNewspaper SubscriptionFood NewsTimes PrimeWhats HotServicesCouponDuniaTechGigTimesJobsBollywood NewsTimes MobileGadgetsWork with UsColombiaHot on the WebNew Year GreetingsHappy New Year 2026 Wishes2026 New Year QuotesNew Year WishesHappy New Year WishesNew Year QuotesOptical illusionDhurandhar Part 1 OTTSriram RaghavanNew Year Greeting CardNew Year MessagesClassic Inspirational QuotesEleanor RooseveltYami GautamAmitabh BachchanTu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu MeriBha. Bha. Ba. CollectionLatte vs CappuccinoAvatar Box Office CollectionPersonality TestMarlon BrandoAristotleMichael J FoxDhurandhar Movie CollectionAkhanda 2 Full Movie CollectionAkshaye KhannaPulchritudinous WordDhurandhar Movie ReviewHeart HealthAkhanda 2 Movie ReviewPulchritude WordAncient EgyptRice Bran Vs Sunflower OilWinter Solstice 2025Horn Ok PleaseElon Musk Net WorthMark Zuckerberg LessonsShimla TravelsMagnesium Deficiency SymptomsOptical illusionOzempicTrending TopicsLatest MoviesBollywood MoviesHollywood MoviesTamil Movies 2025Telugu Movies 2025Malayalam Movies 2025Kannada Movies 2025Marathi Movies 2025Bengali Movies 2025Top Rated Movies 2025Best Hindi MoviesBest English MoviesBest Telugu MoviesBest Tamil MoviesBest Malayalam MoviesBest Kannada MoviesBest Bengali MoviesUpcoming Hindi MoviesBest Movies Of All TimeBest Hindi Movies of All TimeLatest English MoviesLatest Malayalam MoviesEnglish TV NewsTamil TV NewsTelugu TV NewsMalayalam TV NewsKannada TV NewsMovie ReviewsBhojpuri Cinema NewsGujarati Cinema NewsPopular CategoriesViral NewsK Pop NewsWeb Series NewsAnime NewsUpcoming English MoviesUpcoming Tamil MoviesUpcoming Telugu MoviesUpcoming Malayalam MoviesUpcoming Kannada MoviesFashion TipsTravel NewsEntertainment NewsBollywood NewsTollywood NewsKollywood NewsMollywood NewsFood NewsLatest Hindi MoviesLatest Tamil MoviesParenting TipsHome RemediesWeight LossBeauty TipsParenting TipsHindi VideosHindi Video SongsBhojpuri Music VideosLatest Telugu MoviesBhojpuri Music VideoHindi TV NewsLatest NewsAlexandr Wang and other billionaire entrepreneurs who dropped out of college: What they did differentlyCuriosity Corner: Why do we see our reflection in water?Taurus Horoscope Tomorrow, January 1, 2026: A new route is revealing itself, take it before it disappearsExplained: What is 'Taiwan independence' and is Taiwan already independent?Indore water contamination: No consensus on death toll as locals, CM & Mayor offer different figuresWhen 'Battle of Galwan' star Salman Khan offered to work for free to save Rajesh Khanna’s bungalow 'Aashirwad' from tax dues: 'Tu mera ghar bikwana chahta hai…sadak par lana chahta hai''Slow death' – R Ashwin's chilling warning on ODI cricket after Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma eraBig relief for car owners; NHAI discontunues post activation KYVSagittarius Horoscope Today, January 01, 2026: Relationships benefit from open communicationPlayStation Plus January 2026 Lineup announced: Need for Speed Unbound, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, and more‘Ishqbaaaz’ fame Nakuul Mehta showers love on wife Jankee Parekh in new post - PIC INSIDEZodiac signs that are stronger than they lookAllu Arjun rings in New Year 2026 with a late-night drive with wife Sneha Reddy and kidsJared Savaille: Juggling school and acting has been rewarding and exhausting at the same timeAmsterdam: Fire engulfs iconic Vondelkerk church during New Year celebrations; watchWho is Mike Tomlin’s wife Kiya Winston? Inside the fashion designer’s life, career, and marriage to the Pittsburgh Steelers' head coachWinter Special: How to make Gud ka HalwaDog cataracts vs nuclear sclerosis: How to identify, treat, and protect your dog’s visionCopyright © 2025 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. For reprint rights: Times Syndication ServiceFollow us on