The other thing that I do to prevent them is to keep my nails short. As they start to lengthen, even by 1/8” or so, the corners are prone to chipping and hangnail formation. So as soon as my nails start to form corners (and before I’m ready to clip them back) I make sure to round off those corners to prevent the hangnail from chipping off in the first place.
Do you wash your hands a lot? That can dry out the skin on your hands. They say keeping the area well moisturized helps prevent hangnails. Do you get manicures? Don’t let them cut your cuticles, just push them back. Also, slightly round the sides of your nails if you let them grow anywhere above your finger. This will help prevent the nail from breaking also.
This is where language is so interesting. “How to help hang nails” leads to the image of the nails at the end of a rope on a gibbet. However, “How to help hangnails” means something entirely different.
@gailcalled Right. In my somewhat loose and creative mind, I figured you could help hang nails by putting up a piece of rope and putting the nails in the fibers of the rope to hold them in place. That just flashed through my mind when I first saw the question. Then I answered the question practically. Are we having a dispute?