Glycolic Acid Peels for Nail Rejuvenation

BACKGROUND: With the increasing use of nail paints, nail art, acetone, repeated manicures, cosmetic nail procedures and detergents, the nail plate undergoes regular damage resulting in rough, lusterless and pigmented nails. Besides that onychomycosis, nail lichen planus, nail pitting and ridging due to various diseases also cause cosmetically disfiguring nails. OBJECTIVE: The study is directed toward use of 70% glycolic acid for controlled keratolysis of the nail-plate, resulting that could result in shinier, smoother and brighter nails. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective single-center open-label uncontrolled study of 31 patients, 22 with dry, rough, discolored nails and 9 with hyperkeratotic nails were included in the study group. After examination and ruling out any infection, petroleum jelly was applied on the cuticle margins of the nails for protection and 70% glycolic acid was applied over the nail plate for 45 minutes. In dry rough discolored nails, only a single sitting was done while in hyper-keratotic nail conditions multiple weekly sittings were done. RESULTS: In 22 patients with dry rough nails, 80% showed good improvement, 10% showed average improvement, whereas 10% were non-responsive. Nine patients with thickened nail plate showed good improvement in 60% average improvement in 25% improvement and 15% were non-responsive, after multiple sessions. CONCLUSION: Controlled keratolysis of the nail plate with application of 70% glycolic acid can be a promising treatment for modality for thick, uneven, rough and pigmented nail-plate conditions with cosmetically pleasing results.