Photo: PAM Phạm / Flickr

Nail polish and nicotine from cigarettes leave nails looking stained. Acetone found in nail polish remover can also stain your nails yellow and weaken your fingernails. Yellow nails can also be caused due to discoloration from contact with certain foods or in dramatic cases yellow nails are linked to a fungal infection or pulmonary disease. Read on to find out how to prevent yellow nails and what you can do to get rid of them.

Prevent yellow nails

If you are a smoker, try to break the habit or at least use a cigarette holder when smoking. Try and avoid touching coloured spices with your hands; rather use dispensers for turmeric and paprika and always wash your hands after using staining products like self-tan. Keep nail polish from staining your nails by wearing a base coat and avoiding leaving nail polish on for extended periods of time. Darker colours of nail polish are also more likely to stain nails that lighter coloured polish.

Getting rid of yellow nails

Buff your nails regularly to get rid of discolouration and make sure you use an acetone- free nail polish remover. Two good at-home remedies are soaking your nails in lemon juice mixed with water and soaking your nails with a dissolved denture tablet. A small amount of whitening toothpaste applied to your nails and scrubbed in gently also does the trick.

If it doesn’t work?

If your nails still seem to turn yellow no matter what you do then you may want to get the problem checked out by a doctor as you may have some sort of infection. If your nails are already yellow and there is no hope for change then fake it by painting your nails with nude colours to match your skin tone.