A split toenail can occur for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the cause stems from injury, while other times, your nails will start to split and peel because you have a medical condition. Nail splitting can also occur as a result of old age or dry skin. Often, the best treatment for a split toenail is time and a protective bandage, although moisturizers and the treatment of any underlying conditions may help prevent the nails from splitting in the first place. Before you use any home treatments for split nails, it's best to try to pinpoint the underlying cause.

Often a split toenail occurs because of an injury. For example, accidentally slamming your toe in a door or dropping something heavy on it can result in a split nail. Dancers, runners, and hikers may also get split toenails from the pounding their feet take during physical activity. In these cases, the best cure is simply time, because in a few weeks the nail will grow out again.

If you have a horizontal toenail split, you can sometimes trim off some of the nail so that it won't snag. If the split is deep, it's best to keep the nail clean and dry with a bandage until the nail grows out again. Gluing a split toenail with superglue is not recommended, since in many cases the fix will look worse than before.

Some jobs which require frequent washing or cause the feet to be regularly exposed to water can cause split nails. In such cases, it's important to keep the nails and feet as dry as possible and moisturize them regularly. If you are living in a dry climate or in an area with low humidity, it can also dry out the skin and nails. In this case, the best treatment is an unscented moisturizer.

If a split toenail is not the result of a minor physical injury, it may be the result of another underlying medical cause. Finger and toenails can become brittle, split, and peel because your thyroid is producing low levels of hormones, various skin disease, poor circulation, or malnutrition. In these cases, you need to see your doctor for proper treatment of these underlying causes.

If environment, injury, and overall health have been ruled out, a split toenail may be from onychorrhexis. Onychorrhexis, which simply means "brittle nails," can occur for a number of reasons, and commonly occurs as people grow older and the protein in the nails changes. There are no real remedies for split nails due to age, since the protein that keeps nails strong cannot be replaced.

There are professional treatments to hide the unattractive look of split nails. Some manicurists have been trained to deal with onychorrhexis after ruling out other health causes for the nail split. Depending on the amount of damage, they can fill the crack and paint the nails to match, or apply false nails. Depending on how fast the nails grow, the pedicure may need to be renewed every one to two weeks to keep nails looking neat and trim.