Nail is a skin annex. It comes as a hard, smooth and translucent "blade" protecting the end of the upper face of fingers and toes. For centuries,nails have been seen as fashion accessories that can be coloured according to one's desires through nail polishes. Further, they are also an image of our health condition: grooved, brittle, yellow or very white fingernails say a lot about ourselves!
The nail as a whole
It is a set of structures among which one may point out:
- The nail plate or the nail per se is a hard plate, on which a wave-like aspect increases when aging. A nail comprises the root, inserted in skin; the half-moon, a white crescent moon at the base of the nail; the pinky area, the largest part of the nail; and free edge, the part of the nail not connected to skin.
- The matrix is the area where the nail is produced.
- The nail bed is the part which the nail plate leans on.
A nail grows continuously, about 0.1 mm per day, and a nail is completely replaced between circa every 6 months (fingers) and every 12 months (toes).
As for skin, a nail is given birth under the skin through cells divisions, or mitosis, and migrates along the finger to its tip.
What nails are for
Apart being seen as fun accessories for hands, due to polishes, nails protect fingers and feet. They also help in grasping items and may be used as a "tool" to cut, tear or scratch.
