To cut a hangnail safely, use clean fingernail clippers to cut the hangnail as close to the nail bed as possible. Cutting your hangnail back should be your first step when treating it. After you've cut the hangnail down in size, you can try a warm water soak or antibiotic cream to continue to treat the area.
If you get a hangnail, you should not attempt to rip or pull it off. If you pull on it, you may pull off additional skin that will open more inner skin layers to bacteria. This can also aggravate the hangnail area, which can cause it to become red and slightly inflamed.
Most hangnails will heal on their own without any signs of infection. Infected hangnails need appropriate treatment, many of which can be done at home. You should see a doctor if the infected hangnail doesn't heal after about a week of home treatment.
Hangnails are often seen at the end of a digit near the nail. There are many blood vessels and nerve endings in this part of the nail. Hangnails also cause inflammation and swelling that may press on the nerve endings. As a result, it can lead to more pain and irritation.
Leukonychia describes a whitish discoloration of the nail, which may be due to persistence of nuclei in the cells of the ventral nail plate (true leukonychia) or to a pallor of the nail bed (apparent leukonychia).
Another condition that can affect the nails is hapalonychia, sometimes called “eggshell nails.” Hapalonychia causes your nails to be soft and thin. Nails affected by this condition tend to bend or break more easily than healthy nails, and often split or flake at the end. They may also take on a bluish tint.
Blue fingernails are caused by a low level or lack of oxygen circulating in your red blood cells. This condition is known as cyanosis. It occurs when there isn't enough oxygen in your blood, making the skin or membrane below the skin turn a purplish-blue color.
Pincer nail is a condition characterized by excessive transverse nail curvature, progressively pinching the nail bed distally. It is quite common in the toenails of adults, while they are rare in the fingernails, where they are related to abnormalities of the distal phalanx (exostosis or arthritis).
Plicatured nail- (folded nail); highly. curved nail plate; may be caused by injury. or may be inherited; often leads to ingrown.
Melanonychia is caused when the pigment cells, called melanocytes, deposit melanin — brown-colored pigment — into the nail. These deposits are usually grouped together. As your nail grows, it causes the stripe of brown or black to appear on your nail.
ONycHOMaDESiS. Separation and falling off of a nail plate from the nail bed; can affect. fingernails and toenails. ONycHOMycOSiS. Fungal infection of the natural nail plate.
The nail fold is the tissue that encloses the nail matrix at the root of the nail. It attaches the nail to the rest of the skin through the protective cuticle.
Nail bed: The nail bed is also referred to as the sterile matrix. It extends from the edge of the nail root, or lunula, to the hyponychium. The nail bed contains blood vessels, nerves, and melanocytes that produce melanin.
The hyponychium is the skin just under the free edge of your nail. It's located just beyond the distal end of your nail bed, near your fingertip. As a barrier from germs and debris, the hyponychium stops external substances from getting under your nail.
Nail Structure
The way a toenail grows is out of the matrix, which is the little pocket under the skin. It constantly is creating new cells, which lengthens the nails by forcing the old ones to get pushed together and grow out. When the cells finally grow out of the matrix, they are dead.
These old cells flatten and harden, thanks to keratin, a protein made by these cells. The newly formed nail then slides along the nail bed, the flat surface under your nails. The nail bed sits on top of tiny blood vessels that feed it and give your nails their pink color.
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The cuticle is composed of dead skin cells. The eponym is a small band of living cells that sheds anMoreThe cuticle is composed of dead skin cells. The eponym is a small band of living cells that sheds an epidermal layer of skin on to the newly formed nail plate. Together.
In most cases, the nail will grow back from the area under the cuticle (the matrix). A fingernail takes about 4 to 6 months to grow back.
Fingernails can regrow entirely in three to six months. Fingers or toes that have sustained injuries that affect the nail bed and the matrix grow more slowly than unaffected nails for about three months.