This is an archive of past discussions about Nail (anatomy). Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.
Does anyone know what happens if you burn fingernails? Is the smoke harmful in anyway shape or form? HELLYH IT WILL SUCK THE WATER OUT OF YOUR EYEBALLS---xD[User:69.243.88.134|69.243.88.134]] 03:47, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
Infections?
I removed the following from the article, as to me atleast it seems quite dubious and implausible:
"Some viruses can infect the toe if not cleaned out at least once a week with peroxide."
As far as I know, people are not suddenly falling prey to random toe infections at large because they don't treat their feet with hydrogen peroxide once a week.
So, I might be wrong about this, but seeing as just about no publication on foot hygiene recommends this as a regular activity, it likely is misinformation. I personally find the wording to be problematic, as it gives the idea that everyone should be doing it regardless of what condition they and their toes are in. --80.221.135.21403:31, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
If I'm searching Wikipedia for the album fingernails, I'll just get redirected to Nail (anatomy). Could there be a disambig. page somewhere that makes the album article easier to find?
Evolution of fingernails
From an evolutionary perspective, why do we have fingernails? --NeuronExMachina 03:33, 30 Aug 2004 (UTC)
They make it much easier to grip & tear things. Try peeling an orange without them :-)
(Also useful for de-lousing others, which is a major part of social interaction for some primates, and may have been for our ancestors.)
Toenails are less useful for us; I imagine those are a vestige of our tree-climbing days. Possibly the mechanism by which they're formed makes it difficult to lose them without losing fingernails too. --Calair 04:13, 6 Sep 2004 (UTC)
I don't buy the protection explanation, as I've suffered horrible nail-related injuries i'd have never suffered if my fingers were the same as, say, my elbows.
I think the question is best answered if one thinks about what advantages nails afford primates that claws would not. One major advantage is that nails don't get in the way of our traction-treaded fingers as much as claws would, which is important for a group that uses its fingers to grasp things rather than digging its claws into surfaces. There's probably a million different applications for blunted (non-clawed) fingertips; since the earliest primates had claws and yet modern primates do not, it's relatively safe to assume that blunted fingertips with fingerprints (another primate-specific trait) were/are better for the primate lifestyle. --Corvun 14:31, Mar 18, 2005 (UTC)
Also, it would be nice to see some info on hooves here. Hoof redirects to claw, where it says that a hoof is a nail that is large enought to walk on. Apparently being a nail that is large enough to walk on is the only information Wikipedia has to offer on hooves. No info on the evolution of the hoof, common features of hooves, cloven hooves vs. er, the other kind. Nothing. I'd add some info myself, but I really have very little knowledge of the subject (I came to this page hoping to find something out, perhaps to give myself an idea of where to start looking or what sort of terms to research). --Corvun 14:31, Mar 18, 2005 (UTC)
Q: What's the white part called?
The "nail plate", according to the article, is the name for the translucent part of the fingernail. What about the white part, past the nail plate, that people trim when they "cut their fingernails"? What's that called? Why is it colored differently? Why does it hurt when you cut the translucent part, but not the white part? -- Creidieki02:19, 18 July 2005 (UTC)
That would be called the "nail", and it's colored differently because there's no pink, raw flesh underneath it. It doesn't hurt because it has no nerve endings, like the raw flesh under the nail plate. The flesh, called the "nail bed", that lies beneath the nail plate is actually much more reddish when not covered by the nail plate. The nail plate actually isn't any more transluscent than the nail; think about the fact that you can clearly see the dirt beneath the "white part" of your nail when your fingernails get dirty. The nail is just the part of the nail plate that grows forward off of the nail bed. --Corvun 06:52, August 16, 2005 (UTC)
Ok, but this should be put in the article, not here. Preferrably, with citations, just to make it clear that this information is not simply an opinion, but a fact. 201.79.84.16423:51, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
The white part is called the free edge, and yes it doesn't hurt because there are no nerve endings, though there is another white part, the lunula, near the cuticle, which is part of the nail matrix you can see that produces the nail The snare04:12, 6 November 2006 (UTC)
Can someone please upload some new pictures to show the anatomy of the nail. The one's for the 24 yo male, look bitten to death an disgusting. They don't have to be a pretty woman's hand by any means, but come on. - 146.169.51.13117:39, 21 October 2005 (UTC)
There isn't even a need for pictures. Anybody who typed in Wikipedia knows what fingernails look like.
Is there any point in having nails? I mean, in nature, do they have any real use? Or are they just an evolutionary left-over? Rusty200515:50, 28 January 2006 (UTC)
do you seriously think there are different spieces of finger nails? NO LIFE
"If one were to tape over one's fingernails and try to carry on with your normal day, one would find it difficult, if not impossible to grip many things."
Is this a fact? Who would do this? For Wikipedia, shouldn't we try for more. Who does this? Factual and objective?
I have a feeling the tape would have to cover the entire fingertip and not just the nail. Maybe it wasn't completely thought-out. My nails don't even extend out over my fingertips.
I really want to know, exactlly why is it that God gave us nails? It's a question that i have had for quite a bit now!
"In some West European cultures (mainly Portugal) youth grow their little finger and thumb fingernails long, both men and female alike."
That's not true. That custom exists in some older segments of the portuguese population. However, "youth" definitely don't do that.
without a nail, the skin would harden and desensitize within a few days - False. I've lost a toenail recently, and the skin remained sensitive until enough keratin was secreted to form a new nail. --Lev19:51, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
Purpose
I removed this
Human nails have several purposes: they protect the sensitive skin underneath the nail (nail bed)
in fact this is up side down.The skin beneath our nails is normal skin that you find any wher in your body.The problem is that this skin is never in direct contact with the outside world.As a result it oversensitises.It's like the pain of phantom limb of cuten limbs.--Pixel ;-)00:27, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
"Human nails have several purposes: they help us grip small objects and scratch."
Do toe nails serve a purpose?
Actually, I got that partially wrong, the nails, help us grip and scratch, but they protect the bone, not the skin under the nail.(unsigned)
They seem to do a pretty crappy job of 'protecting' the bone.. especially when no other area of the body seems to require extra armor to protect its bone.. especially when bones are harder than fingernails.. especially when nails just provide another opportunity for horrendous difficult-healing injury that, when inevitably infected, ultimately cause swelling and/or deformation of the bone... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.73.70.113 (talk) 07:06, 1 March 2009 (UTC)
Why are the fingernails in the sample picture look like they were just bitten?
well....er.......MAYBE BECAUSE THEY WERE -.-
Removed questionable quote without proper citation.
Removed:
[[Shridhar Chillal]] holds the world record for the longest fingernails. They haven't been cut since [[1958]], and in [[2005]] they measured 7.21 metres (about 150 cm per nail). (Source: Guinness WR)
I think that if this is properly cited, it should be placed in Triva, not Culture.
CNN confirms Shridhar Chillal as having the longest nails, but says the longest was 4 ft 8 (in 2000). The Guiness Book of World records (excerpted here at Amazon.com) gives the aggregate (the total for all five nails on the one hand with the long nails) at 7.05 m. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk18:56, 25 May 2007 (UTC)
Nail Shape
I've noticed that people of different ethnicities tend to have certain shape, proportion and curvature. It's simple genetics, yet googling reveals nothing of note. Does anyone have any links?
I mean it makes sense to belive they are vestigial claws on humans. I wonder if anyone has any info on this so that we can add it on the article. Don't add it now, because is just a personal observation from me at this point.Nnfolz22:43, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
This article reads a bit like a column of vanity and medical advice and is lacking important information regarding the evolutionary origins and biological functions of nails. Why do people and other animals (primates) have nails rather than claws? What are the main theories that support the origin of nails? What do nails do that makes them useful? ~P —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.126.151.171 (talk) 13:02, 16 May 2008 (UTC)
Fixed. Thanks for the heads-up. It's better to post at the bottom of the page, but I'll leave this here since it's resolved. Franamax (talk) 22:12, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
Medical Test
Does anyone have a source for the following: "However, this test is now accepted as reliable in young children only."
In Red Cross and AHA first aid, the nail test is a common test for circulation in both children and adults.. If there's no source for this, I'm going to remove it.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.123.179.139 (talk) 10:11, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
Well, here's the edit where it first showed up. The statement was added, without sources, by an anonymous editor, it may as well be removed by an anonymous editor. If you have a reference to actually prove you're right, please add it, if you don't know how, put it here and I'll do my best to place it in the article. That's not a challenge or an insult, more references make Wikipedia smile, they're good for everyone. Franamax (talk) 11:27, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
The "nail test" is actually better desribed as a "capillary refill" test. It referes to the time for blood to return to the capillary bed after being expelled by slight pressure. This test can be done on any capillary membrane, however nailbeds have a rich capillary blood flow, and as such are a good place to perform the test. The test is subjective in many ways, as a slightly prolonged capillary refill may be normal. It is, however, a good indicator of perfusion of the tissue when used with several other variables (pulse presence, pressure; blood pressure, skin temperature, and others). See "Capillary Refill" on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capillary_refill. -JCerovac —Preceding unsigned comment added by 161.51.11.2 (talk) 08:39, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
Oh yeah, I forgot, rather than clicking "edit this page" and putting your question at the top, it's better to hit the "+" button and add a section at the bottom. That's where everyone expects the new stuff to be. If you sign up for a named account, we can put the "welcome" thing on your page where you can learn all that stuff. Franamax (talk) 11:34, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
Fake nails
What do people think of the addition to the article in terms of why people do have fake nails?
i think that people should only have fake nails if they have some kind of nail disorder and can't grow nails. Or if they bite their nails alot, then perhaps plastic nails would prevent that.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.208.77.35 (talk) 16:24, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
I have a serious chemistry question concerning fingernails.
When fingernail clippings are dissolved in household bleach and the resulting solution is allowed to evaporate, a white crystaline powder results. Does anyone know what this compound is? Thank you. 71.229.233.140 (talk) 03:42, 7 January 2008 (UTC)
Water increases growth speed?
I came to this article hoping to find an answer as to why being in water makes nails grow much faster, I've noticed it after spending extended periods of time (such as a few hours) in either a pool or a hot tub. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ghyslyn (talk • contribs) 09:55, 2 March 2008 (UTC)
Heard that being in the sun or in a tanning bed increases nail growth. Don't know if its from increased production of some vitamins, like vitamin D or just a rumor. But if your in outdoors more when using the pool, nail growth may be due to sun rather than water.
This is perhaps a matter of taste, but am I the only one who thinks there should be a picture of a foot with...gee...I don't know, nice toenails? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.227.21.101 (talk) 16:27, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
Balba
I just removed
"* Balba (free edge) is the front white part of the nail (Alba latin for White)"
from the list of terms. While I'd love there to be a term, even searching for it reveals the only nail-related pages listing this term to be copies of Wikipedia. I've also got webster's unabridged saying "balba" is not a word.
Length
Does anyone know the records for longest finger and/or toe nails?
This article contains anatomy and physiology information; therefore, perhaps it should be "Nail (something more broad)" because (anatomy) seems to narrow? kilbad (talk) 12:33, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
The title reflects the topic of the article, "Nail as a topic of anatomy", (and not "Anatomy of the nail") - as opposed to the other uses of Nail, such as "Nail as a topic of fasteners". "(anatomy)" is sufficient to disambiguate between the topics and I can't really think of a better disambiguator. Did you have specific suggestions? Franamax (talk) 17:54, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
I have naturally curled up toe and finger nails, not to the extent of deformity, but they are prominent, I inherited them from my father and was wondering, is it a "Mutation" like a cleft chin or hair color?
Clean-up February 2010
I hope it's not just me. I intended to expand this article at a few occasions, but felt uninspired by the state of things. Today I finally cleaned-up the article and moved some unreferenced and dubious material from the article to this talk page section. I've added comments to each para removed. --Fama Clamosa (talk) 13:27, 2 February 2010 (UTC)
Manicures and pedicures are health and cosmetic procedures to groom, trim, and paint the nails and manage calluses. They require various tools such as cuticle scissors, nail scissors, nail clippers, and nail files. Artificial nails can also be appended onto real nails for cosmetic purposes.
A person whose occupation is to cut any type of nail, apply artificial nails, and care for nails is sometimes called a nail technician. The place where a nail technician works may be a nail salon or nail shop (also nailshop).
Painting the nails with nail polish (also called nail lacquer and nail varnish) is a common practice dating back to at least 3000 B.C.
Ornamented fake nails are sometimes used to display designs, such as stars or sparkles, on nails. They are also used to make nails look longer.
People sometimes grow a habit of biting or attacking their nails, making them short and uneven. Because longer nails are considered more fashionable, some people try various methods of breaking this habit, such as applying bitter varnish to their nails/nail polish, or making New Year's resolutions to stop biting them.
Bluish or purple fingernail beds are also a symptom of peripheral cyanosis, which indicates oxygen deprivation.
Nails can dry out, just like skin. They can also peel, break and be infected. Toe infections, for instance, can be caused or exacerbated by dirtysocks, specific types of aggressive exercise, tight footwear, and walking unprotected in an unclean environment.{{Citation needed|date=July 2007}}
Nail tools used by different people may transmit infections. Regarding nail tools such as files, "If they're used on different people, these tools may spread nail fungi, staph bacteria or viruses," warns Ted Dischman, a spokesperson for the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology.{{ref|germs}} In fact, over 100 bacterial skin infections in 2000 were traced to footbaths in nail salons.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} To avoid this, new improved contactless tools can be used, for example, gel and cream cuticle removers instead of cuticle scissors.
Nail disease can be very subtle and should be evaluated by a Dermatologist with a focus in this particular area of medicine.[1] However, most times it is a nail technician who will note a subtle change in nail disease.
Inherited accessory nail of the fifth toe occurs where the toenail of the smallest toe is separated, forming a smaller, "sixth toenail" in the outer corner of the nail.{{Citation needed|April 2009|date=April 2009}} Like any other nail, it can be cut using a nail clipper.
Length and thickness
Ideally a free edge should be no longer than half of the 'pink' nail in length.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}
The average thickness of this portion of the nail is 0.43 millimetres, or .016 inches.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}
I found it very difficult to relate to the various anatomical remarks in the text. There is a very basic diagram but I would have preferred a diagram showing all the referenced anatomical areas of the nail. This was especially difficult when a description built on an earlier description.
I was at the end of this section and had to refer to references to understand the difference between cuticle & Eponychium. This needs to start with a simpole explanation of both: e.g. The cuticle is the layer of dead skin that covers the back of the visible nail plate while the Eponychium is the fold of skin cells that produces the cuticle. I have re-ordered some exisitng material to improve clarify and welcome feedback. There is still some duplication but I struggled with wording and wanted to stay reasonably close to sources.Leopardtail (talk) 20:50, 25 May 2014 (UTC)
See Also: Nail Fetish
Completely unrelated entry in the See Also section: "Nail Fetish".
Eeaugh! Isn't the decutaneated fingertip picture (Nail Torn Out.jpg) a little WP:GRATUITOUSly unpleasant? It certainly isn't in line with the principle of WP:Least astonishment: I came to find a few technical terms, not as a hardened fingernail-repair medic. I feel that several of the pictures on this article (most blatantly the fake mangled nail (Ripped_Nail_Special_Effect_22.jpg) in the "Fashion" subsection; inaccurate illustration, only there to shock) are not relevant to a formal WP:Encyclopedic consideration.
People get extremely emotional about hands (imagine something gruesome happening to one of yours), and so I think the threshold for including clinical pics here is higher than, say, at Lung.
I'm fully aware of WP:NOTCENSORED; I'm challenging under WP:IRELEV, because artificial horror is a terrible illustration of nails in fashion, and gruesome pathology is not a good leader for an general anatomy article (because the vast majority of all fingernails are not horrifically damaged). I'll tolerate Damaged_thumbnail.JPG and, okay, maybe ToeNailInjury.jpg as illustrations of "Health and Care", although I'd prefer an image of proper emery-board or nail-scissor use along the tasteful, relevant Daumennagel_mit_Nagelhaut_und_Niednagel.jpg.
FourViolas (talk) 04:29, 12 November 2014 (UTC)
Suggested edits:
A gorilla's fingernails gorilla fingernails instead of "Nail Torn Out".
Toenails painted magenta for aesthetic effect Pedicure picture for "Fashion".
ToeNailInjury.jpg removed, because analogous pages (Finger, Hand, Toe, Humerus, Wrist, Nose, Tibia, Ear, Shoulder, even Tooth) do not have injury photos except possibly on a separate page dedicated to "pathology of".
A set of professional nail care tools Manicure tools instead of the smashed hallux
All right, nobody's leaping up to object, and I have a little historical support from 66.55.134.203 ("I'm thinking this image should be moved..."), so I'm going ahead with it.FourViolas (talk) 21:55, 13 November 2014 (UTC)
nail plate movement
What are the complete details of nail plate movement? Is it purely pushed from the nail matrix formation area? Is there any pulling by other areas to help it move? How do all of the other body parts that touch the nail plate accommodate/facilitate the movement of the nail plate? How does the nail plate get shaped/reshaped/modified, if at all, after leaving the nail matrix region? -71.174.183.177 (talk) 21:02, 9 April 2015 (UTC)
Deleted one and added two citations, 'Growth' section
Regarding fingernail growth the citation there linked to an article that failed to specify whether it was talking about fingernails or toenails but implied toenails. I replaced it with two other sources that cited the same number (3 mm/month) but were talking about fingernails specifically. Nevertheless, only one of the two was in a presumably peer-reviewed journal and it would be really great if someone found a study that had more than n=1... --Star-lists (talk) 04:36, 16 November 2017 (UTC)
A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion
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