25 Amazing and Interesting Facts about Nail | Amazing Facts 4U
- While most mammals have claws to help them with daily tasks, fingernails distinguish primates including humans from the rest of the animals.
- Human nails are made of Keratin which is a protective protein that also makes up our hair. However, the arrangement of keratin molecules in hair is completely different from the arrangement of keratin molecules in nails. This is why nails are tougher than hair.
- Nails are designed for protecting not only the fingertips and toe tips but also the surrounding soft tissue from any external injuries.
- Nails are very complex and they are made up of several parts. The visible area, the hard part is actually the nail plate.
- Nails also provide a visual picture of the overall health of a person since it is affected by various illnesses.
- Fingernails have a faster growth rate compared to toenails. Fingernails grow at a rate of 3.5 mm per month while toenails only manage 1.6 mm a month. Toenails are twice as thick as the fingernails.
- Nails grow faster in the summer months compared to the winter months.
- It has been found that excessive stress can actually inhibit the growth of nails in individuals.
- The nail on the middle finger has the fastest growth rate while the nail on the thumb has the slowest growth rate.
- Nails grow at a faster rate in males compared to females.
- The matrix is a part or extension of the nail bed which lays beneath the nail plate. It is a living part and has blood vessels, lymph vessels, and nerves.
- The matrix actually produces the cells that eventually turn into the nail plate.
- There is a popular myth that white spots on nails are indicative of calcium or zinc deficiency which isn’t true. They are outcomes of some kind of trauma that befell nail plates or matrix.
- A small crescent-shaped area on the nails that looks whitish is the visible part of the matrix called the lunula (little moon). It may not be visible on all nails.
- As new nail plate cells are produced by the matrix, the older ones are pushed out forward and they get compressed, translucent, and flat. It is this translucency that makes the nail plates look pinkish because the capillaries beneath the nail plates now become visible.
- Underneath the nail plate is a layer of skin which is known as the nail bed. The nail bed in turn is made up of two layers of tissues. The first layer is the epidermis which moves along with the nail plate towards the fingertip. The second layer is the dermis which has glands and capillaries. The epidermis and the dermis are attached together by small longitudinal grooves known as matrix crests.
- Nail plate is made of dead cells so they really cannot breathe. However, the plate allows oxygen to pass through to the nail bed which requires oxygen. Thus, whenever you paint your nails, the colors block the oxygen and prevent it from reaching the nail bed. Over the long run, continued use of nail paints gradually makes the nail bed suffocate and it dries. As the nail bed dries, the nails become weak.
- Nail sinus is the place where the root of the nail is located. The nail sinus grows actively from a tissue just underneath the matrix.
- The distal edge or the free margin is the area of the nail plate that is actually cut off from time to time.
- At the tip of the finger, at the area where the nail plate loses contact with the skin and extends out into the distal edge, is a layer of epithelium cells called hyponychium which lies at the junction of the skin of the fingertip and the nail plate and acts as a protective seal for the nail bed.
- The hyponychium in turn is sealed with the nail plate using the onychodermal band. It is located right at the end of the nail bed and just under the free margin or the distal edge.
- Children between the age of 10 and 18 have the habit of biting nails. The condition is called onychophagia.
- 10% of all known dermatological conditions known today are related to nails. Fungal infections, bacterial infections, vertical lines, and ingrown toenails are some of the common nail disorders.
- Nails never sweat because they do not have any sweat glands. Whatever sweat we see around the nails actually comes from the surrounding skin.
- Shridhar Chillal from Pune, India hasn’t cut fingernails since 1952, when he was 16 years old. His thumbnail is the longest at two meters.
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